For plant lovers, for various reasons, there is often no other way to acquire new flowers than by receiving them by mail. And I really want the joy of waiting not to be overshadowed by receiving a parcel with plants. Our employees try to make every effort so that the flowers received by our customers adequately endure the difficult conditions of sending by mail and appear before their new owners in good condition.

To do this, we try to comply with the deadlines for sending flowers, so that they are neither cold nor hot on the way. We send houseplants in 1st class parcels, starting from mid-April (starting from the southern regions of Russia) and ending at the end of October, depending on weather conditions.

Different people handle postage differently.

We send most of the indoor plants in the form of small rooted cuttings (in 100g cups), which are well rooted and have already begun to grow actively and their roots are well entwined with an earthen ball. Plants are watered the day before shipping. We pack and tightly pack the parcels in the box so that during shipment there is no movement of packed plants inside the parcel, which can lead to damage.

Fuchsia and violets are best tolerated.

Let's look at fuchsia first. just before sending the parcel.

Photo reports of orders and show that fuchsias with this method of packaging look good after a hard road.

The plants from were on the way for 8 days. In addition to fuchsias, the order also includes pelargoniums:

We got well, but there was not enough light, their leaves partially turned yellow. But pelargoniums will recover when proper care after receiving the parcel.

They can survive quite well in the dark for more than a week. Stratocarpus from reached Arkhangelsk for 9 days, but they practically did not notice this:

Violets also tolerate postage quite well with good
The shipment of unrooted violet leaves by mail from went very well:

The condition of plants during shipment is very dependent on weather conditions, on the outside temperature. Under cooler shipping conditions, in autumn, houseplants are less affected during shipping. Let's see the autumn orders.
Plants from got to the Tver region for 6 days and look very good:

Myrtle, murraya, Ugandan clerodendrum, fuchsia seemed not to have been in a dark box for 6 days, they did not notice the shipment. Pelargonium looks good too.

They sent it in cool weather and the parcel box was insulated in case the temperature dropped on the way:

In this fuchsia order, they did very well with the shipment, and garden primroses and hellebore. garden plants in the fall they have already begun to prepare for hibernation, so they tolerate the postal mail in the fall well.

The earth in the cup is covered, which is still fixed on top so that the earth does not wake up during shipment. Sphagnum moss retains the moisture of the earthen coma of the plant.

Look at the received orders.
Read

Considering this method of acquiring plants is risky. Of course, it is more reliable to purchase a seedling on the spot, and even with a closed root system. But there are plenty of cases when buying seedlings by mail is more justified. For example, you have been looking for a plant for a long time, it is quite rare, and it is impossible to purchase a plant in your locality in any other way. Or you want to purchase many cultivars (varieties and species) at once, while completely trusting the seller. Or you do not want to get involved with a long search, you are afraid of deception, sorting, besides a trip to the place

Purchases cost more than shipping. And sometimes there are several motivating reasons at once. Of course, in the first place is trust in the seller, it is distrust that makes most gardeners refuse to buy a plant by mail.

We ourselves have ordered seedlings by mail many dozens of times. We constantly exchange plants with other collectors and gardeners. Approximately 70% of the plants from our collection were acquired in this way. I am sure that we will continue to do this, because in some cases it is cheaper, easier, and requires much less time and nerves.

When receiving seedlings by mail from others, we always paid attention to how they were packed, when they were sent and how long they were in transit, and, of course, in what condition they arrived. And we ourselves have already (in the spring of 2012) sent out more than 11,000 (eleven thousand) parcels to different regions of Russia (from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, and from Murmansk to Adler) and, of course, we have acquired sufficient experience of our own to judge which factors harm, and which, on the contrary, contribute to a successful transfer.

And further. Oddly enough, we have several regular customers living so close that it would seem easy to come. Two customers, for example, live just ten kilometers in a straight line from us, across the Klyazma River in the city of Raduzhny, and from year to year they order plants by mail, although a taxi arrives from there in half an hour. What they are guided by is not our business, one thing is clear - it suits them.

How do we prepare seedlings for postage.

It would be wrong to say that we have some special technologies or secrets we know only - they simply do not exist in nature.

Our only secret is that we do not trust anyone with preparation, digging and packaging and we try to strictly and accurately perform all the necessary actions with seedlings. In practice, this means: pack quickly and accurately at the right time, and ship without delay.

Over the years of work, we, without the slightest exaggeration, have become our people at the post office along the entire chain from our post office to the sorting department of the Post Office. To speed up the process (and what to do!) we were forced to take over some of their packaging functions. Relations with employees of the post office are of a personal confidential nature. What's wrong - they immediately call us at home. Postal workers know that a parcel with seedlings should not lie in the post office, and often they themselves offer us the most rational work schedule.

We send seedlings by mail with an open root system. At the same time, most of them are grown in "pots" (that is, in plastic technological containers), from which we "shake" them directly during packaging. This method does not injure the root system at all, as happens when digging. The taproots of trees and shrubs (which are originally characteristic of apple, pear, horse chestnut, Japanese quince, nuts, etc.), in order to create a compact root system, are pruned at an early age.

When packing, we use moistened sphagnum, as there is no better preservative. Sphagnum, not only stores moisture well, but has a disinfecting and anti-putrefactive property, is a nutrient medium for the time of transportation.

Ideal conditions for sending plants by mail.

If the seedling does not have damage to the root system, is packed in a state of deep dormancy and is transported at a temperature of -3 to + 5 degrees Celsius, then during the shipment it does not leave the dormant state, and arrives in perfect condition. Based on this, we try to start mailing as early as possible, with a minimum of solar heat. In order to speed up the melting of snow, we sprinkle it with ashes in early spring, which allows us to start mailing a few days earlier. We try to make the sending as soon as possible, and we finish it as soon as the buds of the bushes begin to open.

When is the best time to mail plants?

In order for a plant to survive transplanting and mailing well, it must be in a state of full physiological maturity and dormancy. For tree and shrub crops, this means that their wood and roots have finished growing and become lignified. In this regard, every year is different. Sometimes the readiness of plants for transplanting comes earlier, sometimes later. Therefore, the term of expulsion is determined not by the addressee, but by the sender, that is, we. For most woody plants, this period begins in the first decade of September. To expel them before this date means to put them at risk.

In spring, plants continue to be at rest until the sum of positive temperatures exceeds some critical value. In practice, this means that we need to send plants by mail within the first three weeks after the snowmelt, which we do. As a rule, we finish sending seedlings by mail in early May. The exception is single recipients from the north or nearby regions. In mid-May, we completely stop mail forwarding. Orders received later are transferred to the fall, or at the request of the customer to the next spring.

When to write out seedlings - in the fall or in the spring?

For sending plants by mail, we have developed a regulation substantiated by many years of experience. Bulbous and small-bulbous are sent to a dormant period, which begins after the withering of their aerial parts. We send rhizomatous perennials both in spring and autumn, but we try not to offer for spring those with which there have been failures. Shrubs and trees in the mass equally successfully tolerate mail forwarding in spring and autumn.

The autumn season of mail forwarding, we note, is greatly underestimated by our customers. Everyone strives to place an order for spring, moreover, in autumn, the favorable period for mailing seedlings is much longer. It should be noted that each season also has its own characteristics in terms of sending plants to the south and north, which we take into account.

Center of the European part of Russia. That is, neighboring areas with a straight line distance of up to a thousand kilometers. Parcels take about a week and reach completely in good condition. Spring and autumn shipments are almost equally successful.

Murmansk region. Beyond the Arctic Circle, where it gets cold early, but the weather is frost-free, oddly enough, plants grow better in autumn. One of our Murmansk customers insistently asked to send her plants in the fall.

South of the European part. You can write out plants both in spring and autumn, but in autumn, the period favorable for shipment lasts an unusually long time. In autumn, we send plants to the south last, when we already have frosts. Plants by this time fully mature, lose their leaves, and enter a state of deep dormancy.

Deportation to the south in spring is specific in that we have the opportunity to send seedlings at a time when full summer has almost come there. It often happens that a resident Krasnodar Territory, not understanding this simple fact, plagues us with reminders. And our ski season is not over yet. Based on all this, autumn can be recommended to southerners as a more favorable time for receiving plants by mail.

Ural, Trans-Urals, Siberia. In the spring, the plants reach well, as they go in the cold. In the fall, you should send it out early, which we do.

Far East, Sakhalin, Kamchatka. Oddly enough, but parcels often reach such a distance in perfect order. Shipping is the same in spring and autumn.

Yakutia, North. Sending plants to Yakutia is very difficult, but the most grateful and understanding buyers live there. They never complain because they are used to being isolated. Autumn shipment to these regions is undesirable, since plants often fall straight from summer into winter. True, now and there often protracted autumns occur, but it is impossible to guess.

In some regions of Yakutia and Siberia, parcels are delivered only by airmail. There are also places with which communication is interrupted for a long time due to spring floods, but in this case, alas, all the risks are on the buyer. We remind you that we completely stop sending plants by mail in mid-May.

How the plant reacts to prolonged exposure to warmth and darkness.

The most favorable for the seedling is to ride in a cool or slightly cold place. This explains that potatoes are better stored in unheated cellars. In the dark, coupled with heat, the plant is the worst. For him, spring begins, the plant wakes up and reaches for the light, which is not expected. Without light, the process of photosynthesis is impossible, as a result of which chlorophyll is formed. Shoots grown without light are called etiolated, they are painted in White color and break easily.

We refused to send those plants that obviously do not tolerate shipping well, wither and rot at short delivery times. That is why you will not find any strawberries or felt cherries in our catalog. On the other hand, we can return to the expulsion of these plants when we have sufficiently studied their transport with a closed root system (ZRS), that is, in containers.

Processing of seedlings received by mail.

If the seedling has been on the road for a week, then it remains at rest and arrives in good condition. Two weeks is the period that should be considered critical. Longer periods are successful only when good conditions transportation.

The first steps after receiving the parcel. Please note that you are dealing with open ground plants - natives of the temperate cold zone, and not with indoor plants whose homeland is the tropics. In spring, the soil is always colder than the air. The diurnal temperature fluctuations are also different. Our plants "remember" all this and do not accept other conditions. The parcel should not be kept warm. In a city apartment, take it out to a shaded balcony (of course, if there is no strong, more than minus 3 about frost) or place it in a common refrigerator compartment. Before this, it is necessary to hide the package in order to provide access to fresh air.

Long-term preservation of seedlings before planting in the ground in spring.

If the plants are received early in the spring, and planting in the ground is not possible, they must be properly processed and stored. It is necessary to distinguish between short-term storage (within 2-3 days) - it was discussed in the previous chapter. And long - more than a week.

Correctly. The most favorable conditions for the preservation of plants before planting is moderate cold, with relatively high humidity. It can be a cold cellar with a temperature of minus 3 to plus 6, a balcony or a cold loggia, a common refrigerator compartment. If you have stocked soil, then it is good to plant the plants in pots and store them in this form, periodically watering with snow water.

Not properly. Seedlings should not be kept at room temperature until planting. This inevitably causes premature awakening and growth of seedlings. Plants are pampered, and this does not bode well for them.

Actions with seedlings received by mail in the fall.

If enough time (at least two weeks) remains before the onset of stable frosts, the plants must be planted in open ground. In this case, two options are possible - landing in a permanent place and temporary digging until spring.

Planting a seedling in a permanent place. Planting should be carried out in accordance with the recommendations for agricultural technology, for each particular crop. (You can find them on the page " Articles".)

Let's take a closer look at shelter. Shelter is carried out with a decrease in average daily temperatures to low positive values ​​\u200b\u200b(from zero to + 5 °). At this stage, it is necessary to overlay the planted plants with spruce or pine spruce branches. When snow falls, it is advisable to cover them with seedlings from above. In the spring, as soon as all the snow melts, the spruce branches should be removed.

Digging in open ground until spring. The perfect place for digging, it should be protected from cold winds, elevated, with sufficient snow cover in winter. The soil must have good drainage. An important condition is the absence of mouse-like rodents. Shelter is done in the same way as in the previous paragraph.

A dig in a cold cellar. Unheated closed cellar with dirt floor - one of the beam

the best ways to preserve plants. The temperature there usually stays near zero or has insignificant negative values, and the humidity is always high. If possible, it makes sense to lower several buckets of fresh (not from the garden) soil of light composition into the cellar in advance and leave it in the form of a mound. Dig seedlings into it. Remember that in the spring the cellar can be flooded. melt waters, which is unacceptable.

When mail is dormant, it must be hurried.

This is in the sense that if you have the opportunity, then strain your post office in the part that you are waiting for a parcel that does not tolerate long storage in heat. Workers at the post office are now chronically lacking and delivery times are not met. But this is not so bad if it were not for cases of unfortunate mistakes and negligence. In our practice, there were several cases when the parcel lay quietly in the addressee's post office, and the postal workers "did not hesitate" to deliver the notification, or lost it, while the addressee attacked us with his telegrams.

Storage at the post office, as well as in general a long stay in any warm room, is dangerous for sent seedlings!

Something about the duties and guarantees of the mail.

If the postal department fulfilled its obligations exactly, then the seedlings by mail would entirely come in good condition. Here are some of the commitments currently in place.

Terms of sending postal items to different regions of Russia from Vladimir.

Here is what was hanging on the information stand of our post office at the beginning of 2012:

- Delivery within the city - 2 days.

- Delivery in the region - 4 days.

— Delivery to other cities of Russia - 7 days.

It is not clear whether exceeding these deadlines is a reason for filing claims.

The new location of a seedling received by mail in the spring.

The first month is the most important and responsible period, it is not without reason that it is often called nursing. If the plants are weakened, and their leaves are etiolated, you need to treat them as carefully as possible. First, the seedlings should be shaded. But the shading should not be very strong, and as the green color returns, it is gradually removed.

Correctly. As soon as possible, plant seedlings received by mail in open ground and water. Shade them from direct rays, until the process of photosynthesis is restored in the etiolated shoots, and they become green. Watering should be regular, but not excessive. For planting, it is advisable to choose a place protected from the winds. The soil must have good drainage. Watering is indicated to be carried out with a weak solution (in accordance with the instructions) of root formation stimulants (Kornevin, Heteroauxin, etc.). When the first leaves appear (as well as etiolated shoots at the beginning), it is advisable to spray them several times with a spray gun with the same solutions.

Not properly. Landing in the sun under strong drying winds, on lean, quickly losing moisture soil. Irregular and insufficient watering.

Remember!

Carefully fill out the order form! An incorrectly written apartment number or postal code (even if the error is only one digit) will result in the return of the shipment to the addressee in the future, and this is a disaster. Please note that mailers are no longer looking for an addressee, as was the case in the middle of the last century. By the way, this also applies to money transfers, if our postal code on the transfer form is indicated incorrectly, then at best we will have to go to another post office, at worst, the transfer will be sent back.

After reading the information on the received parcel, first of all, set the time it will be on the way. If it exceeds a week, then the shoots may already be etiolated. In this case, unpack the parcel with extreme caution, take out the plants carefully so as not to break the delicate bleached sprouts.

Russian mail is definitely not the most efficient mail in the world. But what cannot be accused of it is embezzlement of other people's money. For all the time (since 1995), we cannot name a single reliable case of the loss of a postal order due to the fault of the mail. Note that there were cases when transfers were lost as a result of dishonest actions of our mail workers, that is, they forged our signature and received money instead of us. Fortunately, this was always and very quickly found out and they were fired. At the same time, our clients did not even know about the adventures of their money.

In connection with the desire to send parcels with seedlings as quickly as possible, the time of spring mailing is a suffering for us, requiring the exertion of all forces. Therefore, during this period, we are in an extreme degree of fatigue, so there is simply no strength to answer calls. Please, if you have any questions, it is better to contact us by e-mail or by regular mail.

We hope that we didn’t scare you too much with the dangers lurking when buying seedlings by mail?! We just, without concealment and in a concentrated form, showed all the subtleties and dangerous moments of this case. In this light, we consider you, our customers, as partners, on whom the final result also depends. After all, we are as interested in success as you are. If so, then your knowledge of all of the above will significantly bring our common success closer. Forewarned is forearmed!

For our part, we always try to perform our work professionally and responsibly.

There is an opinion that buying plants by mail is risky. But there are cases when buying plants by mail is justified. For example, you liked the plant and want to have it in your garden or at home, there is no other way to buy a plant in the region or there are other reasons.

In our collection of flowers there are a lot of copies that came to us by mail. We regularly exchange plants with collectors and gardeners, or buy plants online.

Ours is in its third year. All plants offered in our store are grown in our gardens and in our apartments.

We start sending out orders with plants around mid-April and end in November, depending on weather conditions.

When sending plants by mail, we always pay attention to how they are packed, how many were on the way, and in what condition they arrived to our customers.

In 2012-2013, we sent out more than 1,000 parcels and parcels to different regions of Russia and gained sufficient experience to draw conclusions about what factors harm or contribute to the successful sending of plants by mail.

We send valuable postal parcels. On the way, the plants spend 6-14 days in total darkness. We try to pack the plants so that they can move difficult conditions with less loss.

When we use moistened, it is a very good preservative, stores moisture well, has a disinfecting and anti-putrefactive property.

The physiological state of the plant is of great importance for successful shipment. Therefore there are some well-known rules digging up various garden plants and sending them by mail:

• better transferring in the spring, when they have just begun to grow and the leaves have not yet unfolded;
• and expelled during the dormant period. For some, this is spring, for example, comilina, and others, hazel grouse, bloom in spring and are transplanted and sent by mail only in the second half of summer.
• are sent by mail only in autumn.
• We send low ones from spring to autumn, for example, etc. High ones - only in spring, they are tall), buzulniki,.
• (rooted) tolerate postage well throughout the warm season.

Great value for a successful shipment air temperature along the entire route of the parcel. Critical for plants negative temperatures, but too warm weather (temperature during the day more than 28 ° C) is also detrimental to plants in parcels.

Therefore, in the spring we try to send orders first to the southern regions of Russia, then to all the rest.

On our website, “Flowers by Russian Post” is announced. After receiving the parcel with the order, we suggest that buyers make Photo review about the order.

Our clients have not remained indifferent, and we have received quite a lot. All buyers who sent their photo reports received a 10% discount on their next order in our store.

Thanks to photo reports, we can judge how successful our plant packaging is.

We send some plants in containers, this method of packaging is very successful for many plants in the warm season of summer. Primroses, hydrangeas tolerate shipping well.

In cool weather (early spring and late autumn), we additionally insulate the plants with polyethylene foam (substrate for laminate). Its advantages are increased moisture resistance, low thermal conductivity and low weight.

We pack the plants in the parcel box very tightly so that during the shipment there is no movement inside and the plants are not damaged.

We also put an invoice for the order and, if required, in the parcel.

After receiving the parcel, it is advisable to shed the plants well, sprinkle with epin and plant them in the garden in a permanent place. Desirable shade the plants at first from the sun and do not forget to water when the soil dries. It is possible to treat plants with a weak solution of root formation stimulants (Kornevin, heteroauxin, etc.)

We, as well as our customers, are interested in a good end result.

We try to take into account our experience in sending plants and want to leave our customers with a good experience working with us. Let our flower collections flourish and give joy to people!

Look at the received orders.
Read

If there is a need to send a plant, then it is advisable to follow a few rules and you will succeed.

Firstly! Post and large courier services are reluctant to send plants or refuse to do so. They had them in prohibited attachments. No one wants to be responsible for the safety of such a delicate product. At the moment, it seems, only poisonous plants are banned.

1. The weather should not be very hot (up to 30 is better) or frosty. Otherwise, the plants may boil, dry out or freeze. The most comfortable temperature is 10-20 degrees

2. Plants must be watered no later than 3 days in advance, no later! Well, a maximum of 2. If you pour water the day before, then there is a high probability of decay, because. the plant itself will not have time to absorb moisture, and it cannot absorb something normally, being under stress, but there is excess moisture around. It is advisable to add fungicides to this watering to prevent root rot. The soil should be of medium moisture;

3. Speaking of stress. It would be nice to treat it with some kind of anti-stress for plants, and upon arrival with epin.

4. The best substrate is moss, you can free the roots from the soil and wrap them in well-pressed sphagnum moss;

5. If the plant is sent in its native soil, then the soil must be fixed. Lay napkins or makeup remover discs or toilet paper on top and secure crosswise with narrow adhesive tape. Now, porridge from sheets with soil will not come to you;

6. So that the crown does not dry out, it would be nice to put the plant in a zip bag. Depending on the tenderness of the plant, close or not the zip lock on the bag. We prefer to close any sent plants. This allows you not to worry about delays in the mail or too hot weather on the way;

7. In order not to wrinkle the plant itself, you need to provide it with solid packaging. Usually, a glass with a plant is wrapped with several layers of newspaper, paper, cardboard. Who likes what. BUT! It is necessary to glue the glass itself with adhesive tape to this tube. And so that the plant does not hang out in the package itself. fasten OVER the cup and stick to the tube or not stick. One glue is enough. Then the plant will not fall on top of the cup / pot.

8. It is desirable to send by 1st class, EMS or courier services. The term of such a parcel is up to 9 days. In practice, the parcel goes less. ;

9. It is advisable to tape the stem with the side wall or put napkins in (spread it out and then crumple it. Do not put it folded in 4 layers. It will be tough). He then will not ride in the package itself.

10. If the shipment is by air, then there is a risk of overcooling the plant during the flight if it travels in the luggage compartment, and not hand luggage. This means that it is necessary to isolate the tops from any surfaces, that is, wrap them with a napkin, also lay napkins between the leaves and only then pack them in a zip bag and a newspaper. For air transportation in the luggage compartment, it is necessary to warm the plant well;

The photo shows the plant without soil. a plant in a cup and with soil is packed a little differently.

11. And all this in a box, so as not to wrinkle. Do not neglect this point, please. Leaves in the cold should not touch the plastic !!! The fact is that in the cold the leaves release moisture. but also in zip. packages, condensate also falls out. And it turns out that the leaves are in contact with water. And it is an excellent conductor of heat / cold. As a result, we get hypothermia of the plant. The solution to the issue is the presence of hygroscopic materials: moss, napkins;

12. Tubes with plants or bags are stacked so that there is no free space even if the box is shaken. Try to slightly move your hand in any direction. If you succeeded, then the empty space needs to be filled with crumpled paper. This will save the plants from excessive shaking;

13. And it does not matter in what order you will put and / or put tubes with plants. After all, you have already secured them enough so that you can turn them in different directions and throw them too. they are no longer afraid of anything, except that something heavy will fall on them and crumple, so when packing in a box, you can both put and put them in a box. make the most of your parcel space;

14. It would be good to fix all the tubes together from above and to the edges of the box with tape, so that there would be less chance of movement of the tubes inside the box;

15. In the case of air transportation, it is necessary to pack the entire parcel inside, and sometimes outside too penofol- Laminate underlay. 0.5 mm thickness is sufficient.

Fasten with a stapler and fasten all the cracks with tape. It is a very good thermal insulator. With such packaging, even the most delicate plants will come to you whole. It is important that the plants sent are healthy, otherwise mold and bacteria will do their dirty work in the dark and stale air. And it will be very difficult to reanimate such a plant.

And finally, one piece of advice. It is advisable to keep the sent plants in a zip bag before sending them to be sure that rotting will not begin. After all, a lot of bacteria fly in the open air and in conditions of stale air and high humidity, and even in the dark, there is a high probability of their reproduction, and hence the decay of plants. If this happened before shipment, then it is enough to treat the plant with fungicides and shed the soil with them. This will give immunity to the plant.

Good luck to you in this responsible business!!!

In "i" b 4(163) of February 5 (p. 10) we told our readers about the rules governing the import and export from Russia of plants, seeds, vegetables and fruits. Today we will talk about sending all this stuff by mail. Since strictly defined rules also apply to this matter, the "i" correspondent turned to Mikhail Starovoitov, head of the border checkpoint for plant quarantine at the Moscow International Post Office, for clarification.

Strictly speaking, the border of Russia passes through the terminal of the Moscow International Post Office. Therefore, all the rules for the import and export of plants existing in the country fully apply to international mail. So, for example, if we have a ban on the import of rooted plants and planting material by private individuals, then it is valid regardless of whether the individual imports them on his own or receives them from abroad by mail. At the same time, times legal entities, whose occupation is related to crop production, is allowed to import plants and seeds into Russia, then for these purposes they may well use the services of the International Post Office.

Employees of the phyto-sanitary control of the International Post Office perform the same functions and are guided by the same rules as the phyto-inspectors working at the border checkpoints of Russia. And every parcel or package containing "quarantineable attachments", such as seeds, bulbs, cuttings, nuts, cereals or fresh fruits, is subject to mandatory inspection.

As practice shows, the most common type of quarantine items contained in parcels sent from abroad are planting materials.

If the parcel that came to a private person contains less than 50% of seeds or bulbs, and most of it is made up of other things allowed for shipment, then all planting materials from the parcel are withdrawn, and an appropriate document is drawn up - an act of withdrawal. One copy remains in the quarantine laboratory, the second is sent to the customs service of the International Post Office, and the third is included in the parcel with the obligatory note: "Import of planting material to Russia is prohibited for private individuals." And only after that the parcel is sent to the addressee. If the parcel consists of more than 50% of planting material, then it is immediately sent back to the sender's address.

Sometimes parcels addressed to legal entities whose occupation has nothing to do with crop production fall into the hands of laboratory staff. For example, some Vasya sends his friend Petya a small package containing a bag of seeds. But he does not send it to his home address, but to the address of a company owned by Petya, naively believing that in this way the seeds will be avoided. It wasn't there: in this case, firms not related to crop production are no different from private individuals.

Another fairly common type of "quarantine materials" coming to Russia from abroad is dried fruits, nuts, legumes and cereals. If all this is in vacuum packaging or, according to the inscription on the label, has undergone preliminary heat treatment, then the employees of the quarantine laboratory calmly send the parcel to the addressee. But this is rare: the vast majority of parcels with this kind of content come from Asian or African countries and are a mixture of home-made dried fruits, cereals and beans mixed in one box.

As a result of the opening of one such parcel, employees of the International Post Office recently spent half a day chasing insects that filled almost the entire building. Therefore, now a huge refrigeration unit has been installed in the quarantine laboratory, so that in case of emergency it would be possible to immediately put the "live" parcel into the freezer. Naturally, there is no question of any further dispatch of all these "moving" dates and nuts.

Much less now began to arrive at the International Post Office parcels consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, but such cases do happen. The majority, in the professional slang of phyto-controllers, "fresh" comes from countries that were part of the USSR in the past - Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. But - alas! - Those whom relatives and friends decide to please with Moldovan apples or Georgian grapes will be severely disappointed.

According to current health regulations, the international shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables is prohibited. This rule applies to both the CIS countries and the Baltic countries, which are also foreign states for us.

Therefore, if, among other things, a couple of fresh cucumbers are found in the parcel, then only "other" will reach the addressee, and the cucumbers will be confiscated. If the parcel consists entirely of "fresh", then it is subject to destruction. Moreover, no acts of seizure or destruction in this case are sent to the recipient of the parcel.

Cases of sending Russian planting materials and samples of agricultural products abroad are very rare. Although, in principle, everything can be sent from Russia, except, as we have already said, fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as strategic raw materials - seeds of certain varieties, collection material, and similar items of state value. Another thing is that the vast majority of such parcels and parcels will still be returned to you or will be completely destroyed by employees of foreign phyto-control bodies.

So if you want to send dill seeds near Moscow for your foreign aunt's name day, keep in mind: the aunt most likely will not receive a birthday gift.

Valeria MOZGANOVA