When you ship daylilies, do you do anything extra to them such as soaking in
a fungicide, etc. before preparing them for packaging?

I have not shipped before, but can see how they are packaged just looking at what
I have received. The ones in damp newspaper looked very good.

I google searched and did the search on ATP, but did not an answer as yet.

Everyone does it differently, of course.

The few I have shipped this fall were soaked in a bleach water solution then dipped in a fungicide solution before allowing to dry. Sometimes I dried overnight and others I dried just for a few hours.
I have had someone ask me not to dip in a fungicide.

Now how long to soak in bleach water depends how long you want or need to. One person I know soaks them for 30 min to get the roots as white as possible then dips in fungucide to kill anything because once they go into a dark, sometimes damp ( if not completely dry), and hot (depending on when shipped) enclosure of a box; it can be a good breeding ground for fungus or mold.

Others only use the bleach water while some only use a fungicide because they say the bleach stresses the daylilies even more. I have heard of some doing an insecticide as well. I have gotten some that probably had none of the above. Some people dry them completely before shipping while I have gotten them and the paper is damp so they weren't completely dry ( I believe some keep them damp on purpose so the roots don't dry out too much).

There are a few people on here who ship daylilies so I'm sure you'll get plenty of replies.

Michele,

Is that a 10% bleach solution? I can see where some would not want the extra chemicals
on their plants, organically speaking. That aside, I am thinking of what constitutes the
healthiest condition for shipping, which you have covered many differences very well.

Many thanks.

I think those areas that are prone to rust will soak in a fungicide or bleach solution before shipping. I do nothing being from the north. Mine are air dried for a few hours and then shipped.

yes a 10% solution, although I don't really measure I just pour what I think is about right.

I just dig and wash, then air dry. If you ship in the summer or anytime in the warmer weather then it is importand to make sure they are dry before wrapping and packing. I usually wrap each bunch of daylilies in newspaper and put in newspaper lined box. If I have any lose spaces I stuff with crushed newspapers.

I don't soak them in bleach or anything like that but I don't have rust, thank goodness.

Thanks Cindy and Rita,

I see it probably depends on what zone one is in, and how hot it is.
I'm taking lots of notes guys, this site is Daylily Class 101 to Advanced,
and I am learning lots of good stuff.

FYI, One only needs a 10% bleach solution. It also takes 5 minutes to kill most pathogens using bleach. I am passing on this information not as someone that has shipped daylilies before (I haven't) but as someone that works in a medical lab. This is what we use in a laboratory to disinfect counters, instruments, etc. This 5 minutes can also be part of the air drying process - ie: when we disinfect counters, and instruments in the lab (we are talking disinfecting, not sterilization) we spray or wipe using a 10% bleach solution and allow it to air dry for 5 minutes. After that we can rinse or do whatever we need to do. soaking for 5 or more minutes would accomplish the same thing. Diluted bleach in the lab is only good for 24 hours. So if you are doing this process over several days, make it fresh each day ( at least bleach is relatively inexpensive)

Also, bleach is a de-protienizer, and I use it in the lab to clean instruments. Will it affect the plants by soaking too long? I don't know. But that is why criminals (think CSI, NCIS & Criminal Minds tv shows and their comments about "I smell bleach") use it.

This is just a warning to keep my friends here away from the: "If a little bit is good, a lot might be better" train of thought.

I also do not know if it is better to dip,then go directly into a fungicide - does it react with the fungicide? Perhaps it is better to bleach dip, dry, fungicide dip..... Those are questions that I would hope the answers would be on the bottle of fungicide, available on the company website, or from scientists that perhaps may be lurking here, or those with experience that I lack. I would hate for the two things to 'cancel each other out'

That is why this forum is so informative - this stuff is daylily shipping 101 as Shirley says. And thanks for the info, I am sure that someday I WILL ship some daylilies and will refer back to this thread. ~Jan

Being I am in the rust belt, after washing and drying I spray the plants with Headline (fungicide)before boxing them. I never ship them wet or damp.Shipping them dry has worked well for us for several years.

Jan, I think your info regarding pathogens is excellent, and will
use the info around the home, not just for daylilies.

Fred, thanks for including the name of the fungicide. We use a fungicide
on other plants in the garden, such as phlox, and the one we chose does not work very well.

Adding to notes.