Aloha Danielle,

A lot of how a plant is packed depends on where it is being sent from and where it is being sent to. California, Arizona, Louisiana and (is it Texas?) don't allow anything with roots to be mailed into them. I don't think any of them want dirt to be mailed since it can have insect eggs and other unwanted bits of debris. Basically, remove the soil, check for bugs, disease, etc. and then wrap the roots in wet or moist newspapers. Wrap the whole thing in plastic bags. I like to secure the root end to the box somehow, so it won't crush the leaves if the box is upside down. Take the whole thing to your local state plant inspection station, let them inspect the plant, the box and write the addresses down. Rewrap the plant, seal it in the box and the inspectors will put their stamp of approval on the box's tape. Then it is ready to be mailed and it won't be confiscated by the postal service.

I've had better luck with using the U.S. postal service than with some of the other services. I think it had to do with the routes the boxes were sent, but some bananas sent via a service other than the post office arrived damaged from being overheated.

You can probably leave the leaves on it. Prune away the dead ones. If the person planting it wants to prune it further, then they can. At least, that's the way I'd do it.

A hui hou,
Cathy

Aloha Cathy!

Thank you so much for the instructions, they are perfect. I didn't realize it was so complicated, I guess my other plants have slipped through the cracks. I am sending it to Illinois so I probably will have to ship it priority anyway so it doesn't die. Hope you are having nice weather in Hawaii. I have a cousin that lives in Honolulu, I have to go out and visit her soon, I've never been.

Well, take care and Happy Growing!
:) Firegurl
Danielle