Shipping and Delivery
Shipping a live plant is meaningfully harder than shipping a product. The plant is in a box with no light for several days, it is being handled by people who do not know it is alive, and it arrives to somebody who has no idea what it should look like. This page explains how we handle each of those problems.
How we pack
The root ball
Wrapped in coir or a fitted sleeve so the soil stays around the roots rather than shaking loose. A plant that arrives with its roots exposed rarely recovers well.
The soil surface
Sealed with a mesh cover or a fitted pulp disc. This is what stops soil spilling into the box, which is the single most common complaint about plants shipped by suppliers who do not do it.
The pot
Held in a moulded pulp or foam insert sized to the pot, so it cannot slide, tip or knock against the box wall. Terrariums and glass items get a second insert and a double walled outer box.
The canopy
Taller plants and bonsai travel with a paper cage around the foliage so branches are not pressed flat by the box above them in a courier stack.
The box
Marked as live plants, this way up, and handle with care. Courier staff do respond to that marking more often than not.
Lead times
| Order type | Dispatch within | Transit |
|---|---|---|
| Plain pots, under 100 units | 2 to 3 working days | 2 to 5 days depending on PIN code |
| Logo printed pots, under 100 | 7 to 10 working days after approval | 2 to 5 days |
| Logo printed pots, 100 to 500 | 10 to 14 working days | 2 to 5 days |
| Terrariums, above 100 | 12 to 15 working days | 3 to 5 days |
| Bonsai, above 50 | 3 to 5 weeks | 3 to 6 days |
| Hampers, above 100 | 12 to 20 working days | 2 to 5 days |
Add two weeks to every line above for orders scheduled around Diwali.
Delivery coverage
Where we deliver
Across India, to roughly 19,000 PIN codes. Metro and tier one cities receive in two to three days. Tier two and three cities take three to five days. Remote and hill PIN codes can take five to seven days, and we will tell you at the quote stage if any address on your list falls into that group.
What we cannot ship
Live plants cannot be shipped by air freight in most cases, so everything above a 5 inch pot travels by surface. That is why larger plants take longer and cost more to ship. Some states restrict the movement of soil and plant material across borders, and for those addresses we ship in sterile coco peat instead of garden soil.
Multi address delivery
What we need
A spreadsheet with recipient name, full address including landmark, PIN code and phone number. The phone number is not optional, because courier partners call before delivery on the large majority of parcels.
How dispatch is sequenced
For lists above 200 addresses we sort by region and dispatch the furthest PIN codes first, working inward. That way parcels land within roughly the same three day window rather than being spread over a fortnight. It also means we need your address list earlier than you might expect.
Tracking
You receive a single sheet listing every recipient with a tracking number and delivery status, updated until the last parcel lands. You do not have to chase individual courier links.
When something goes wrong
Damage in transit
Send photos within 48 hours of delivery. We ship a replacement at no cost. No form, no restocking fee, no argument. This applies at every order size including a single unit.
Failed delivery
We hold the parcel and attempt redelivery rather than returning it to origin. Failed attempts are flagged on your tracking sheet so you know which recipients to follow up with. Closed offices during festival weeks are the most common cause.
Wrong address
If a parcel is undeliverable because the address was incomplete, we contact you for a correction and redeliver. One correction per parcel is included. Repeated redelivery to a changed address carries the courier charge.
Plant looks unwell on arrival
Some settling is normal. Leaf tip browning after a long transit, a slight droop, or an air plant looking grey and dry are all expected and recover within a week or two. Broken stems, significant leaf loss, a cracked pot or soft mushy growth are not normal and are covered by the replacement policy.
Delivery timing advice
Avoid Friday deliveries
A plant that arrives at a closed office on Friday afternoon sits in a dark reception until Monday. Mid week deliveries are consistently better.
Land festive gifts early
Aim to deliver three to five days before a festival rather than on the day. Courier networks run at capacity in the final week and offices close unpredictably.
Tell recipients to expect a delivery
A short internal message or a heads up email to clients measurably reduces failed deliveries, particularly for home addresses.