Why I made this
When I pack a plant for shipping, the big question is what the weather's doing along the way — do I need extra insulation, a heat pack, both? That's easy to answer for one order. But when you've got orders going all over the country, checking each destination adds up fast. I used to do it by hand: open the weather app on my phone, type in each destination, read the 7-to-10-day forecast, and note whether that box needed a heat pack or more insulation. Now picture doing that for 40 orders — five to eight minutes each. This checks them all at once, so I can see at a glance which packages are heading somewhere risky.
The temperatures I won't ship in
For the plants I sell, I try not to ship if it's going to be below 45°F or above 95°F along the way. That range is specific to my plants, though — someone shipping tougher plants might be fine well below 45 or above 95, so set the limits to what you actually grow and sell. I do have hard lines: I won't ship below 40°F or above 100°F, full stop — no overnight upgrade or amount of insulation changes that. And there are whole stretches I just don't ship: I paused everything through this summer's heat, and I close for winter from November through February, reopening in March. Even in the shoulder seasons, plenty of places are still cold enough to need a heat pack.
What I do when the forecast looks rough
I pack assuming the box will be in transit for about 10 days, so it has to keep the plant safe that whole time — not just the first day or two. If a destination's forecast looks risky, my default is to hold the order and let the buyer know. From there it depends: we might agree on a faster shipping upgrade, or if the buyer would rather not wait, I can add double insulation — it's case by case. Holding for weather is written into my policies, and I follow up with an email so nobody's left wondering where their plant is.