How about this bonsai basin?

[Doug J]

I don't recall any plastic, but there were not issues of it sticking to the pot, it came right off. There could have been a protective layer of thin plastic, I honestly don't recall. It's a bit of a messy process, but certainly no more so than if the thing was shipping in packing peanuts. It's similar to the stuff you buy at a hardware store to fill in a gap in a wall or whatever...comes out somewhat liquid, then expands and hardens to 'form fit' the pot.

One thing about buying these Yixing Pots...the walls are very thick, and the pot dimensions are given in outside diameter. I took my dimensions as inside diameter, and I bought an undersized pot the first time. Make sure you account for this if you need a really specific size.

You just start peeling it off...some pieces come off in larger chunks than others. Have your vacuum cleaner handy.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Doug, do they put the pot in plastic and then surround it with the foam? How do they do that? How easy does it come apart?

Peter—I have received three from them shipped in foam. The first two were covered with a plastic film/paper product that prevent the foam from getting onto the pot and it was separated in the middle by a layer of the film. This meant it was easy to just lift out the top layer of foam and pull out the pots. The last one I got was not as carefully wrapped before foaming and I had to pretty much tear the foam apart but the pot was wrapped so no foam got on it. The boxes are very substantial so you’d have to whack it with a 10 lb sledgehammer or axe to do any damage.