You’d think the hardest part of moving would be the heavy lifting, and yeah it is, but when you’re a plant collector, moving your plants is worse. I totally understand why now when people move they sell off their collections. I have been delaying a chop and extend on my 7ft tall PPP. I thought I’ll just do it after I move. Well… she didn’t fit in the moving truck! So I had to tape the pot shut, lay her sideways, and hope for the best. Luckily, we were only moving about 20 miles away, so my plants didn’t get too stressed being in the back of a moving truck on a 96 degree day.
There is a happy ending though. All my plants made it with minimal damage! See the last pic for my new set up, which will be my very plant filled living room.
by RotomEngr
32 Comments
On the other hand, your new house is beautiful, especially that little round edge on the wall by the stairs 😀
I moved from Orlando to Seattle and sadly could only bring about 5 of my plants with me due to us driving with our 2 cats and dragon!
Saddest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life was give away all my plants before… I’m determined next time we move, I will make sure every plant comes with me
We’ve got 55 plants and I’m dreading for moving day
You are not in the clear yet! Ficus and many others sometimes decline rapdily when conditions change, light, watering routine etc. are all important to more delicate species and the results of that are slow instead of instant.
Also: when moving plants long distance be aware of phytosanitation! Moving plants means moving around soil and pests, those could prove detrimental to the local wildlife, fellow garden enthousiasts and agriculture! 20 miles is fine unless you are on the frontline of some outbreak and houseplants are generally better than outdoor plants but still, be mindfull!
I have an adansonii Indonesian mint that’s taller than me now, like 6-7ft now. I’m dreading the day I have to move lol
Congrats on getting yours from A to B though, not a lot of people have the patience to do it
My husband was in the military for 20 years. Moved every plant, every time 💚 I did give a couple to my bestie on our last move when he retired. There was one year we traveled through an ice storm in Atlanta and my yucca survived in the bed of a pickup.
I love that she’s in a pink pot…how appropriately cliche in the best way. Congrats on the successful move.
I can tell we’d be friends. First your plant packing style, then the blue tape outlining where I assume the couch will go 😍
Glad they all made it! I’ve got two particularly tall plants in my apartment that I know I won’t ever get out the door or in the elevator. So I won’t even easily be able to see them. 🤷♂️😔. Guess I need to just stay put 😁.
I’m moving from Connecticut to Florida next month. I’m dreading how I’m going to manage to get them all down there with me. I refuse to sell, give away. I have to figure something out
I moved a whole bucket garden once during a move. We were waiting for a rental house to finish renovating and I didn’t want to delay the garden so I did a bucket garden. Unfortunately at the new home my garden got attacked by grubs and all died
Tbh it’s not really all that cost effective to leave so much empty space in a U-Haul though.
I’m sure you had your reasons to put them in the moving truck vs in a car (excluding the 7fter obvs), but I recently moved about a 30min drive from my old place and opted to transfer plants in my car over a couple trips so I could keep them from moving around or dumping over during transport. There was some minor mechanical damage but overall they didn’t skip a beat!
I’ve moved with my plants many times. Don’t be surprised when they yellow and lose leaves over the coming weeks/months. The trauma from vibration and movement during travel, and getting used to a new environment is to be expected.
Congrats on getting them all transported!
I moved 3 hrs away with about 50 plants, put them in the back of the truck & they all made it! I didn’t lose any!
Yes with just a 20 mile trip, I would have even taken them slowly a few at a time to give them minimal stress. But I’m glad you got them to your new place !!
You do want you have to when you’re a plant lover!! When my husband I moved from Illinois to Indiana. We had to rent a separate U-Haul Box truck just for the plants. I had 8 potted 6 foot tall Arborvitae from our patio, The buyers of our home said they would be ripping out all our landscaping because they didn’t want any maintenance and asked if we wanted to dig up as much as possible to take with. Back then, I was a professional landscape designer and had beds that I designed for ‘examples’ for my clients. So… we basically had a truck for just the plants. The houseplants were in the Van (had a full size for work) When we would stop for a break, the plants were the first thing I checked. It was a pain, but I would do it again. Since when we moved this last time, buyers of our home said they loved the landscaping… drove by 6 months after closing and they had cleared the entire lot of everything but the house and lawn. 😭
This is true.😞💔
I was a new plant mom last year. I collected so many rare plants and they were mostly gifts, cuttings, props or spare from other plant collectors in a group who were very kind to share them to me.
When I moved out to another state by plane, I could not take them so I had to sell and give them away.
I am looking forward to starting over, however.🙏
I was like oh its just 1 PPP, they’ll be fine. *pans out to 49 pothos* 😬
We filled a truck and took a whole separate trip with just the plants 🫢
Haha, just did this. Thankfully only moved in-town so the plants just had a little holiday under some grow lights in a friends garage for a week 😂
I’m moving 11 hrs away at the end of August, but couldn’t help myself 🥲 more for the hoard 😈
https://preview.redd.it/pghiz7q07oaf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d603032e5d16187535f4af0ef85d515547d0cf32
I had to leave three plants to the person who purchased my house because I cannot fit one more plant into the moving truck, car, van, etc.
Take cuttings next time. Starting over in a new place can be nice.
Im moving all of mine next week haha
Why sell? I give them a good trim and take them with me.
When transporting large plants pack them using polyester fiber. Wrap the whole length of the plant with clumps of polyester fiber and secure each section with rubber bands then wrap the whole thing with cardboard fill any gaps inside with more fiber and secure each section with rubber bands.
This way the leaves won’t be exposed and prone to breakage. Just gently push the leaves up when wrapping it around the fiber that will decrease the average width of the whole plant and take up less space
Personally I would prop and box all my plants dry rooted so that I don’t have to haul large amounts of soil and risk breaking the plants or other things.
I hope that last pic isn’t the final setup as that seems like a dark corner unless you have an extensive growlight setup
Yes I packed everything except the plants till the last minute, put them in boxes to keep them safe and out the why
when i moved two years ago, i made a plant only trip to the new place. it was only 500 miles away and i had the time for the trip, but it was so worth it to have a little control over it. i ended up filling three empty rooms with all my guys, and i still managed to sell a few of the non sentimental ones.
I gave my plants to a friend before my cross-country airplane trip. Didn’t want to but didn’t have the time or resources to bring them. They are thriving. I’m just so grateful they are in good hands