Shipping or traveling with Bonsai/Plants

[Mikecheck123]

The one thing I would add to Leo's comment - it all depends on the time of year. I moved all my trees from California to North Carolina in late March. Three days in a truck... and they didn't skip a beat.

Not sure that even matters much. I moved in the middle of June. Four days in my SUV and none skipped a beat at all.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Not sure that even matters much. I moved in the middle of June. Four days in my SUV and none skipped a beat at all.

I was thinking more in terms of lack of A/C. The last time I drove from SoCal to NC it was in late June. We had to take the south route through El Paso, and the temp was over 100. Don't know how hot it would have been in a closed moving truck... but I assume hot enough to stress trees - particularly if I couldn't water them for three days.

 

[Mikecheck123]

I was thinking more in terms of lack of A/C. The last time I drove from SoCal to NC it was in late June. We had to take the south route through El Paso, and the temp was over 100. Don't know how hot it would have been in a closed moving truck... but I assume hot enough to stress trees - particularly if I couldn't water them for three days.

Yea I had AC. I was worried about drying out when the AC was running 11-12 hours a day, but it wasn't an issue.

 

[hemmy]

I was thinking more in terms of lack of A/C. The last time I drove from SoCal to NC it was in late June. We had to take the south route through El Paso, and the temp was over 100. Don't know how hot it would have been in a closed moving truck... but I assume hot enough to stress trees - particularly if I couldn't water them for three days.

Have you shared any pictures or stories of your great move? I’d love to know the logistics of how you moved a large collection. Refrigerated truck, watering the trees in the truck, packing techniques, etc.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Have you shared any pictures or stories of your great move? I’d love to know the logistics of how you moved a large collection. Refrigerated truck, watering the trees in the truck, packing techniques, etc.

No... and I can't recall that I took any, because I was in such a rush. We hadn't initially planned on moving right away, but with Covid shutting down the economy we decided to bug out of SoCal and live out Covid from our rural NC house.

Generally speaking, for the majority of my trees - especially the smaller ones - I bought large plastic storage totes at Costco, bare-rooted the trees, wrapped the root balls in wet paper towel and placed the root balls in plastic bags. I could get several small trees in each tote, but only one or two medium trees. The totes stacked well (up to four high) and were easy to secure in the moving trailer. The larger trees I had to leave in their pots, and I created rows between the totes as well as shelves by placing boards across every two totes.

Because it was March, 2020, the weather was cool, and we travelled through the center of the country... Albuquerque, Little Rock, Nashville, Asheville route. You can literally take the 40 freeway from right outside Vegas all the way to Raleigh without taking an exit. It was 2400 miles... which we did in three full days. Had to stay in Best Westerns because they allow you to have dogs. For the last two nights there were only a couple of people in the entire hotel. I never touched the trees the entire trip, and they came through with flying colors.

 

[namnhi]

Do we even know where is be traveling? I didn't see that mention in his post. If he is going somewhere out of the country then there is no point of event replying. I missed something?

 

[hemmy]

I bought large plastic storage totes at Costco, bare-rooted the trees, wrapped the root balls in wet paper towel and placed the root balls in plastic bags.

Thanks for the info. The totes are a great idea for stacking and limiting transpiration.