Moving Advice

stelliott

Thank you for organizing these forums. As a recent "addict" to the world of bonsai I have found this site extremely helpful in advancing my education. My question is moving a pre-bonsai collection across the country, from Northern California to Washington D.C.

I have three options. 1) Mail them across country 2) ship them with the moving van 3) Drive them across with me (current plan). All six trees, but one are in one gallon nursery pots. Trees include: 1) Two Hinoki Cypress' 2) Trident Maple 3) Chinese Elm 4) Japanese Red Pine and 5) Chinese Juniper.

Are there strategies I should use when moving the trees? Window shades? Humidity tray?
Thank you.
SE

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bisjoe

I would stick to the "car with you" plan. I moved mine from your area to here near Seattle that way, on an 85F August day, but then it was only 14 hours.
As long as you make the trip in less than 4-5 days you should not suffer any problems from them being "indoors". On the other hand, if it's hot and you use the A/C you can dry out the air and cause them to lose moisture, but a humidity tray is not practical. I'd suggest placing them on trays that have several layers of newspaper or paper towels that you can spray with water
to keep damp. If it's not too hot, keep a couple of windows open enough to give them fresh air and a gentle breeze.

waltr

Trees that I have received through the mail had the pots wrapped in plastic, the kind used to wrap skids for shipment. A heavy duty plastic wrap should work.
Water the pots throughly, let drain then wrap. If you bring them in the car you have the option to check the soil and water if needed.

All of your trees should do fine in DC with proper winter protection.
Good luck with your move.

stelliott

Thank you. I appreciate the advice on moving the little sylvan project to the new home.

ficusfanatic

i moved a year and a half ago from upstate ny to denver. i mailed them to myself, i barerooted them all, put some moist sphagnum on the roots , then bagged the rootball. they all made it through the shipping, and actually did well for the week after i got them like that until i could repot. pots were sent in a separate box. all in all they were like this for about three weeks. all tropicals btw.

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-chris-