Buying indoor plants in winter: rules for selection and transportation. Transportation of indoor plants and flowers Transportation of large indoor plants

Usually in winter the desire to buy a new plant increases, so that at least there is some greenery inside the house. This always happens - the less greenery there is on the street, the greater the desire to green up the windowsill. But the trouble is that the plants sold in winter have already gone through the stress associated with transportation, and excess transportation (especially unsuccessful) can simply destroy them.
When we changed housing, I transported plants in the winter from the old place of residence to the new one. I transported it for a long time, in several stages: I have a lot of plants, and most of them are so large that it was possible to transport only one per trip. In the case of one or two plants, everything is simpler, but you need to adhere to certain rules.

Plants are usually ready to endure 10-15 minutes of cooling without damage - that’s what I took advantage of. In my case, the move was quite short.
But even when buying a new plant, the time spent in the cold is also short. While the box keeps warm, the car will already have time to warm up, or the plants will already end up in the subway (or other public transport), where it is quite warm and you don’t have to worry about the plants freezing.
This method, of course, does not work with large plants. Therefore, for large specimens, I made a bag (one meter wide and three meters long) from thin oilcloth. You can equally well use polyethylene or even paper (but the paper may tear).

The longest was bougainvillea - four meters long, as it turned out.

Before moving, she grew up, bending under the ceiling. Bougainvillea usually loses almost all its leaves after transport, but then grows new ones. As a result of the move, my bougainvillea did not shed a single leaf! She lost only two leaves, which simply did not fit in the bag and therefore froze on the street. However, she didn’t throw them off - I tore them off myself when I saw that they were frozen - they remained green, but withered. In addition to the transportation itself, it is important to properly prepare the plants for it. Before moving, I did not water them for several days so that there was no water in the ground that could freeze during transportation and damage the roots. Naturally, there is no need to spray the plants before the road either. For several days before transportation, it is better to refrain from watering and spraying - this can destroy the plants during winter transportation. The 80-centimeter pachypodium (I call it “cactus with leaves”) turned out to be a very difficult plant to transport. The problem was that it was too prickly, too big and overpowered the pot. In any case, it would have to be supported by the thorny trunk when carried and transported. A solution has been found! I attached pieces of foam plastic to the thorns in a wide layer (so that I could handle it with my hands), and wrapped the foam with wide tape so that it would not fall off. After such preparation, the plant was placed in an oilcloth “bag”. I carried the pachypodium, holding its pot in one hand, and with the other hand holding the plant by the part of the stem that I had “secured” with foam. Neither the pachypodium spines nor my hands were harmed as a result.
Probably, any large cacti can be transported in the same way.
If you do not plan to transport your plants from apartment to apartment in the winter, but just suddenly suddenly want to buy a plant you like in the store, I would advise you to postpone this purchase - after all, you do not have with you the necessary, prepared in advance, appropriate reliable packaging for plants.
And when you purposefully go to a flower shop in the cold season to buy a potted plant, why not take with you a large plastic bag or a folded cardboard box?

They will help

There are not many people who are enthusiastic about moving. Keepers of indoor plants especially dislike them. Packing clothes, dishes, a cat and a guinea pig - all this is nonsense compared to preparing indoor plants for moving. Every gardener, even a novice amateur, has his own secrets and knowledge in this area.

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• HOW TO TRANSPORT FLOWERS AND NOT LET THEM DIE ON THE ROAD?
• Indoor plants should be prepared in advance. In the bustle of getting ready, try to forget about your pets for three days and don’t water them. By the day of moving, the soil in the flower pots should be dry, as during a drought. To prevent dry soil from spilling out during transportation, cover it with cardboard circles that you can cut out yourself.

Long plants cause the most trouble when moving, so in order not to damage their stems, you need to stock up on wooden pegs. Insert a stake into the center of the pot and carefully tie the plant stems to it. If the plant is too fluffy and branchy, then you will need several stakes.

• The top part of large plants is the most unprotected and fragile. Protect it by wrapping it in a linen bag or oilcloth.
• When using the services of a transportation company and renting a large truck complete with loaders, warn the latter that flowers must be loaded last.
• Be sure to ensure that large plants are securely fastened.
• It also happens that it is not possible to transport flowers directly in pots. What to do in this case? Don't panic or get upset. Go to the store and buy moss. Next, you need to carefully remove the plants, cover their roots with damp moss and pack them in separate bags. To transport them, you will need a box, which must be lined with foam, but only if you are moving in the winter.
• In the warm season, immediately after arriving at a new place, indoor plants need to be unpacked and watered with lukewarm water. If the move took place in the winter, then you should not unpack the flowers right away. Let them get used to room temperature and only after a few hours remove the packaging.
• It is quite possible that you will have a desire to fertilize plants that have succumbed to such perverted torture. Do not do this under any circumstances! You can fertilize them only after they send out new shoots.

For some reason, in late autumn and winter there is a particularly strong desire to buy some new plant. This often happens when long, dreary evenings come. Probably, the lack of bright colors on the street is taking its toll, but the soul is asking for a holiday and some eye candy. And then the feet carry themselves to the flower shop.
And sometimes you just need it as a gift for someone, but you can’t cancel the frost outside.
How can you bring your desired purchase home without negative consequences?

When buying indoor plants in the cold season, you need to take into account that they have already experienced a lot of stress during the long journey from greenhouses to store shelves. And you need to carefully plan their transportation from the store to home so that they don’t...

Happy shopping and happy travel!

Irina Lukyanchik (Belarus)

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It is generally accepted that active efforts to grow plants occur from spring to autumn. Winter is a period of rest for most representatives of the green kingdom. But sometimes life circumstances develop in such a way that in the middle of a frosty winter, plants need to be transferred to a new apartment or brought to someone as a gift. This problem should be approached with all responsibility and then nothing bad will happen to gentle creatures.

Preparing to move

The plants should not be sprayed or watered before the upcoming transportation. The lump of earth should have time to dry by the time of the trip. This is explained by the fact that, firstly, during severe frost, ice crystals can form in the soil and damage the roots. And, secondly, a moistened lump of earth makes the container heavier and creates additional difficulties for transfer.

There are different ways to transport plants in winter. Here are the simplest and most practical of them:

Method 1

It is suitable for use under two conditions: if the plants are small and the trip in the cold does not take much time.

Flower pots are placed in a large cardboard box close to each other. The box must be closed at the top. In this form, green travelers safely endure the cold for up to half an hour.

Method 2

If the thermometer drops ominously, then it is better not to risk insulating the container for transportation. You can sprinkle warm sawdust between the pots. They will additionally maintain warm air and warm the flowers.

The box with the plants itself needs to be wrapped in several layers of burlap. An old wool blanket will also work for this purpose. To prevent the material from getting wet, it is better to make a polyethylene wrap on top. Such work may seem troublesome, but your favorite plants are guaranteed to survive the dangerous trip.

Method 3

For tall plants in large containers, it is more convenient to make a bag. It can be made from paper or polyethylene. The last option is, of course, more practical. If there is no ready-made bag that fits the size of the plant, then take a plastic sheet and use a stapler to make it yourself. To give the “package” a more compact shape, you can carefully tie the above-ground part with ropes, like a Christmas tree.
In case of a long trip or severe frost, it is advisable to make a heat-insulating layer of burlap or woolen fabric on top of the polyethylene, as in the previous method.

Method 4

Some plants have large thorns or prickles that pose a danger if handled awkwardly. To protect your hands, carefully place small pieces of foam on the sharp parts. And only then they are placed in a plastic bag.

Care after winter transportation

After the plants are warm in a new place, they must be immediately unpacked and watered with water heated to 25-28°C. It is not worth making the temperature warmer, since strong contrast is also harmful to the root system of plants.

The described methods for transporting plants in winter will help reduce stress and negative consequences for plants. Green friends will maintain their health and, with the arrival of spring, will delight the eye with lush growth and flowering.

One of the most common hobbies of modern women is growing indoor plants. Dear ladies never forget to water the flowers and always carefully monitor the temperature in the room where they are located. Moreover, some representatives of the fair sex love their roses and cacti so much that they even talk to them and perceive them as silent family members. Can you imagine how worried they are if suddenly there is a need to transport plants dear to their hearts? What if this also needs to be done during the cold season? That is why we decided to write this article.

Preparing flowers for moving.

We recommend that you do the following: purchase cardboard boxes for shipping. The ideal option, of course, is containers that will fit the size of the pots, that is, you will place one flower in one container. But even if you have to put 2-3 plants in each package, you shouldn’t be upset! You just need to put a seal between them that will prevent them from touching. This role can be played by crumpled paper, soft fabric, or foam rubber.

Next, a day or two before hour X, you should stop watering the plants - this is necessary so that the soil in the pots becomes sufficiently hard. This way, you can be sure of the safety of the roots even after traveling on uneven roads, because unlike wet soil, dry soil will not spill out of the containers so easily.

Just before moving, you have a lot of work to do. First, you should pack the plants. Branches and stems that can be easily damaged during transportation should be carefully wrapped in paper or plastic bags. (Of course, it's best to use bubble wrap, but if you can't get that, the two materials previously mentioned will work just as well.)

Then place the flower containers in cardboard boxes. If the plants are small enough to fit completely into the container, then it should be tightly closed and covered with tape. On the side you need to cut as many small holes as possible - they will allow your pet to breathe. Many flowers, however, cannot be placed entirely in the box - long stems or branches will remain outside. Then simply do not close the box from above, but remember that such items will need to be installed in the car last.

Transportation of plants

At this point the preparation stage can be considered complete. But now comes the turn of transportation. First, let's say a few words about transport. The stuffy trunk of a car is absolutely not suitable for indoor plants, so it is better not to use it. You should order a special truck with a large number of securing belts and, if possible, with windows to periodically ventilate the body. But even if the latter don’t happen, it’s okay. In any case, such a machine will be much better suited for transporting flowers.

And now the car you ordered is already under the window, and you need to load boxes with indoor plants into it. It is best, of course, to transport them separately from all other property, but we understand that most often this is unrealistic. Therefore, use at least the following advice - install flowers in the back of the car last. In addition, make sure that there are no heavy objects nearby that could fall and thus damage indoor plants. The boxes should also be securely fixed - they should not move while driving.

Now you can hit the road! It would seem that at the stage of direct transportation, little depends on you. But actually it is not. After all, you can ask the driver to be as careful as possible, choose a route with the smoothest roads and make sure that periodically in case of a long journey the car stops and your flowers receive a portion of fresh air.

What to do upon arrival at your final destination

Finally, the plants are delivered to their destination. Now you need to carefully bring them into the house and unpack them. Then they should be watered, but this should not be done with cool water. Biologists have found that plants tolerate a warm shower (25-30 degrees) best after a stressful move - this is what you can do to please your favorite flowers. After this, carefully remove the leaves and stems damaged during transportation. Now all that remains is to place the pots in their places, and in a few days you will see that the precious flora is again ready to delight you with its blooming appearance.

A couple more nuances

Finally, I would like to dwell on one more question that worries many: “How to protect plants from frost if the move falls during the cold season?” In fact, it is quite simple - you should place two small bottles with warm water in each cardboard box, and place a flower pot between them. Just don’t overdo it, because high temperatures are just as harmful as low ones.

By the way, since we are talking about the negative impact of heat, it is worth saying a few words about transporting plants in the summer. In this case, you need to stop and ventilate the car body every 2-3 hours. Just don't rest in the sun. It's better to find a place in the shade where you can relax yourself.

As you have already seen, transporting plants is a complex process, for which you need to prepare in advance and pay as much attention as transporting all other things combined. We hope that our advice will help you in this difficult matter. The main thing is to remember that it is the love that you give to flowers that will help them survive stress and begin to delight you in your new apartment.