I'm moving from Ottawa to Edmonton and I would like to move my two Christmas cacti. I'm not going to be able to take them on the plane and I am thinking of putting them in a box in the moving truck. I realize that this is not the best idea but it is the only option I can think of. Do you have any suggestions on what I could do to make the move easier on the plants?
Will your travel time be less than if you were to ship (mail) it out to yourself right before you left? How long would the plant be on the truck? I think it would be ok, just make sure you pack it up really well to try to prevent breakage, but they will grow back from broken stems, and get bushier, so it's not really necessarily a bad thing.
Wow, thanks for the quick reply. I never considered shipping them. I'm assuming that it would be about a week in the moving truck which would be about the same to ship. I was gong to give them a generous watering prior to moving. Should I fertilize prior to moving or should I wait until they arrive?
I would not fertilize, it is liable to cause burn because it won't have any sunshine to photosynthesize. I would probably wait to fertilize a while after you move too, to let the plant get established. Are these drought tolerant at all? If they can handle it, I would recommend against watering before shipment. If part of the roots break, and it's too moist, it will cause rot, and you could lose the plant. I've received many succulents/cactus that were bone dry when they arrived, and I even waited after potting them up a week before watering and they are all thriving. I think they will be fine for a week in a truck, if it may be hot, you may want to pack them in styrofoam coolers or something?
your best bet is to ship them to your new location as that will probably be quicker than putting it on the moving truck. also, weather conditions will be less of an issue/concern when sending it to yourself. if your postal service is reliable and fairly quick, use that as that will probably be cheaper. if not, use fedex or ups and go with nothing more than 3-day delivery. for a smaller and less costly package, unpot the plant, if you're not concerned about costs, leave it in the container. if unpotting it, use crumpled newspaper (a lot of it) to fill the space in the box or bubble envelope so that none of the stems break. if leaving in the container use newspaper and the wide packing tape to wrap up the container so the soil stays in the container. wrap the newspaper/pack it down around the top right over the soil and use the tape to secure it to the container. use a TON of crumbled newspaper packed around the various stems to keep them from breaking during shipping. also, make sure the base of the container is securely packed in (and maybe even taped down) so there's no wiggle room. since the xmas cactus is a succulent, it will do very well without water for a couple weeks. i would let it dry out for a good week before packing it up for shipment...unpack it and give it 3-4 days to get used to the changes in the light levels (from dark/dormant to light again) and then do a watering.
Moving companies will usually pack up house plants and will guarantee their safe arrival. Check will your moving company and see if they will do this.
No moving co that I tried to hire would transport plants of any kind. Thank you Joclyn for the advice about how to pack for shipping !!!
