Ciao Amici,

We are moving to Florida within 4-5 months. The brutal weather here in Pa and with family issues have made us finally make the move. We will be heading to Naples, Fla then we will be getting our own home in the Port Charlotte, Venice, Florida Area. I of course have to move my nursery with me as many of my trees are irreplaceable being from my family orchards home in Italy and without actually going to Italy to collect cuttings, alot of them are scarce in this country. As far as packing them up, I was really concerned if they may die in the heat of the south while transporting them within a trailor.  I wonder if there is a way of keeping them from overheating while being driven to Florida? Has anyone else done this and could give advice?  I was wondering if there are vented trailors that would allow the air to circulate, like you see pigs being transported around in trucks.  I told husband we will likely have to stop every hundred miles or so to open the trailor to get air inside and maybe keep a hose of some sort to spray them down periodically. I never had done this and just wonder if anyone may know something to this quiry.  Thanks so much.
Ciao Ciao 

Maggie,
good luck with the move. Are these trees in ground or they're all in pots?
They should be fine if they're in pots, you can probably remove most of the leaves, as this will reduce the heat stress. Other the that, why don't you take cuttings of each variety now while still dormant. Send them to me, and I'll propagate new trees for you ready until you get there.

Hi Maggie,
Travelling  at night temperature is cooler and often less traffic. I do not know the distance or  if you can do it in one night?
If you have familly or good friends there may be you can move some trees now  before it gets too hot. I sometimes think of moving out of this area and see myself on the freeway in a truck with all my figs as well.
All the best  

Maggie best of luck with your move and new start. Bass made a good suggestion as far as taking cuttings now and why can't you keep in fridge till you get here, a cooler should work fine just put a towel or two as a buffer on the ice or cold paks.

All the best Maggie. Good suggestion by Bass. I may not have all the variants you have but if anything happens, just email me privately. I may have specify variants of interest. I have plants mailed to me & after 3 to 4 days in the system, it takes a little while for the plants to show vigor. 

Ciao Maggie,
i will be doing the same one day and have gave it some thought.
Im going to take cuttings of everything mostly except my biggest trees those will make my 24 hour drive im thinking along with a good watering before i leave. The small trailer rented will be just for the plants as i will make more than 1 trip. Most stuff will be sold here with house though.
Im going to rent some sort of trailer like you but not sure if those have vent or not, but i figure with me drinking lots of coffee im always stopping at rest area will open door of trailer and give them a breeze along with stopping for gas. You could drape something wet over them if you think they will dry out something that stays damp .
How many hours will your trip be? Personally i think the small plants might need some air by stopping but large ones i think such as mine will hold there own for just 24 hours. Your trip if you drive straight through should be less.
I used to make the trip a lot when dad was alive in my 67 chevelle and just love to get out there and drive straight through , the misses could not drive a stick shift , give me a thermos of expresso and Bam im off with pipe in mouth, last time the Misses shared with the driving but i told her after about 100 miles to pull over she drove me nuts as she goes up and down with the gas peddle and i was trying to get a little rest with my head bobbing up and down. Its been some years since i made that trip and i might have to pull into rest area for several hours.
Martin

When my folks moved from NoCal to SoCal the moving company refused to take any live plants including the fig. They said the inside of the truck would get to be over 120 degrees and kill them.

I think your suggestion of stopping every couple of hours or more is a good one. Maybe not so often in the morning but in the afternoon you may need to stop more often. Water them well.

If the trailer can be vented that's ideal. I'd carry several gallons of bottled water for them as well.
Sue

Rafed needs an excuse to make a trip to FL.

Maggie just make sure the open trailer is not left unattended. Me personally would stand guard LOCKED & LOADED No ONE MESSES WITH MY FIGS (not even Nelson's dog) just kidding Have a safe trip 

Maggie,

There are vented trailers available that can be opened to let air circulate.
Plants and some produce are being shipped out of Florida in Dry-Vans ( non refer trailer ) all year long.

But your biggest concern would be the agricultural inspection.

Don't know if the moving company would even accept to handle live plants going into Florida.
If you plan on renting a moving truck there could be a possibility they inspect your truck at random. One shot through the Xray machine and there goes all your work and possibly fines.

Hate to ruin your plans but it's best to inform you now while theres still time.

Just last week when I crossed into Woodstock, NB. the Canadian Customs tore my truck and trailer apart looking for Contra-bans. And they have the power break apart every nut and bolt and tell you to put it back together yourself when they are done and there's nothing you can say or do.

I was lucky they didn't hurt my truck too bad but the point is that this can happen to anyone.

Been a long time I've traveled through Florida but I know some states rented trucks and buses have to go into the scale or inspection station along with the trucks when they are open.

I think someone out of Florida may want to weigh in on this one with me and help me.

I don't think you will have an issue. I just made a trip from central FL to NY a few months ago. Where in PA are you? I wouldn't think the drive will take you 24 hrs. I made it to NY in 19. Your best bet is to leave at 7 or so at night and just keep driving. Driving the majority of the trip at night will shave a ton of time off of the trip. For me at least driving at night is a lot easier than driving all day long. For some reason it just seems to suck less. I wouldn't worry about stopping every hour. I would just open the truck every time you filled up the truck. You picked a tough time to come down here. I remember when I moved down from DE as a kid. We hadn't stopped from NC until we hit the FL line. When I first opened the door the heat literally took my breath away. Have you been to Naples yet? That is a really nice part of FL. Make sure you leave plenty of space in your yard for Lychees, mangoes, sugar apple, wax jambu, jackfruit, avocado and starfruit trees.

i've done the driving thing to both New England and Florida each year for the past 10 or more.  i've transported figs, bamboos, citrus and whatever back and forth on almost every trip.  Last trip to Florida I took down 5 figs and brought back 3 citrus and 2 bamboos (neither of the boos were small plants either).  I've done the trip in summer, winter and fall.  I leave a back window open (Ford Flex) 1-2 inches and both back windows open a similar amount each time we stop to eat.  (and overnight when we stop for a couple hours).

On smaller plants, I get some of that water gel and coat the top of the pot (rubberbanded in place with newspaper).  I've lost very little in all the years (though my dad has killed many of the things I've planted at their place with the riding lawnmower...lol)

worst comes to worst, get someone to baby sit them til weather cools and transport them then.  They'll transplant better in cooler weather anyway.


Rafed, I've got plenty of good border stories as well.  My wife and I cut across Canada to get to the East Coast 6 weeks after we got married.  We made it into Canada fine and she fell asleep, pulled her coat over her and slept soundly.  I got to the Niagara border to re-enter the US and stopped at the gate, chatted with the agent who was nice and pleasant until my lovely bride jumped up and said "What's going on".  Agent went for his gun.  If it had been after 9-11 we might have been shot!

Also, we don't drink soda with high fructose corn syrup.  So when we go to Canada we usually stop by a grocery and get 15-20 2-liters of coke.  For some reason we always get searched by border patrol when declaring a trunk full of coke at the border.  At least it used to distract them from the plants I used to buy when visiting nurseries in Ruthven and Leamington. 

~Chills

I would agree with the last two post.  If your trees are still dormant (or have just broken dormancy) they should make a trip of 2-3 days without problems.  Even if truck temperatures react 120F they should be okay.  If in containers, water the containers thoroughly just before leaving.  You can take an additional step and put the containers in plastic garbage bags after the containers drain.

If you haven't checked regulations for shipping plant material out of Florida, you should.  I remember reading there are restrictions due to (if I remember correctly) citrus canker.

Good luck with the move,
~james

Didn't want to start anything new, so here I go.  It has been hell on wheels literally with moving the figs to the south in Fla.  We decided we will be leaving first week June.  Now, we were going to rent a Cargo van, we called Penske, Uhaul, Enterprise ect ect.  We wanted to take my nursery (Figs ect) Family heirloom and pics, all important irreplacable things on first trip and tow the one car. Well, that was completely flushed down the bagnarone.  They mostly charged anywhere from 49 Cents to 89 cents Per mile.  I had a heart attack when heard this.  They will want over 1300 dollars just for Per miles alone, not to mention the gas ect ect. I will not give a penny to Scheisters or crooks so that is completely out.   I have all figs in the large pots, so we decided to take the dogs, heirlooms clothes important stuff and put all in the car.  Now this is where it gets tricky. I took cuttings, also had to remove all large trees from their large pots, trim down and root prune, then put the whole collection into small pots so we'll be able to fit everything inside the car.  Taking 4 ft plus trees and putting them into one gallon containers when they were in large pots before. This took hours and hours plus all the root pruning, good thing no RKN.  I also have to schedule an appointment with the Pa Dept of agriculture for them to come inspecta all the trees going to florida, issue me a certificate then when we get to the florida border, we have to go into the agriculture inspection exit where they will check them and then give them certificate then wave us through. What madness,  but it is the law and I want to follow the law. There sure is alot that goes into this. Only thing for sure is that in about a month in a half we will be sitting in the florida sunshine making all this madness a bad memory. It will be great once we are there, its just the getting there.  Ciao

Sounds like quite a job. Good luck. Sounded like it from your post but did you take cuttings of all of the trees that you bare rooted? If not, it might be a good idea just incase you lose any of the bare rooted trees.

Ciao Maggie I just want to wish you and your family all the best in your travel. I'm sure all the hard work, aches and pains will be worth the improved quality of life you seek and having family close will make it all worth while.

Maggie,
lots of work wow !
The Misses and i were jsut talking about our move one day there as well.
She is very serious about it and although does not like figs understands me in my ways about them.
I might need you folks one day to get the bail money when i do this move although they wont be out in the open.
Im a rebel i suppose about some things the Gov does .
Anyways Maggie i wish you and family the very best journey and a safe one with baby.
Martin

probably i'd package the trees and mail them via ups the day you leave.  they ship bareroot all the time, i've bought even in the dead of summer with good results.  i don't think they let their packages get 120 degrees.

Maggie,

Very sorry I didn't mention this before but if you used a business name when you went to Penske you would have gotten the discounted rate.

It would have been around $0.30 per mile.

Good luck,

I live less than 4 miles southeast of the I-75/I-20 intersection, stop by and give me some fig trees ;)

ciao

Hi, I did take the cuttings, but I didn't bare root them, just smaller pots. I may do the mail thing who knows know. Sal, we will get together, you are on the other coast almost directly across, we will get together you and your wife and I will cook a big It. dinner for you both. Thanks for the wishes. Everything seems to be under control now, just waiting for my inspection to come from Pa dept of Ag.  I understand martin the rebel in you, I am much the same, but its small criminals that get into trouble, not the big ones, just keep getting off with a slap on wrist, small ones pay! My poor father.
Be fun when you move down Martin!!!! Thanks everyone for all good replies and suggestions. Will keep patient and calm now.  I also like the idea of driving at night. If we leave at say 6:00 pm, we will be in Dayton Beach, our first pit stop at 9:00 Am, then have nap then off to Naples. 
7 June, please come quick. 

Nice for Alessandro to grow up in Fla.

I never even thought of it but the fig tree I brought back from NY I took on plane in a carry on plastic bag it went through xray and they opened and asked what it was i told them fig tree and they handed back and off I went. I guess they could have trashed it on me or maybe the guy liked figs too ;o)