House plants may not be as cute or cuddly as the average family pet, but they’re still important enough to think about as you plan your move. After all, you’ve likely spent months or even years caring for your house plants, and losing them during your move would be a shame.
Fortunately, there are ways make the move safer for your plants, especially when you choose a moving company with experience transporting and relocating flora of all kinds. Here’s how to prepare your house plants before your professional movers show up.
Don’t Water Your Plants Right Before You Move
Sure, your house plants need water to live, but moving week is not the time to practically drown them in it. Instead, you’ll want to be a little stingy with the water a couple days before the move.
This is because water will weigh your plants down, which in turn will slow down your movers as they lift the plants into the truck. Plus, if your plants haven’t soaked up all the water before moving day, the excess moisture will just leak out of drain holes, causing a muddy mess in the moving truck. So feel free to pack up your watering can a couple days before you move.
Put Your Plants in the Right Pots
If you have large house plants in clay pots, transfer them to plastic pots before your movers arrive. Clay pots are not meant to be moved, as they’re a natural substance–essentially hard mud–and not built to support too much weight.
This shouldn’t be a problem for small, lightweight plants that you can easily lift with one hand, but if your house plants weigh over 100 pounds or so, your clay pots may break under all the weight.
Once you transfer your plants to sturdy plastic pots, don’t forget to pack your empty clay pots with protective moving materials so your movers can carefully load them up.
Prune Your Plants
If your house plants haven’t been pruned lately, now is the time to do it.
When plants have long branches hanging out, they’re likely to get caught in surrounding items once your movers load them up. Trimming them now will not only protect them during the move, but will also ensure they look their best so you can proudly display them in your new home as soon as you arrive!
Pack Your Plants Carefully
If you have lots of smaller house plants, you can pack them in boxes to transport. Just be sure to line the bottom of the box with plastic in case any dirt or mud spills out, and then use a pen to poke small holes in the sides of the box. You should also place newspapers around the plants in the box so they don’t get jostled too much. If you have a big plant, you can put it in box and then carefully close it around the stem, being careful not to damage it.
Make Sure You’re Allowed To Move Your Plants
If you’re moving outside of Texas, note that some states won’t let you move agricultural items–including house plants–across state lines, since you could be transporting insects that the area doesn’t already have. So find out the rules for moving plants to your new home before you hire a professional moving company.
Overall, moving is hard on plants. They may get bounced around, and they could go into shock from the Texas heat since the back of the moving truck typically isn’t climate controlled. So there’s no guarantee your house plants will survive the move.
For best results, we recommend that you put your plants in boxes and our movers will put them in your car for you to transport. If you need to know more about moving your plants or want to schedule your move today, contact 3 Men Movers!