How to Move Houseplants to a New Home

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If you are planning a move and have a home full of houseplants, you’ll have to take some special precautions to ensure that your plants are taken care of during the whole moving process. Like many of us, plants can be extremely averse to major change. Keep the below suggestions in mind and you’ll have healthy, happy plants that will love your new home just as much as you.

Be sure to check that you can bring your plants with you. Unfortunately, sometimes laws that govern state and international lines prevent people from bringing foliage across them. Even though it may seem innocent, just double check that you’re not accidentally committing a crime.

Once you clear that up, begin to think about how you’ll get your plants from one place to another. If you have the time, you should consider repotting plants that live in large, heavy pots. Changing out to lightweight plastic containers can save your back from unnecessary aches and pains. Doing this does require time though. You need to allow time for your plants to acclimate to having been repotted. Moving is a stressful event for all living things and you don’t want your plants to be stressed going into a move.

Water your plants well two or three days before your move. You don’t want them to be sopping wet (and therefore heavy!), but you also don’t want them to be thirsty (yet another thing that stresses plants out).

Place your plants in sturdy boxes and pad them with plastic bubble wrap. This will create a stable base for the time that you pack them into the vehicle for transport.

On moving day, try to pack your plants in your vehicle at the last moment. A van is ideal if you have tall or many plants. If you don’t have access to one, you can place taller plants on the floor of your vehicle and smaller ones on the backseat. Take multiple trips instead of trying to pile plants on top of each other.  Place a light sheet over large plants to protect their branches.

Once in your new pad, uncover your plants and give them a good watering with fertilizer. Then try to find a location in your new space that’s similar to its location in your last home. Plants can be very sensitive to extreme changes in light exposure, so try not to move a plant that had been living in a south facing sunny window to a north facing window that gets little light. You will have a very unhealthy plant very quickly if you don’t pay attention to its placement.

Wait a week or two before returning your plants to their original pots. Again, letting them get acclimated to their new digs will give them a chance to recoup from the move.

Keep these things in mind during your next move will ensure that your indoor garden will thrive wherever you call home.

Do you have any suggestions or tips on how to move houseplants? Let us know here!

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