I don’t know how I survived moving all 80 of my houseplants across 1500 miles from New York to South Florida with my husband and our parakeet in our rented minivan. It was quite an adventure, and I learned so much along the way. Despite all the chaos, I only lost two and a half plants, which is an achievement! My husband got an amazing job opportunity. I am fully digital with my business. We wanted to move closer to family. So we decided to go for it!

 

In this episode, we learn:

• [01:18] Why moving with houseplants is challenging
• [04:05] How does mindset influence the moving process?
• [05:51] Moving preparations and logistics!
• [08:20] Why minivans are a must for your plants!
• [09:53] What is the best way to pack your plants?
• [15:17] Bring a touch of home to your new space with a soothing Wind River Chime!
• [16:44] Learn how to create stunning bouquets with Lisa Ziegler’s Cut Flower Handbook!
• [18:26] What was the three-day road trip like?
• [22:39] Unpacking plants and settling into our new home!
• [23:02] How did the first 10 days go for our plants?
• [25:17] Simplify your move and your gardening with Crescent Garden TrueDrop self-watering planters
• [27:22] Adjusting to our new Florida home!
• [29:35] How we lost 2 plants during our move 🙁
• [31:26] How transplant shock is affecting me

 

 

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Mindset and Logistics When Moving

Moving is very stressful, and it feels like you’re also going through transplant shock—everything's new, and you need time to adjust. My husband and I knew that things could go wrong, but we committed to being “joyful” throughout the ride.

It’s all about mindset. Moving is all about mindset. So I did my best to make sure that my houseplants were going to be safe throughout the ride, but I also accepted that if worse came to worst and all of them died, I’d just start fresh in Florida. So that helped me stay calm.

 

Prepping The Plants for Transportation

I immediately went through my collection to do a little plant audit. Since not everyone was coming with me, I went into full plant mom mode and I composted about 8 plants, pruned all the yellow leaves, and went to look for the perfect plastic bins. I also gifted some away to my friends.

On the transpo talk, I don’t like putting my plants in U-Hauls like everybody does. It was August, and we were moving to Florida. If I put my houseplants in a non-climate-controlled U-Haul in the mid-summer, they would all FRY.

So we rented a minivan from Enterprise where all the seats folded flat, and I packed the plants into plastic bins. I didn’t like to use cardboard boxes to wrap my plants with because that felt wasteful. Instead, I hit up Dollar Tree and found some reusable mint green plastic bins.

So, we’re packed to the brim—my husband, me, Frankie, and 80 houseplants. The car was stuffed with plants.

 

A Three-Day Roadtrip with Houseplants

The first day we drove to Richmond, Virginia, which took about eight hours. Everything was fine. The car had air conditioning, it wasn’t too hot, and we were super comfortable.

Day two was a long day of driving, and it was stressful. It was 95 degrees outside, and we realized that we couldn’t stop driving for long because if we turned off the car, the plants would roast. So we kept driving longer than we planned.

On our last day, we ended up only having three hours of driving. We got there, got the keys, gave our first month's rent, and we were able to start cleaning the house. We unpacked the plants in the beautiful lanai in our new house.

 

Home, Sweet Lanai!

The lanai is perfect for my plants to protect them from the Florida heat. They had been stuck in the A/C for three days, so placing them in the lanai in the meantime helped them adjust to the new temperature.

It’s humid, shady, and perfectly what my houseplants needed to settle into their new tropical life. The plants stayed there for about ten days while we unpacked the rest of the house.

Everybody's happy, except for the lost two plants—a small Hoya and a Philodendron. While I would have preferred that all my plants made the drive, I had also prepared for when some, or even all, wouldn't have survived the move.

 

Personal Growth and Final Thoughts

It’s very normal to feel overwhelmed (and kind of “homesick”) when you move to a new home. And just like a plant, it's okay if you feel a little wilted and need some extra care. Just remember to take care of yourself. Work out, eat well, meditate, and get a good sleep. As much as possible, avoid thinking, “I’ve got to do this, this, this, and this; I can’t rest.” Don't just run, run, run until you're running yourself ragged. It's okay to take breaks and change plans as you go. I hope this episode helps you if you're going through a big move – literally and in all ways.

 

 

 

Mentioned in our conversation:

• Growing Joy Ep 217: I killed a bunch of plants this year, here's what happened: How to Do a 
• Growing Joy Ep 61: How to Move with Plants
• Plant Audit
• Enterprise minivans
• U-Haul
• Lockable Storage Tote Footlocker
• PAR Meter
• Hygrometers
• Soltech Aspect™ LED Growlight

 

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Wind River Chimes

Bring the gift of peace, serenity, and magic with chimes. Wind River is a Virginia-based company creating premium handcrafted and hand-tuned wind chimes for over 35 years. If you are looking for an amazing gift that can help you or your loved ones grow joy and find a moment of peace, a Wind River chime is the perfect option. Plus, you can engrave the wind sail on the wind chime with meaningful dates, names, or phrases!

Visit windriverchimes.com and use code GROWINGJOY to receive free engraving on your chosen wind chimes.

Quarto: The Cut Flower Handbook by Lisa M Ziegler

One of the most joyful things you can do in the garden is to grow flowers! If you are interested in upping your cut flower game, make sure to grab The Cut Flower Handbook by professional flower farmer Lisa M Ziegler. It is the bouquet-building bible gardeners have been waiting for! Included in The Cut Flower Handbook are 50 extensive flower profiles, planting tips, instructions, and images on how to pinch plants, how to make your cuts, how to dig a planting bed, and more. Plus, there are over 200 photos of the best cut flowers for home gardeners to grow and advice on caring for a cutting garden.

Pick up The Cut Flower Handbook at your favorite local bookstore, quarto.com, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble or amazon.com.

Crescent Garden

Make moving with plants easier with Crescent Garden TruDrop self-watering planters! For 25 years, Crescent Garden has been a beacon of blending beauty and function. Their TruDrop planters are sleek, lightweight, easy to plant up, and effortless to maintain, with a smart patented water level indicator for foolproof watering. Plus, they come in various shapes, sizes, and chic colors to match any home aesthetic, all while saving water and fertilizer usage. With my recent move, it's the most ideal planter to help my plants adjust to the new climate!

For a limited time only, head to growingjoywithmaria.com/crescentgarden and use code GROWJOY15 to curate your dream garden today.

 

 

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