vehicularly transporting large potted trichs...tips and tricks?

[glimpse]

Heya,

I have to transport half a dozen 4-5ft potted trichs and another 15 that are around 2ft

in the back of my van for about 300kms to their new home.

The last time i did this trip it was in a smaller vehicle, 12 months ago and i had quite a few casualties

They can all stand upright this time and i can secure the pots to the ground but i am stuck with what to do to stop the lean and wobble

when i take corners, and hit bumps etc.

Has anyone out there with experience got any tips?

cheers G

[shortly]

wrap them in shadecloth & old carpet. makes them much easier to handle

[pinegapcontrol]

300 kms isnt that far, just drive a bit carefully, lol.

personally i would lay down the 4-5 footers. first pack the top of the pot with a towel or something and tape it all in (so no soil falls out of the pot) and lay them down for transport, supporting them where neccesary.

i dont think there is an easy answer unless you want to build a criss cross frame inside your vehicle, even then its not fool proof, instead of swaying they will hit the framing and get damaged. Ive decided if i ever have to move large amounts of big trichs i will cut them.

Ive done alot of driving with plants swaying and its like walking on thin ice, after a while it gets a bit tedious.

[Halcyon Daze]

Chop them in half -easy...

Either that or wrap the pots up with towels or plastic bags and lay them on their sides on top of a bunch of foam mattresses.

Don't let them rub up against each other or you'll be sorry.

Make sure you don't use your own towels or mattresses for such tomfoolery

[zelly]

^^^^^^ lay them all on their sides with a little bit of cushioning under the stems, big old beach towels, sleeping bags, quilts, whatever

then drive like a bat out of hell

[shortly]

For me if they are only 4-5 footers i would wrap them & move them upright.

With only 6 you should be able to fasten a sheet of weldmesh somewhere in you van to tie them off to. Nothing worse than a shifting prickly load.

Foam mattresses would be great padding, although you might need something like cardboard or carpet as the outer to tie onto. Just the foam will probably just crush when you put a rope or strap around it.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Moving these guys around isn't new to me, I've probably moved 200 big cacti in the last 2 years, learning curve it was!! Just make sure they're all stable and fill the rest of your van with something to wedge em in, old boxes or milk crates etc worked well. I'm thankful everything's in its final resting spot now!!

[glimpse]

Thanks for taking the time to respond folks

some great tips and advice there, cheers

i've taken it all on board and have some ideas to work with now

I thought just driving nice and steady would be enough last time........man, what a fuckup.

I have got old carpets, foam cutoffs and old storage boxes to roll up, canvas and occy straps and might even have a bit of weldmesh under the house

so i guess its time to get constructive....

thanks again

[Halcyon Daze]

Here's an idea. Cut a couple holes in both ends of a few styro boxes, slide over the cactus and tape it all up. Pack all the pots up against each other at the bottom and then put some more packing in between the styro boxes, or else criss-cross strips of timber or bamboo across the top and tape that up too.

[Getafix]

I have also moved hundreds of cacti around in vehicles suffering the same casualties.

In the end I found it easier to just take them out of their pots and move bare root. Much less damage this way and you don't get paranoid every time you go round a corner that ones falling over.

Getafix