Moving with Orchids

[kalanchoe]

Back in June I moved to a new city about 5 hours south of where I was living, and I was really worried about transporting my plants for the move. I have about twenty orchids, so I just put them all on the back seat of my car with some sheets and towels providing padding between the pots, and with the smaller ones anchored behind larger ones. I put cushions on the floor of the backseat with towels on top, so they wedged in the pots on the seat. The AC was on but not blowing directly on them. I had very few casualties due to the trip- one paph dropped it's flower and sustained a burn where the stem was touching it's leaf, and one phal leaf burned and dried up near the tip and had to be trimmed (photos 1 & 2). Other than that, the rest of the plants got some purplish suntans, but everything stayed in bloom or continued growth of spikes, leaves, etc.

So while I hated to harm any of my plants with the move, the new growing environment is great and I got a round of four new spikes last week on plants that have already bloomed this year (photo 3 shows one of them)! I guess the light is better, or the day length is just a little longer down here? I don't know, but I'm happy it all worked out.

The next time I move, I think I'll do the same thing in the backseat, possibly putting some sort of screen or barrier in the back seat windows to shield them from the sun (or drive in the middle of the night, lol!). Best of luck to anyone who is moving with orchids!