I feel for you! My hubby and I moved from NY to Florida. I had so many plants I didn't know what to do. I had a 15ft ficus which I knew couldn't come with us. Luckily, the buyers of our house loved it and I left it behind.

The largest plants we moved with us was a Pachira (money tree) which was about 8ft, three large Plumaria's which were about 6ft each. A Hibiscus which was about 6-7 ft.

We drove down in our two cars. We also took the Auto Train. The Plumerias came out of their pots and their roots were put in plastic bags inside the car. The Pachira stayed in its pot but I covered the pot with a large black contractors-type bag and duct taped all around to prevent the dirt from falling out. It was laid sideways in the trunk and bent into a U, then tied. I had cut the plant down about 2ft before doing this. The Hibiscus was cut down to about a foot and put in a plastic bag. It had furniture put on top of it. What a trip!

My feeling was if these plants didn't make it, so be it. I wanted to take them along, but this was my only option. I could have cut them down, taken them out of the pots but felt this was easier. We then rented for 8 months with all these plants stuck on a balcony. They all made it but we were in Florida and it was warm.

You don't mention where you are moving to. Is it a warm climate? If so, you could cut the fig in half or lower. Take it out of the pot, put in a plastic bag and the plant will make the trip in your car. If you are moving to a cold climate, things might be more difficult.

Mine spent three days in the cars, then in the auto-train, then in a parking lot for two days while we stayed in a motel.

They all made it. The Plumies were put in the ground and are now about 10ft tall in 3 years.

Plants are resilient and want to live. Take your chances the easiest way possible.

Jane

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

I'm moving to a warm climate, from a warm climate.

The fig has very few leaves on its lower half and if I cut the top off to get it to fit in the car it will sacrifice the entire shape of the tree :( . I would just as soon leave it here and get a new one when we move if that was my only option.

I don't have a sentimental attachment to the tree aside from the attachment I feel from having cared for it for a year. I want to keep it because it wasn't cheap and I love the way it looks and I'm proud of the condition it's growing into (it was less healthy when I got it).

I'm really glad to hear that your plants survived your move! I guess now I should measure available space in the car and see what will fit.

Do you think it would be OK to maybe "bind" the top part of the tree - even lightly- to keep the branches from filling our entire car and reducing driver visibility? I'm thinking of getting some yards of muslin cloth and maybe wrapping it around the tree to make the branches more compact for the trip? If that doesn't make sense I can explain/draw a picture later.

Thanks again!!

Have you considered cuttings from the tree? Figs are well-known for easily rooting form cuttings, but you might be able to do that for more of your plants in the future also.

The cuttings could be easily transported and what you'll have at your new place is a genetically identical plant, even if it has to grow again and be treated again like a sapling for another 1-2 years.

I do have one cutting that I already propagated from the tree a few months ago and I'll definitely take that with us.

I was hoping to be able to keep the whole large tree so I don't have to wait 1-2 years to enjoy a fully grown tree in addition to the small cutting. I'm actually excited about growing the cutting b/c I'll be able to grow/train it into exactly the shape and condition I'm after. But this fully grown tree is finally starting to look the way I want and now it's looking like I'll have to let her go :( Oh well, c'est la vie. Thanks for the idea though!

I have a buyer on craigslist... hopefully it will work out. It's looking like I'll have to just let this one go and just get a new one when we get settled in to our new home. Thanks again for the idea!

If it were mine and I didn't want to cut it down, I would cover the canopy with 'something' and not worry about losing some leaves. I would try to bend the trunk to reduce its height. Put the roots in a plastic bag and just shove it in the car.

I can't believe that mine all survived the trip with so many things packed on top of them. They did, a bit crooked but they all straightened out.

You really don't have any other option except leaving it behind, so go for it. Just stuff it in any way you can!

Take pictures if you do...

Bon Voyage :))

Jane

Great advice! That's what I would do and what I did with my hibiscus.

Jane

Thank you everyone for your help and advice!

Update:

I cut the ficus all the way back, completely defoliating it, leaving just the main trunk and some small 1 or 2 inch long stubs of branches. I didn't let it dry out before I did this - I just went for it.

The pot wouldn't fit in the car, and I want to re-pot the plant in gritty mix and root prune eventually anyway, so I took it out of the pot and put the root ball in a garbage bag.

I knocked some of the old peaty potting soil as I could, keeping the roots damp as I went. There's still a lot of potting soil on the root mass but I didn't have time/access to a hose to get the test of it off. I put the root mass in a black garbage bag and partially stuffed it with damp tissue paper to keep any exposed roots from drying out - I just didn't want all of the roots to die off before I have a chance to re-pot the tree - hope that makes sense.

We're in our new Zone 8b city now (Central Texas) - but we're in temporary housing until we find an apartment.

It's been just about one week from the day I defoliated the tree. The root mass is still in the garbage bag, and is inside a bedroom that's not getting a lot of light. I'm keeping an eye on the moisture levels inside the bag. Everything seems hydrated without being overtly wet - no weird smells indicating root rot or anything. There's no new growth on the trunk, but I didn't expect that yet.

Al seemed to indicate that I could get the tree to go into dormancy but I
didn't follow the protocol he advised for that to happen. Now I'm wondering if I should start encouraging new growth ASAP or if it's better to leave the tree as it is for a few more weeks until we're in our new apartment.

Two questions:

1. Should I pot the tree now in a temporary medium, or leave it in the garbage bag until I can get my gritty mix supplies in about 3 weeks?
2. Should I leave it inside until I get it potted, or put it outside? Outside in our temporary digs is a covered, SW facing patio that gets full late afternoon sun. It's been in the mid to upper 90's during the day here, and in the mid to lower 70s at night.

Thanks so much everyone for your help and advice!

If the tree isn't dry it won't go into a consequential dormancy. It will start growing and continue to grow (even if in total darkness) until it exhausts its energy reserves entirely, the result of which will be loss of viability; so to prevent that, you should get it into something that will support root growth and into bright light ASAP. In fact, I'd put it outdoors if you have a spot where it can get some late sun. Try to shade the container to help keep root temps from going off the chart if it's getting sun before say 5PM. I'd withhold fertilizer until you get it comfortably situated and be extra careful not to over-water. DAMP is the operative word - never wet or soggy.

I'd be careful about keeping the root mass bagged up tight, too, as that can favor building populations of some nasty fungal root pathogens.

Hoping that all you're efforts bear fruit!

Al

I made a time lapse video of the process of cutting the branches off and getting the excess potting soil off of the roots of the tree. It's mostly for fun, but I wanted to share so you guys can see what I'm dealing with here.

Thanks so much Al! I'll get a pot today.

The patio here has a corner that doesn't start to get full sun until about 5:30 or 6:00 so I think that might work. I can situate a patio chair in front of it to shade the pot from the direct sunlight too.

As for the medium I'm potting into, I don't have the space to collect all of the gritty mix supplies here just yet, but I'll have access to those supplies in about a month. Until then, is there something simple/quick/cheap that would suffice? Maybe just a bag of reptibark, or plain pearlite? I'm thinking that I probably wont want to put it back in MG potting soil, but I also want something that I could easily remove from the roots for when I can make a proper gritty mix.

Thanks again!!

Here's my tentative plan. I'm thinking if I do a half and half mix of orchid mix (a mix, not just chunky orchid bark) and perlite that will give me a substrate that wont turn into pudding when I water, and won't be difficult to remove from the roots once I'm ready to make a proper gritty mix. Does that sound like it would work, at least to get things started?

Your plan will work fine, but try 2 parts of perlite (coarse, if you can find it) + 1 part of a potting soil similar to what it's in now. You're already looking ahead and starting to formulate plans that will allow you to take advantage of favorable timing - that's good thinking. If you incorporate a considerable amount of ballast in the bottom of the pot when you pot up in the mature pot, you can prolly put off the bigger repotting op until next Father's Day.

Al

Thanks again for the feedback!

I was already mid-repotting session when I read Al's reply so I didn't incorporate any ballast at the bottom of the pot. Now I wish I had thought of that, or even thought to put a wick in the bottom of the pot.

I made the mix I described above. The bag of orchid mix looked like it was a combination of fines or peaty soil and a lot of bark/sapwood. After adding the perlite, I think (I hope!) the net effect is something like the mix Al suggested above (using one part soil similar to what it's potted in already with two parts perlite). In other words, there's perlite, lots of bark, and some fines that are similar in texture to what the tree was already planted in.

I watered to beyond saturation and held the pot at a 45° angle for a few minutes to let it drain even more. It drained really well, and the soil was definitely damp, not wet.

It's on the porch now. It will get open shade for the first half of the day and full sun in the late afternoon. I've got a chair in front of the pot to keep it shaded for the first hour or so the sun is on the tree so it doesn't spontaneously combust.

Thanks again for all of your help. I'll keep you posted if and when any new growth starts!

We'll be watching for the good news!

Al

Did it work? How is your plant now? I am about to move to california and I really want to take my perfect tree with me. It is breaking my heart that I might have to cut off all the limbs and leaves but if it worked for you I might just go for it.

mshcrowder what did you end up doing? I’m in the same boat now!!

I think I posted updates about this in another thread at the time (5 years ago). I did end up cutting all of the limbs off, bare rooting, repotting it in my new home. It re-grew new branches pretty quickly but I lost a few feet of height. I was happy with the decision at the time becuase they were difficult to find especially at that size at the time.

Given that FLFs are much easier to find now, I would probably just get a new plant at my destination and give away or sell the original one before moving.