Palms on a Plane

[palmsrgreat]

Ok this is not the sequel to Snakes on a Plane....hahaha

I will be traveling from San Diego to Texas at the end of the month. Are there any regulations that would limit me bringing palms from CA back to TX? I plan to "carry-on" some small varities and "check" a box of larger items. Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks,

Michael

[Mike4284m]

I brought two Easter lilies on a plane a couple years ago as carry on and had no issues whatsoever.  That was Southwest, I'm not sure if there would be a difference.

Things may be different now though with the whole liquid craize and what not.  I guess I would just call the airlines to double check.

[Walter John]

I snuck a Livistona humilis in my bag on a flight from Darwin to Brisbane. In a pot and everything, tied up the leaves, went thru the xray no worries.

[kylecawazafla]

When I was 13 the flight attendants let me put a 4 foot coconut in their closet space on a flight from San Francisco to Seattle. The only hassel I faced was many stares from people wondering what a teenager was doing with a palm tree in the airport.

[SubTropicRay]

I checked a palm through with my luggage last year.  I thought the cargo area would be too cold but the palm made it.

[PalmGuyWC]

Michael,

I was in Florida a couple of months ago at the South Fla PS sale, and man was I tempted to buy some palms.  However I was told the only restrictions are plants coming from Fla. and Arizona into California.  Your best bet would be to make sure all the soil is washed from the roots and wrap with spagnum moss, a roll of newspaper and a plastic baggy. I'm also told using UPS or Fed X is better than trying to get plants on an airplane on your on. UPS and Fed X have their own plant inspectors.

TSA now does the inspection and they follow rules strictly and they are very inflexable.  Frankly, some of them are idiots and you can't reason with them.

I've never understood how plants can be shipped from Hawaii into Calif. in bulk, but they can and do. I'm sure some of the nurserymen out there know more about this.

Good Luck

Dick

[Tad]

shine that last year i was in fla. and checked a huge duffle bag of liners from redland nursery in homestead!!!!

no problemo!!!!

at christmas i shipped four big boxes from corona calif. to my place and had no problems doing it!!!

alot of people think because it cant be done comercially(truckload style) that they cant..WRONG for your own personal use it is not gonna be a problem!!!!!

and because your coming from calif to Texas there are no restrictions that i am aware of!!!!!

washing all the dirt off is a waste of time.

all of this is just my opinion for what its worth!!!

and next week when i go to the tpie show in lauderdale i will be going down to redland nursery and doing it again!!!! (doing a little dance as i type) cuban coffe all day and all night woooooooo hoooooo a five day bender on the bean babaaayyyyy !!!!!!!!

palms, coffee, and pork sandwiches!!!!    

my wife wont let me back in the house for a week!!!!

[cfkingfish]

Get these #$)*#@#&!! palms off my @)#(%*#&@#^! plane!

[palmsrgreat]

HAHAAHAHAHAH!!

Now that's what I'm talking about Christian, ahhaha.

And thanks to all who have commented with info. I think I will continue with my plan of carrying-on a few and checking a few.

[Tad]

go get yourself a big big big suitcase, el maximo!!!!

buy your liners and small stuff, wrap the pots(and trunk) in cellophane so medium isnt spillled.

wrap each one like a cone in newspaper and stack them in the suitcase.

i like to wrap each one and the wrap a couple of wrapped ones together.

a little string to tie the leafs  and baddabing nursery to go!!!

a hundred times and i have never had a problem.

you dont go through customs from cali to TX so no one is gonna dig thru your bag.

no agricultural check points to go thru , just get your bag at the gate and your off!!!!

[aztropic]

I've brought many palms back through checked luggage from FL and CA to AZ and never had a problem.Came close to loosing some liners in a small carryon box though as TSA inspectors had no idea what the rules were regarding plants, but eventually let me pass with them after I assured them that I ship plants this way all the time.(Ft. Lauderdale)

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

[tew]

Back in October, I carried a 2 gallon Nannorrhops ritchiana and a three gallon Mapu from Florida to Baltimore; nothing was said at Security and both trees did great with soil and all in my carry on.  I also had a 7 gallon Borhidiana.  I took that to a pack & ship the morning I was leaving.  Shipped it under the plane as Cargo (again, with soil) and it also arrived in great shape.  I do agree that removing the soil would be too stressful for the plants and a waste of your time.

You shouldn't have any problem.  

Now, live coral for a reef tank..... that's a different story !!!!

[paulgila]

christian thats hilarious!    

he's gotta be chainsmoking.

[palmsrgreat]

I really appreciate the detail of the title on the side of the fuselage      :laugh:

[Jeff Searle]

(palmotrafficante @ Jan. 12 2007,18:17)

QUOTE

shine that last year i was in fla. and checked a huge duffle bag of liners from redland nursery in homestead!!!!

no problemo!!!!

at christmas i shipped four big boxes from corona calif. to my place and had no problems doing it!!!

alot of people think because it cant be done comercially(truckload style) that they cant..WRONG for your own personal use it is not gonna be a problem!!!!!

and because your coming from calif to Texas there are no restrictions that i am aware of!!!!!

washing all the dirt off is a waste of time.

all of this is just my opinion for what its worth!!!

and next week when i go to the tpie show in lauderdale i will be going down to redland nursery and doing it again!!!! (doing a little dance as i type) cuban coffe all day and all night woooooooo hoooooo a five day bender on the bean babaaayyyyy !!!!!!!!

palms, coffee, and pork sandwiches!!!!    

my wife wont let me back in the house for a week!!!!

Tad,

   When you come to the TPIE convention next week, make sure you stop by and say...HEY!

Jeff

[DoomsDave]

(pohonkelapa @ Jan. 12 2007,23:14)

QUOTE

christian thats hilarious!    

he's gotta be chainsmoking.

Chainsmoking cannabis . . . .

dave

[The Germinator]

I was just in Hawai'i a couple of months ago and I scored a bunch of plants including a Christmas Palm. I just packed them for shipping and had them FEDX'd to the House. I worked out great. Just make sure the box is taped real good.

[cfkingfish]

(Dave from So-Cal @ Jan. 13 2007,00:04)

QUOTE

(pohonkelapa @ Jan. 12 2007,23:14)

QUOTE

christian thats hilarious!    

he's gotta be chainsmoking.

Chainsmoking cannabis . . . .

dave

I actually blame it on the medication I am still taking for my motorcycle injury.  

[BobbyinNY]

I just brought (2) palms to New York from Florida  given to me by my good friends, Ray From Tampa, and Frank (tropico), and my wife and I just carried them on board and put them on the floor by our seats - no problems at all

[amazondk]

(Ray, Tampa @ Jan. 12 2007,16:12)

QUOTE

I checked a palm through with my luggage last year.  I thought the cargo area would be too cold but the palm made it.

Ray,

The cargo pits in passenger planes are the approximately the same temperature as the cabin is.  So, there is no problem checking plants as baggage as far as temperature is concerned.

dk

[palmsrgreat]

(amazondk @ Jan. 13 2007,09:59)

QUOTE

(Ray @ Tampa,Jan. 12 2007,16:12)

QUOTE

I checked a palm through with my luggage last year.  I thought the cargo area would be too cold but the palm made it.

Ray,

The cargo pits in passenger planes are the approximately the same temperature as the cabin is.  So, there is no problem checking plants as baggage as far as temperature is concerned.

dk

This is good to know. It was the one concern that I still had out there.  Thanks.

[Logolight]

If you bring the palm on board with you you'll have to be able to either put it under the seat in front of you or an overhead bin.  Depending on how big the airplane is will determine how much room there will be.  But I think the bigger issue will be getting it past the security checkpoint.  Every airport security although standard in security guidlines has some variations of judgment so you'll be rolling the dice if you bring it through.  

Back to the airplane.  Like amazondk said, most underfloor cargo compartments are part of the pressure vesel and are temperature controled.  As a pilot I personaly haven't tried it myself yet but I would suggest not trying to travel with anything larger that 1 gal.  

Let me know what airline and the kind of plane you'll be on and I can tell you what your chances might be of a successful trip.

Dave.

The airline pilot

[SubTropicRay]

Bobby,

I can't believe they didn't question anything.  I may do that next time I'm in California.  

Ray

[palmsrgreat]

Dave, thanks for this expert advice.

I'm flying Continental on a...

Aircraft: Boeing 737-800

[palmsrgreat]

Ok folks, I made it back and forth to San Diego and managed to pack up 7 palm trees, in a box, no problems at all, and as I unwrapped them they were completely perfect.

A big thanks to all who gave me advice.

I managed to stop by Phil's Jungle Music and would like to thank he and his staff for such a wonderful experience. He is a great guy and patient, especially with my pronuciation of a few palms. Thanks again Phil and I'll be sure to stop in again when I'm back in your area.

Now to the fun part, what did I get?....

[palmsrgreat]

Here is a view of everything unpacked from the box. Phil gave some good tips on how to stabilize the whole thing using the sticks you see attached to the largest plant of the group. Maybe I'll just post the pics and let yall try and ID. I'll post each individual as well...Coming up!...

[palmsrgreat]

#1

[palmsrgreat]

#2

[palmsrgreat]

#3

[palmsrgreat]

#4

[palmsrgreat]

#5

[palmsrgreat]

#6

[Palmy]

# 6 looks like a parajubaea

# 5 looks like a howea something

# 4 triangle

# 3  ?

# 2 looks like a arenga micrantha

# 1 almost looks like some sort of butia

[Logolight]

Palmsgreat, good deal.  I'm glad it worked out.  Sorry I never got back to you with information on the airplane type.  I guess I lost this thread in the fold of all the others.  

Using my novice experience, the third palm from the left (pic #2) looks like either a Foxtail or a Caryota.  But that's a guess.

[palmsrgreat]

(Logolight @ Feb. 07 2007,20:40)

QUOTE

Palmsgreat, good deal.  I'm glad it worked out.  Sorry I never got back to you with information on the airplane type.  I guess I lost this thread in the fold of all the others.  

Using my novice experience, the third palm from the left (pic #2) looks like either a Foxtail or a Caryota.  But that's a guess.

Hey no big deal...and here are the answers.

Thanks to Palmy and Logo for playing,good job yall

1. Ravenea xerophyla

2. Arenga englori

3. Linospadix monostachya

4. Dypsis decaryi

5. Kentiopsis oliveformis

6. Trithrinax campestris

[paulgila]

#1 ravenea xerophila

#2 arenga sp.

#3 linospadix minor

#4 dypsis decaryii

#5 some other dypsis(that narrows it down,eh?)

#6 ok,i'll go with a parajubea sp.,too.

[Palmy]

Wow was I off. Well theres always a first, second.... and so on. That Arenga really looks like a micrantha. The underside is very white. I didnt know that the A. engleri had such a white back of a leaf. I shoulda known about the last one. Great picks. Good luck