Transporting Bonsai Abroad for Exhibitions

Hi,
Congratulations to all the Members who have exhibited their masterpiece bonsai abroad in various prestigious exhibitions. It must involve a long drawn process of meticulous planning with time bound execution of it, to ensure that the Bonsai peaks on the day of exhibition. To have achieved it on time for the exhibition and winning the admiration of other exhibitors and visitors must be a great feeling, indeed!

I wish to know what preparations and precautions were taken for the transportation of the prized bonsai abroad to ensure that it reaches the destination in its peak condition for the exhibition? What about the International law on movement of live plants with soil and quarantine laws?
Information and experiences on the subject will be highly appreciated.

Regards,

Mohan.

Hello Mohan. Transporting trees across Europe is not a problem. Plants are allowed to be taken to other European Union Countries, as long as they are not wild, endangered flora and fauna (C.I.T.E.S). I transport mine in the back of a car, as do most people in Europe and have only made relatively short trips (several hours). Peak condition is only really relavant when it comes to showing a tree in flower and the timing of that, or showing deciduous in leaf towards the end of the season. Regular and balanced feed should keep all other trees in tip top health all year round.

Will thanks for your reply. Yes, bonsai should have no problem riding in an AC car for even better part of the day. Guess i should have asked about the problem and preparation for transporting bonsai overseas and not abroad. How does one go about transporting a bonsai by air (say to Japan or US from UK), especially if it is too big to be a cabin baggage and whether it would survive the rigours of being put in the non AC baggage area for longer duration, if checked in? Does the quarantine law apply in such a case?

Regards,

Mohan.

Hello Mohan. Having never exhibited outside of Europe, I don't know the regulations and restrictions. I would be very hesitant putting my trees in baggage handlers hands

I don't know about japan's regulations, but the US is VERY tough about bringing trees (plants, and even seeds) in from other countries. I would not even try it if you value the tree.

Hi Mohan,
As much as we like to interact with other country,i think if we value our tree it's going to be a nightmare to bring to other place in which we hav no control of,airplane handling,countres restriction,weather,exhibit area,stree for the tree......see what i mean We are better of just to visit exhibit if we have the chancemthats why this forum has open our opportunity to see it for free from our generous member who shares openly to us,for now we just have tobe happy with it...Cheers
Regards & happy growing,
Alex

Jim thanks for the reply. Are we to understand that no one from the US has exhibited bonsai overseas and vice versa Incredible If Bonsai is Art, don’t you think something must be done to spread it

Regards,

Mohan.

Mohan.

to move a tree from the US / UK to Trinidad, requires a phytosanitary certificate, which entails barerooting and treating for nematodes or anything specific to that particular tree. Conifers are permanently banned due to the possibility of infecting Citrus with some sort of virus, as are also strawberry plants. Seed is allowed.

With the US and very special trees in soil, I see a one year quarantine is in effect.

It is possible to take a tree from Trinidad to the UK, but you have to request permission and information ahead of time. I have a friend who returning home to London did this with his 4 year trained Ironwood [ Peltaflora sp.]

Your best bet is to just simply check the end destination, and then all the other countries, whose borders you have to cross by car. With planes, it is stops.
I did that with my trees [ bare-rooted and treated ] going from Italy via UK to Trinidad.

My trees [ oldest Chinese Elms - called Zelkova chinensis - 45 years ] were kept by Plant Quarantine at home [Trinidad ], for almost 2 weeks. All lived and the only death was a fat trunked Serissa, which the friend I took it home for, ---- rushed into sunlight and fried it in one day.
Hope this helps.
Khaimraj

Alex thanks for your response. This is exactly why i had posted the thread on the subject, seeking a solution to the problem of transporting bonsai overseas for exhibiting, from the knowledgeable and experienced Members of the IBC. Seeing the pictures of bonsai is not the same as seeing it in person. Exhibiting bonsai is also very different from talking or writing about it. When you exhibit, you also learn a lot, as anything in public domain is open to discussion, criticism and/or praise. Constructive criticism will certainly help one move up the ladder of proficiency. I am sure you will agree that any bonsai exhibition with International participation will have different flavour to it, as in any exhibition. It will be a pity if bonsai cannot be transported overseas due to its non-feasibility or local restrictions/laws and visitors interested in bonsai are denied an opportunity to see the prized masterpieces and learn about the styling and technique employed by overseas Masters.

Regards,

Mohan.

Thanks Khaimraj for the technical input. If it is not possible it is not possible, guess we will have to grin and bear it. Thanks again.

Regards,

Mohan.

Mohan,

holograms - http://science.howstuffworks.com/hologram.htm

read downwards.

For now do as Babol, youtube and walk around the Bonsai. My friend just got a new camera, if we do it, we will.
3D designed trees show very poorly in digital. You either end up reducing your tree to - Bones - or they look like - Hedges. Either way suketh to highest heaven.

At the same time those who design flat trees come off like masters in digital.
We have the same problem when you paint using visual notes from life. Paintings reproduce poorly.
AND those who use photos or prints, look like masters.
Later.
Khaimraj

* British Museum or some other English institute, featured a hologram of a woman's face back in the early 80's or late 70's. It has been done before, and while ago.

Jim thanks for the reply. Are we to understand that no one from the US has exhibited bonsai overseas and vice versa Incredible If Bonsai is Art, don’t you think something must be done to spread it

It isn't too hard to export a tree from the USA -- assuming you don't want to bring it back.

"Art" has little weight when pitted against the damage that can be caused by the movement of alien insects, diseases, and plants being brought into an area in which that insect's, disease's, or plant's natural enemies do not exist. Billions of dollars have been lost by the accidental introduction of Dutch Elm disease, or Chestnut blight, or the Asian Longhorn beetle, or Russian Thistle, or various exotic fruit flies, or any of thousands of other pest organisms to this country and elsewhere (ask anyone from Australia about rabbits).

I commend to your attention a book -- "Life Out of Bounds" by Chris Bright, WW Norton, pub. 1998 -- that explains the issue clearly. There undoubtedly are newer books on the subject, but this is one of the best.

Khaimraj, thanks for the interesting reply.

Regards,

Mohan.

Thank you Jim. Appreciate the detailed reply.

Well, how do you transport bonsai within the US by air, from West Coast to East Coast or from Hawaii/Florida to some city in the North or vice versa, especially when it is too big to be a cabin baggage? Am sorry for persisting because of a poor recent experience. Thank you.

Regards,

Mohan.

Ah well, it's relatively easy for me. I grow shohin mostly.

I've heard of people boxing their trees up and stuffing the boxes with plastic peanuts or real popcorn and taking them on a plane. I also have heard of people buying an extra ticket for their tree and starapping it into the seat beside them. I've never seen either.

Most, I suspect, load their tree or trees in a car or van and drive, air conditioning on and stopping as few times as possible between points A and B. On the very few times I've had to move a mess of bonsai any distance -- as in moving my trees from Florida to North Carolina -- I loaded them into our horse trailer and drove them up all at once. I lost a couple of small ones because of the wind in the trailer. A few were loosened in their pots because of bumps in he road and a spring-less trailer, but they survived.

I think for Bill V's National show last year, several exhibitors rented a van together and collected trees along the route, or something like that.

Khaimraj,

Thanks for the interesting piece of information, though unrelated to the thread under discussion.

Jim,

Thank you very much for the detailed reply. Much appreciated. It therefore appears that success in transporting bonsai depends on the ingenuity of the bonsaist and is perhaps linked to the destiny of the bonsai itself. Thanks again.

Regards,

Mohan.

Mohan,

I have only responded twice, for which you have thanked me twice. I am not sure what your third response is about ????
Later.
Khaimraj