SHOW: Transporting blooms - sledgehammer method

Hi

We use the "sledgehammer to crack a walnut" method of transporting iris
blooms for show, which goes like this:

1. Get some nice big flower buckets (10 inches across, 14-18 inches deep)

2. Half fill them with sand

3. Fix a wire mesh across the top of the sand. It doesn't matter if you drill
thorugh the side of the bucket above the level of the sand.

4. Fix a second layer of wire mesh just below the rim of the bucket, with
mesh holes of about 1 inch diameter.

5. Pour water into the bucket so that the sand is saturated

6. Cut your bloom stems and push each stem down thorugh the layers of mesh
into the sand. This holds them steady. Each bucket will hold ten to twenty
stems.

7. (This is the fun bit). Go out and hire the biggest lorry you can! In the
UK, the biggest that you can drive without a special Heavy Goods Vehicle
license is 32 feet long and can carry up to seven-and-a-half tonnes. The
advantages of a vehicle this size are as follows:
a - everyone gets out of your way (especially if it says "Self Drive Hire" on
the side)
b - it is as steady as a rock on even the bumpiest of roads if driven
sensibly
c - it comes with a lift on the back - easy for getting heavy items in and
out
d - the view is better than from a car - great for looking over fences and
walls into people's gardens!

We used this method to get our blooms to Chelsea, and got them the 70 miles
between here and there with only three damaged stems out of over 350 carried.
And yes, I did drive the lorry into central London AND around the Chelsea
show site (which is tiny and cramped) without incident.

Obviously, the buckets are intended for TB size stems, and a different size
container would be needed for smaller stems, but the principle remains. The
saturated sand is better than just putting water in the buckets because it
doesn't splash around as you drive along. As a disadvantage, the buckets are
heavy.


Hope this is of interest to someone



Graham Spencer
Croftway Nursery, UK
croftway@aol.com
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