We are packing 458 Hoya for Europe today Sunday 14 June. The plane will depart from Bangkok tomorrow with the documents done on Monday in Bangkok. ( In the past it was possible to process some of the documents in advance of the arrival at the airport, this is not possible anymore because of stricter regulations. So the cargo has to be at 8 : 00 am at Bangkok airport for the documents to be done. )
Since about 10 days the roots and the leaves have been checked : particularly roots must be healthy and well developed, if not the plants are replaced. The leaves must be cleared of insects or traces of
them if found.
Yesterday the roots were inserted in plastic bags with moisture, taking in account that the 10 day weather forecast temperature after arrival will be around 25 Celsius.
Today is the last control for insects, roots and leaves : we are 6 workers on it ! A less constrained work means less pressure, more focus. Close-ups on the roots show that the humidity is ok, the plants are healthy ( we don't force the plants, which can be seen even on pictures by a well informed eye ) none has signs of overfeeding or of stress, if some are damaged by insects they are put aside and replaced : we grow many Hoya plants to avoid being out of stock. We started our business in 1999 so we have been packing plants almost every week for years, and have got some expertise with the quantity of moisture in bags and plant cultivation for international travels and plant collectors' markets. Humidity and temperature management is an
important point both on the exporting and importing ends. The
quantity of water vapour needed to acclimatize or root tropical plants can be calculated. Some locations allow a better
control during the hot months, for
others where higher heat combines with lower humidity, attention is required.
With only 28 degrees Celsius ( 82.4 f ) today our temperature is lower than in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. It is also lower on a yearly average : 3 degrees less than Bangkok, 2 degrees less than Chiang Mai. The proximity of the sea and also the humidity of the air lower the temperature to average levels throughout the year below those of Bangkok and Chiang Mai by 3 and 2 Celsius.
Phuket is also more cloudy on average, like today. The chart in picture below shows the temperatures today in the 3 locations.
The box sizes have been adjusted, at around 13 : 00 we will put the plants in, close and upload the boxes in our air
conditioning minivan for a 30 minutes course to Phuket airport and from there they will take a direct plane to Bangkok airport, the flight will take about 1 hour. This is less time than by a daily truck from Bangkok or the vicinity for a similar cost ( planes are not empty half the way ). The cargo holds of the planes are also better equipped than trucks that do not operate at night to keep temperature at about 20 Celsius and planes must control pressurization ! ( our postal parcels take either direct flights to Bangkok airport or night trucks only )
After arrival the cartons are put in a perishable section of Bangkok airport and depart on a night plane. The flight will be direct, at a very competitive price per kg of cargo, Suvarnabhumi Airport is Southeast Asia's regional cargo hub.
Hoya, Hoya seeds and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com
