I Never Knew My Car Could Hold So Many Plants

God's Warrior · I Never Knew My Car Could Hold So Many Plants

I never knew my car could hold so many plants!

Carol7
Mar 27, 2005

I took a five day trip to Florida to pick up additional plants for our nursery and my timing must have been perfect. I managed to get 72 count trays on sale for more than over 1/2 off because they were overgrown and couldn't be shipped out. Seeing a great deal, I said I wanted this, that, and etc. When I went to the office to pay for them I realized I had bought 25 trays of plants and I'm driving a Nissan Sentra - not to mention I had already purchased 23 plants in one to three gallon pots the day before that I had to load up in my car for the trip home as well!

I spent almost 8 hours removing the plugs from the trays to repack in boxes for the trip home, but it was well the effort because they all arrived in great shape.

You would think that was enough for anyone, but I found more 1-3 gallon plants on sale - and of course I bought them too - so that was 34 plants of those sizes. Plus I had plants that were placed in plastic bags that were given to me by a dear friend as well.

So.... If anyone ever asks you how many plants you can fit into a Nissan Sentra just tell them over 1800. I might have been able to bring more, but I would have had to drive with them on top of my head. ;o)

Elena

Hi Carol,
That is so cool! Kind of like how many elephants can you fit into a Volkswagen, huh? I think that shows so much intelligence on your part. What a savings! I am glad you didn't try to drive home with plants in your lap and on your head. What a pity you didn't get pictures of that. I can just imagine what a story you would have had to tell if a cop had pulled you over for some reason.
1800, huh? WOW!

Carol7

The shipping/packing costs for just the flats would have been $286 whereas I spent only $110 on gas for my entire trip. Luckily I was forewarned that the gas prices in Florida were alot higher than in South Carolina and Georgia, so that helped with my expenses too.

I bought several of the plants in the gallon pots for display and future nursery stock. If I didn't have them I could have easily brought home an additional 15 flats.

I stacked the boxes on my back seat, but made sure I didn't block the rear window so I wouldn't get stopped by the police. My biggest fear was getting a flat tire because my trunk was so full it would have taken forever just to get to my spare! lol

Elena

I have always loved the saying that necessity is the mother of invention. We can do a whole lot more than we usually think we can if we just use our "noggins" (heads). It looks to me like your time was well spent plus it sounds like you had a great time. I know the feeling of having things so loaded down that you couldn't get to necessary things like spare tires and tire tools. Trying to figure how much the tires should have to carry is a problem too. I have that problem every time I take a bright notion to haul river rocks back home from one of our trips.

shazbot3

Wow, Carol! That was quite a haul, wasn't it? I used to have a little Sentra-2 door. The trunk in those thing ARE huge, bigger than they really look. A flat tire would have been a nightmare, tho Smile

Carol7

"Necessity is the mother of invention" is so, so true. Just think of the many uses of duct tape. Surprised

) My trip was alot of fun but I was exhausted when I got home. I was on the go nonstop practically the entire time in order to make the most of my trip.

Shaz, you're right about the roominess of the trunk. I wish I still had my toyota though. The rear seats would fold down which gave me alot of room and I didn't have to worry about getting the seats dirty. ;o) Depending on how the nursery does this year, I may consider buying a small pickup. I'll have to check into the gas mileage stats first to see if it will be worth it because I don't see fuel prices going down anytime soon.

Elena

Yeah, Carol, could we actually live without duct tape now that we have gotten accustomed to relying on it? The same thing holds true with the computer. I don't think I could imagine going back to life without it. We spoil so easlily, don't we?

shazbot3

Hey Carol! We have a little Ford Ranger, it's an '85. The gas mileage is excellent. I don't know about the newer models, but i would think any little 4- or 6-cylinder would be great on gas.

I also have a little GEO Storm that the back seat folds down. Talk about cargo room!! I can put an 8ft ladder and massive other things in there with no problem Smile

Carol7

Elena, when my DH was in the Navy he actually made a fishing pole out of duct tape while out at sea. I guess you could ask if he is an avid fisherman or did he have too much spare time on his hands? LOL

Shaz, what kind of gas mileage do you get with your Ranger? I'd like to get a new truck, but then I'd have to pay 100% of the personal property taxes on it if the business mileage is over a certain percentage of the total mileage for the year. The same holds true with my sentra - I wouldn't be eligible for the tax relief that the previous governor initiated for all vehicle owners. For the sentra it would be a property tax increase of about $280 per year. It's another reason I loaded up the car as much as I could during this trip. ;o)

Elena

Your husband sounds like a very inventive man, Carol. My mother quoted this little saying to us the whole time I was growing up and I remember it everytime I am trying to come up with a solution to something. "Necessity is the mother of invention." Usually a solution can be found to just about everything, as an example, your husband "just had to fish" so he made his own rod out of whatever was handy and in good supply. COOL!

shazbot3

Carol, right now we get about 30mpg over the road, and about 25mpg in the city. We're a little overdue for a tune-up, however. We could probably get a lot more.

Carol7

Elena, my DH comes up with all kinds of ideas. Our push mower had died and Adam took out the engine. He turned it into a small cart so I could move firewood from the backyard into the greenhouse if our supply out front ever got low. I've considered having him fixing it up a bit more so I can use it to carry plants and whatever else I need out to the garden. I figure after that and a paint job it will look "tacky chic". LOL

Shaz, thanks for the info. My DH used to have a Nissan pickup and his mileage didn't even come close to yours. He currently has a Dodge Ram and when he filled up today prices had jumped up to $2.14/gal from $1.98 last week. It's now going to cost him $37 a week for gas just to commute to and from work. He just got his annual cost of living raise and it looks like it will be going directly to the gas pump. Surprised

(

Elena

Carol, that is so clever using the old mower like that. I think he deserves a gold star for that idea. "Tacky chic" is GOOD! It would match my "shabby chic" home.

Carol7

Elena, I think tacky chic and shabby chic are both good! I've been wanting a wagon for the garden and I think the converted mower will work just fine once we fix it up a bit. Not to mention it will have cost practically nothing. ;o)

There's a guy here who has a Sanford and Son type of business and has a medium size, claw foot bathtub for $90. I am thinking about buying it to convert into a water garden for one of the future secret gardens in our woods, but I don't think my DH would be a happy camper when he had to go pick it up because those things are soooo heavy!

Elena

We may have a push mower that will bite the dust this year and I am most assuredly going to save it for that very purpose. I would have never thought of doing that but it makes good sense.

The bath tub idea is one that I have considered so many times. I had planned to sink a regular tub in the ground and attach a hose to it so that it could drain into the garden and conserve that water whenever it had to be cleaned. We have so many mosquitoes that I had all but given up on that idea but you have put it back in my head again. One thing that I figured was that the dogs could also drink out of it and save me having to keep fresh water out for them. Goldfish in the tank could keep down mosquitoes and..........oh, my!!!! Hubby is going to kill me if I come up with anything else for him to do right now. LOL! Maybe I need to wait a few months until he gets his list worked down just a bit. LOL

Carol7

Elena, I was hesitating because of the mosquito factor too. They are already bad enough here because we are about five miles from the James River as well as less than two miles from a good size creek. The creek is large enough to have a state maintained boat ramp to give you an idea of it's size.

I decided to say the heck with it and get the tub, but someone else had already bought it. On the other hand I got an old milk can for $20. They wanted $30, but someone had drilled a 1/2" hole in the back of it. For what I want to use it for won't really matter though. Surprised

)

Elena

I have two of those milk cans and haven't decided what to do with them. What do you plan to do with yours. I figure maybe I could use one as an umbrella stand if I put a sleeve in it to keep it from staying wet and rusting. The outsides are rusty and we will have to clean them up before I put them anywhere.

Carol7

Elena, this makes my second milk can and just like you I need to clean mine up before I can do anything with them. Do you have any ideas on what would be the easiest way to tackle it?

I've seen where people have painted their milk cans with flowers/vines and put their house number on it with those numbers you get at the hardware store. They usually set them on their porch or at the base of their steps. They look really nice, but I don't know if painting affects their value. I saw a painted one at an antique shop and they were asking $125 for it. I should have thought to ask what a regular one goes for these days because they are so hard to find around here. In fact, I bought my other one while on vacation in Texas.

My other idea for the milk can was to use it as a planter with some kind of imitation flowers/ivy, (ones that look halfway real lolol), and set it in my kitchen. The only problem with that is four wagging tails who will think I bought them a drum! LOL

I also have a cream can that I bought in Colorado 15 years ago. I was on the milk can quest back then and was disappointed that I only found a cream can that had minimal rust, but I figured it was better than nothing at all so I bought it. I found out later they are scarcer than milk cans and are a very collectible item to some people. I sure did feel stupid about being disappointed when I found that out, but I would have felt like a complete idiot if I hadn't bought it. ;o)

Elena

We use Rust Converter from K Mart or Walmart and it is a spray on product from Krylon. You don't even have to remove the rust. I would sand it smooth though. I think that it would be ok to paint the cans as they will be protected that way and not obtain further damage. You aren't talking much value lost in that process and the paint can always be removed is someone wants to go to that trouble. If you are into shabby chic, you might do what I may do. I think I will just protect them with a clear product and leave them rusty. I may change my mind on that if they look too awful however.

shazbot3

Ok. I know what a milk can is; but what is a cream can? I have this tall stainless steel cylinder with a handle on each side that I found at the ranch years ago. Someone told me it was the modern version of a milk can.

This thing is gorgeous-not a spot of rust on it, and VERY heavy. I've always used it for umbrellas, etc.

Carol, I would think painting on that can wouldn't decrease the value of it as long as you didn't completely remove the rust from it.

They sell "rust-retarder" to put on things to stop the rust from progressing. I'd use that, and then paint away-just leave a LOT of the rust showing.

Carol7

Elena, thanks for telling me about Rust Converter. I need something for very small rusty areas on our lawn swing as well as my wrought iron plant hanger and I hope this will do the job. I've decided to just do the work to preserve them instead of covering one of them with paint. If I ever get into the painting mode I'll try painting my mailbox with flowers/vines first since I can't draw worth a lick and I can buy a new one anywhere. ;o)

Shaz, a cream can is shorter than a milk can and if memory serves me right it's stands about 12" to 18" high and somewhat resembles a milk can. It's still packed up from when we moved here along with an old timey crank ice cream maker and a brown glass clorox bottle w/cap that I also bought while in Colorado. You know it's bad when your friend has to ship some the items you bought during your vacation by UPS because you didn't have enough room for them! lol

Elena

You will need to read on the can to see if you need to put a protective coat of paint on them after using the converter. We always do paint things afterward so I can't remember what the directions said. You wouldn't believe how much sanding that has eliminated for us as we have lots of iron work and other things that rust on our place.