Did you ever come across a situation when you had to travel out of your current state in USA and did not want to leave that house plant you loved, cared for all these years? Any instances when you were in a dilemna about the plant that you specially ordered but wasnt sure if you could carry with you out of Florida? Once being a Florida resident, I was in a fix when we had to move out of Florida and I did not want to give up that Betel leaf plant whose edible leaves are popularly used in south Indian tradition. After specially ordering it from Tampa, Florida, it always had my special attention, love and care that made it grow a bunch of leaves and branches (that I finally had to cut and repot some of those in another pot) when compared to the single vine with 5 leaves when it first arrived.
After immense research on the web and through phone calls, this was the information I gathered : Florida being the hub for Citrus, has special regulations in place that will require Citrus or any plants of commercial purpose taken out of/brought into FL requiring inspections and certifications. This is applicable for Commerical plants. For those non-citrus household plants free of Fire Ants, you would be able to carry it as a hand luggage as long as it satisfies FSA regulations. I had a medium sized pot of plastic with a water tray attached to it. I stopped watering the plant the day earlier and emptied the tray as well when I got to the airport (This is to meet the FSA requirement of not carrying any liquid on board more than 4 oz). I was able to take it on with me in flight as my hand luggage well tucked in a carry - on bag and it being a vine, I was able to fit it under the seat. No Questions asked as my plant was obviously FireAnts free and I satisfied FSA regulations as well.
You might need an Inpsection certificate if you plan to ship it. In case if you have any Qs, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services/ Division of Plant Industry in your local area would be your best contact.
key words: Betel Plant , Shipping household plants, Indian Betel plant, Florida household plants
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