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Hi,
I would like to bring some packages of seed from Canada to Costa Rica to plant in my garden but I am having a hard time finding any information on this. Does anyone know if this is okay or have a link to a website that would provide the information of what types of plants or seeds you are allowed/not allowed to bring with you into the country.
Thanks 🙂[quote=”mdpfeifer”]Does anyone know if this is okay or have a link to a website that would provide the information of what types of plants or seeds you are allowed/not allowed to bring with you into the country.
Thanks :)[/quote]This website warns against bringing seeds as customs will cohfiscate them. [url=http://www.trycostarica.com/p/what-bring-costa-rica]Try Costa Rica[/url] 🙁
However, being totally naive, on our first trip to Costa Rica I brought plumeria cuttings And had no problem with customs. Og course they probably didn’t know what they were. They looked like the cuttings in the photo below. 😯
[img]http://www.discounthawaiistore.com/images/plants/pink%20plumeria%20cutting.JPG[/img]
it might be verboten to bring seeds, but a lot of people do it, including me. in fact, i just ordered some organic heirloom lettuce seeds for my husband to bring down with him. i’ve even mailed seeds to friends from the US and put “semillas” on the customs form and they made it through.
I like this topic! I too have wondered what if any seeds could be taken to CR. I’ve never tried it but if you can get 12 packages of frozen Oscar Meyer Cheese hot dog’s through customs in Liberia with nary a glance – a package of lettuce seeds has to be a piece of cake! 😆
On a related note: I’ve looked for seed packets around Liberia, Ciudad and Playa del Coco. Anyone have a good place to look?
those disgusting hotdogs will not ruin the environment (unless they are dumped into a water source) but the seeds, well, the introduction of things not native to costa rica is what they are trying to avoid. in my town, almost every ferreteria sells seeds as do the farm stores, feed stores, etc. with all the cattle ranches up there surely there is some farm store that has the basic semillas.
Very few places here have a good [i]variety[/i] of seeds. Do-it center has some…. EPA’s selection is growing.
I brought in a few seeds yesterday from Canada but usually have some sent in. Mostly, I ‘[i]peruse'[/i] what is growing locally and collect them.Just a thought….governments control plant/seed importation for some very good reasons. Plants that may be quite benign in Canada or the States could be terribly pernicious in a tropical climate and vice versa. What is a well-controlled flower in Arizona/Oregon/Pennsylvania can act as an out-of-control monster in our climate.
And if there’s any doubt about the truth of what Sue wrote immediately above, Google “purple loosestrife” which has wiped out many acres of ecologically important marshlands in the U.S. and can now only be sold in a non-reproductive form.
AND the “forests” of English ivy that are choking whole forests in the Pacific Northwest. The list is endless. So for all of us on this Forum who love Costa Rica….keep looking for local seeds. Also ask your neighbors if they would do some seed exchanges with you..the very best way to grow plants from seed which are uniquely suited for your area.
When we first arrived I was sort of grumbling about not being able to find certain kinds of produce for recipes. Then one day while walking thru our truly amazing and abundant farmer’s market I had an epiphany!! I rolled up a La Nation and smacked myself with it! Then I started asking how to use COSTA RICAN vegetables and fruits both in old recipies and new ones. “Adapt woman” I said…and so I have.
[quote=”sueandchris”]AND the “forests” of English ivy that are choking whole forests in the Pacific Northwest. …keep looking for local seeds. use COSTA RICAN vegetables and fruits both in old recipies and new ones. “Adapt woman” I said…and so I have.[/quote]
In Canada we have several plant species brought here that are causing huge problems. We live in CR 4 to 5 months a year. My advice: throw out all N. American cookbooks, buy things at the market that you have never used before, maybe ask a neighbor or the seller (sign language if you have to), experiment and find out that chayote, camote, yucca, etc. and those small fuzzy things are delicious. Enjoy different foods instead of trying to substitute. And I cannot believe someone would take hotdogs to Costa Rica when the chorizo there is so cheap and delicious!
I.J.The seeds that I bring here are growing here [i]already[/i], but not available for purchase in the form of seeds. Or often, not even as a plant in the [i]viveros[/i], but in someones garden. If you look in a plant book showing native Costa Rica plants, then try to find some of the more unusual varieties, locally, you will have a search ahead of you.
We bought a packet of Cosmos seeds here, which I planted once, years ago. Even though I now pull every one of them out, I see another appearing, and more sprout up all the time. Funny though, this species was the [i]only[/i] successful plant to actually germinate from any of the packets I found in the store …
Contact/PM me if you really want some seeds, and maybe I can help.
When thinking of planting veggies grown from seeds brought from Canada or the USA seeds, they possibly will not grow here anyway unless they are a ‘short day’ variety.
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