[crtreedude]

Thanks for the kind words Scott.

I am more than willing to answer any questions regarding teak that people may have. I will give a little bit regarding teak.

Teak is not native here but in many places in Costa Rica will not self-seed due to the fact that you have to pre-treat the seed – I do believe on the coast it will due to the presence of a lot of sand in the soil. I know in our area, I have never seen a teak self-germinate. Therefore, teak is non-invasive, unlike gmelina.

Unfortunately, there has been deliberate scams as well as unintentional ones. Here are some facts about teak that might help.

1. Teak is not suitable in Costa Rica EXCEPT in the following circumstances.
a. The land must not have more slope than 15%.
b. The soil must be well drained and fertile.
c. Teak hates competition, therefore you must prevent competion from weeds, grass and other trees.
d. Teak should be pruned at least once a year, perhaps twice (with excellent growth)
e. The elevation should not be any higher than 1,000 feet (lower is better) and NO WIND.

Teak wood will not have the required oils to be suitable for outdoor furniture until it is 12 years old. It makes nice furniture before that time, but not outdoor furniture and of course is not suitable for boats, etc.

You have a high percentage of heart wood (the good stuff) when you grow it in soil that is fertile or when it grows slow enough to not need fertile soil.

Poorly grown teak has almost no value. If it is not pruned and cared for so that you have straight, knot free wood – you are wasting your time and money. There is an abundance of poorly grown teak in Costa Rica. I have seen estimates as high as 70% of the teak plantations in Costa Rica have very poor quality teak. Just about every week someone tries to sell me wood from plantations that are 15 years old that have never been pruned and never maintained. Usually this plantations have a few trees on the outside with a diameter of 15 inches or so and all the ones in the inside no more than 8 inches. Invariably the owner wants to sell all the trees because they have realized that they will get very little for them.

One thing to be aware – anyone who is trying to sell you land will tell you that you can grow teak on it. You must have your own forestry engineer to evaluate the land.

Just my dos colones, growing trees is a business. No matter what you might have read, growing trees is not easy, especially in the tropics. Unless you are going into it in a large scale, you would be much better off having someone like ourselves grow them for you. You will make more, it will cost you less, and you will have much less headaches.

[crtreedude]

Well, I will speak to it. 15 years is a very short time for teak. How do I know? We grow it. http://www.fincaleola.com

Also, you will need 100,000 PER PERSON (no, spouse don’t get included) for the residency. This is under the Ley (law) 7575.

Much of this depends on where the trees are grown, and how much care is given. For example, in 15 years in Guanacaste you are just getting into have valuable wood – on our side of the mountain, first thinning is around 6 to 8 years.

Be very careful on any investment like this – Costa Rica is full of failed plantations.

How many trees are you supposed to get for 100,000 dollars? What is the planting density (i.e. how many meters apart or how many trees per hectare) What kind of soil? How steep is the land (teak hates anything more than 20%) How often will it be cleaned for the first 3 years (teak hates competion) How often will it be pruned? (you want to produce the best quality wood possible, if you have knots, you will lose half your value or more)

Is that enough to get started?

I can tell you how much you might make if you answer the above questions. Well grown teak is a great investment – unfortunately, this is rarely the case.

[crtreedude]

If you use a good shipper, carefully itemize everything, you will generally have no issue with getting through customs. If you are not going to be in the business of moving things back and forth through customs, it is hardly worth the effort to learn how.

Woods here are wonderful. If your Spanish is good, you will be able to find good quality wood – you might need to dry it yourself though.

Make sure if you are moving wood that is rough cut that you have a receipt with you. If you don’t have an origin document (like a receipt) they will most likely confiscate the wood. Costa Rica is very serious in some parts regarding wood. To cut most trees you have to have permits – especially the ones good for furniture.

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