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garrygreenfingers

Will anyone in the US be willing to ship tropicals to the UK?

GarryGreenfingers
10 years ago

Hello!

Would any US-based tropical fruit growers be willing to ship small size tropical fruit trees (preferably propagated by vegetative means, as opposed to seeds), small grafted specimens or cuttings overseas to England, UK? (I am being serious- this is no joke, so your help would be really appreciated!).

I grow tropicals (including tropical fruit, herbs and spices) as indoor container plants. I am keen to acquire a small sized mango, canistel or sapote cultivar and various other tropical fruit species that are capable of bearing fruit if grown in a sufficiently large (i.e. 30 litre+) container on a permanent basis.

I am currently growing healthy soursop/guanabana, sapodilla (manilkara zapota, of unknown variety), various citrus, lychee (of unknown variety), carambola, Hass avocado, allspice (pimenta dioica), dragonfruit and coffea arabica, but I have doubts as to whether these seed-grown plants will ever flower and bear fruit in containers. I figure that if I can successfully import live plants (preferably grafted dwarf or container-compatible cultivars) or cuttings taken from mature fruit-bearing plants, I would stand a more realistic chance of obtaining fruit (and within a reasonable time) compared to raising plants directly from seed.

I find it amazing that grafted or dwarf containerised varieties of mango, carambola, avocado, citrus (and many others) are capable of bearing fruit when they're barely 3 feet tall; I get the impression that it is very UNLIKELY that SEED-GROWN tropical fruit trees will bear fruit at such a small size.

I asked Connecticut-based Logees nursery if they can ship plants internationally; they said that it was too difficult a task, so they've made it company policy not to ship overseas (which is a shame considering that Logees offer some superb plants, such as this dwarf fruiting carambola. When I made enquiries with Florida-based Topp Tropicalss, they said that the cost of the phytosanitary certificate is prohibitively expensive (but they didn't actually quote the price).

As you can imagine, NO (NONE WHATSOEVER, ZILCH, 0) plant nurseries in the cool (and sometimes cold) United Kingdom offer anything more tropical than grafted citrus and olives. Hence, if I want to acquire TRULY TROPICAL PLANTS (as opposed to seeds, which are relatively easy to obtain), I have to consider importing them from warm overseas locations, such as Florida and California in the US, and Thailand in Asia.

I am more than happy to meet the additional cost associated with a phtosanitary certificate. Now that the warmer spring weather has arrived in the UK, I am confident that plants will survive the plane journey (they might become a little stressed, but I doubt that they'll be killed outright).

Can anyone help? :)

Comments (7)

  • stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
    10 years ago

    I think your best bet is Asian sourced. From what I see on ebay,they have no problems in Europe while also stating they wont ship to the USA..California especially. Even Florida wont ship fruit tree's to California without extra cost if at all.
    Also,I have heard that if you are caught ordering from the USA..You are sort of blacklisted by the government. I'm not sure how that all works out.
    Wouldn't Spain have what your looking for? Or Portugal?..maybe even Italy?

  • longaeva54
    10 years ago

    From spain, two nurseries.I hope you find what you are looking for.
    http://www.frutalestropicales.com/
    http://www.canarius.com/en/172-fruitherbs-medicinals

  • bananafan
    10 years ago

    You might also want to check with the Asian grocery stores in UK. Some of them may sell live plants such as lychee, longan, kumquats etc. I've seen them selling here in Florida, so this gives me the idea. I think looking south in your European continent is not a bad idea.

    If you're thinking of ordering online, I've seen sellers on e-bay from India, the Philippines and Thailand. Maybe they know how to ship overseas to where you are. U.S. is very strict when coming to importing plants in here, or exporting them out of this country.

    Another way is to contact your Agricultural department. I'm sure there are people researching and interested in cultivating tropical plants in that part of the world and they may give you more information as to how you can obtain them. Anyway, I hope you'll be successful in sourcing out your tropical fruit trees purchases soon. Are you able to post update and pictures of your tropical collection?

  • GarryGreenfingers
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thankyou so much, longaeva54, for those two links! I am pleasantly surprised with the array of tropical and subtropical fruit trees and shrubs they offer.

    I think I'll get a container-compatible 'condo' mango variety, such as a 'Pickering', Nam doc mai, Julie, Ice Cream, etc. I plan to keep it outside in my garden from late spring to early autumn, then return it indoors before the night time temperature falls below 7 degrees C.

    I can provide supplementary artifical light in the form of two 4 tube 4ft 216 Watt 16,600 lumens T5 HO fluorescent units. That's a total lumen output of 33,200 lumens. Is this sufficient to assist the mango during the colder months? These growlights emit heat, but less so compared to HPS. With my two T5 units running simultaneously, the temperature in my conservatory reaches a sultry 35 degrees C. I keep the relative humidity high, at 90+%. My plants love these high humidity levels, especially my seed-grown carambola, which has put out an abundance of new growth. At lower humidity levels, I found that the heat from the T5 was driving moisture away from the leaves of the carambola, causing yellowing and twig die-back. Even my avocado plants like the high humidity levels and have put out a flush of new leaves. Despite such high humidity levels, I rarely encounter fungal growth on my plants. I think the high temperature discourages fungal growth.

    Bananafan: yes, I will post pictures of my plants; please stay tuned! I first have to get myself a decent digital camera. My mobile phone picture quality is terrible! I hear that Canon make some economically priced, yet good quality, digital cameras. Has anyone had experience with Canon?

  • rodneys
    10 years ago

    I can send dragonfruit cuttings & scionwood from my various trees. I've mailed things to a friend in Turkey w/o too much of a problem.

  • longaeva54
    9 years ago

    GarryGreenfingers, did you contact www.plantogram.com ?
    They send plants internationally.

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