BajaNomad

Fruit trees

prt328 - 9-30-2016 at 11:08 PM

I'm crossing San Ysidro heading to my home Cabo next week. I would like to bring some dwarf or semi-dwarf fruit trees down with me OR buy them at Home Depot in Tijuana or Ensenada. The HD in Cabo does not carry them. Does anyone know if the TJ or Ensenada stores have them? If not, any problems bringing 2-4 plants across the border?

David K - 10-1-2016 at 12:44 AM

Even if you could transport trees across the state borders, fruit trees adapted to a climate in San Diego to Ensenada may not do well in the tropics. There should be nurseries in Baja Sur (La Paz, Todos Santos, Los Cabos)? One of the Baja Sur Nomads should be of help, 4x4abc perhaps?

Guavas, mangos, papayas, passionfruit and the native pitahaya dulce would be more at home in Cabo, with regular irrigation.

Mula - 10-1-2016 at 05:21 AM

Check customs.
I think it is not legal to bring in plants and trees.

If you go to a Vivero (plant shop) you should be able to get what you want.

MMc - 10-1-2016 at 05:32 AM

You might have problems getting them Baja to Baja Sur also. Do what DK says and buy local or have them import them for you.

pacificobob - 10-1-2016 at 05:42 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Even if you could transport trees across the state borders, fruit trees adapted to a climate in San Diego to Ensenada may not do well in the tropics. There should be nurseries in Baja Sur (La Paz, Todos Santos, Los Cabos)? One of the Baja Sur Nomads should be of help, 4x4abc perhaps?

Guavas, mangos, papayas, passionfruit and the native pitahaya dulce would be more at home in Cabo, with regular irrigation.


you sound very knowledgeable on "tropical" fruit growing in b.c.s. actually more correctly called sub-tropical. lot of experience? of my 75 fruit trees about 20 % are specimens brought down from southern california. if one runs into a problem with them being confiscated by mexican authorities, it will happen at the ag inspection station at the state line, at GN. i can assure you they are doing well. robust growth, and awesome fruit. i am qualified to recognize a diseased on infested plant/tree and would not transport a plant that was. btw, go easy on irrigation of pitahaya. cheers

SFandH - 10-1-2016 at 06:13 AM

Friends of mine could not only bring potted plants into Mexico at San Ysidro, they were turned around and forced to take them back to the US.

Red light, green light, who knows?

The Rosarito Home Depot is another option, north end of town.

bajaguy - 10-1-2016 at 06:58 AM

As David K stated, it might be a better idea to purchase your trees in the area you intend to plant them as they are already acclimatized to the region. Plenty of nurseries (Viveros) to chose from.

I believe the prohibition on plants/trees is regarding the dirt, and you probably don't want to introduce plant pests or diseases into Mexico.

You may want to check with SENASCIA, the Mexican equivalent of our Department of Agriculture

bowser - 10-1-2016 at 07:48 AM

I've seen a nursery on the west side of the road in San Quintin and plan to check it out next month on our way down.

You still might want to find something south of GN though.

David K - 10-1-2016 at 08:12 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pacificobob  
Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Even if you could transport trees across the state borders, fruit trees adapted to a climate in San Diego to Ensenada may not do well in the tropics. There should be nurseries in Baja Sur (La Paz, Todos Santos, Los Cabos)? One of the Baja Sur Nomads should be of help, 4x4abc perhaps?

Guavas, mangos, papayas, passionfruit and the native pitahaya dulce would be more at home in Cabo, with regular irrigation.


you sound very knowledgeable on "tropical" fruit growing in b.c.s. actually more correctly called sub-tropical. lot of experience? of my 75 fruit trees about 20 % are specimens brought down from southern california. if one runs into a problem with them being confiscated by mexican authorities, it will happen at the ag inspection station at the state line, at GN. i can assure you they are doing well. robust growth, and awesome fruit. i am qualified to recognize a diseased on infested plant/tree and would not transport a plant that was. btw, go easy on irrigation of pitahaya. cheers


Thank you Bob,
I was calling the region of Los Cabos "tropical" because it lies south of (inside) the Tropic of Cancer. Due to the lack of rainfall much of the year, I think calling that region specifically "tropical desert' might be even more accurate? 23°N Latitude vs. San Diego's 33°N Latitude also means hurricanes are a "normal" event there, but very very rare here (San Diego).

I was a member of the California Rare Fruit Growers for many years (1980s and 1990s) and wrote a few articles on growing bananas here in California back then. I also cultivated, grew and sold other exotics (to California) such as cherimoyas, sapotes, guavas, passion fruit, sugarcane, as well as several varieties of bananas.

[Edited on 10-1-2016 by David K]

rts551 - 10-1-2016 at 08:16 AM

This may help

https://mexico.visahq.com/customs/

We buy our trees from the nursery in Vizcaino.

pacificobob - 10-1-2016 at 12:09 PM

the main reason i would choose to import a tree is to be able to source a cultivar that is not locally available. often trees found at a local vivero are of unknown varieties, or turn out to be some sort of mutt, (criollo) this may not be discovered for several years after the transplanting, when your sin semilla navel orange turns out to yield small, bitter,seeded fruit. it is very unlikely one will be able to source a dwarf, or semi dwarf variety. that being said, sometimes one gets lucky and finds a tree that turns out to be a real gem. somewhat like adopting a dog in mexico.(i have been lucky in both cases!)

willardguy - 10-1-2016 at 12:41 PM

Quote: Originally posted by pacificobob  
the main reason i would choose to import a tree is to be able to source a cultivar that is not locally available. often trees found at a local vivero are of unknown varieties, or turn out to be some sort of mutt, (criollo) this may not be discovered for several years after the transplanting, when your sin semilla navel orange turns out to yield small, bitter,seeded fruit. it is very unlikely one will be able to source a dwarf, or semi dwarf variety. that being said, sometimes one gets lucky and finds a tree that turns out to be a real gem. somewhat like adopting a dog in mexico.(i have been lucky in both cases!)


makes sense, good tip bob! :yes: