Availability of vegetable plants and seeds in DR

debbs

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Apr 2, 2009
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I might be moving to the DR very soon to start an organic veggie garden for a hotel on the North Coast...need lots of advice and I will be posting numerous threads, trying to keep each one specific.

Veggie and fruit plants and seeds...

1 Any real good nurseries on the North Coast?
2 Links to online sellers that ship to the DR?
3 Is it illegal to mail seeds to the DR from US?
4 Are prices on garden tools extremely high there or comparable?
5 What veggie/fruit would be in high demand if grown there?

Thanks...would love to correspond with some organic gardeners to know what I can expect. Drop me a line if you'd like to chat...debbs
 
B

BettyDiamond

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people tell me the best seeds are found at the vets in sosua-cranberries would be in high demand
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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thanks mother I usually do the vets thing.The garden centres are ok for fruit trees and such but ive never seen anything in the way of veg plants already germinated and some plants seem to take forever from seed (tomatoes)
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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I grow some things very easily from seed - pumpkin (auyama), tomatoes (not sure what Mr Hartley does to his), basil, mint, lemon grass. I have failed miserably with lettuce, potatos (dogs kept digging them up), coriander. The only fruit trees that have done anything are lime, orange, cherry, papaya and pomegranate. The avocado and mango and grapefruit haven't produced fruit yet - 2 years old. Growing bananas of whatever variety is also easy.

matilda
 

mike l

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Sep 4, 2007
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I might be moving to the DR very soon to start an organic veggie garden for a hotel on the North Coast...need lots of advice and I will be posting numerous threads, trying to keep each one specific.

Veggie and fruit plants and seeds...

1 Any real good nurseries on the North Coast?
2 Links to online sellers that ship to the DR?
3 Is it illegal to mail seeds to the DR from US?
4 Are prices on garden tools extremely high there or comparable?
5 What veggie/fruit would be in high demand if grown there?

Thanks...would love to correspond with some organic gardeners to know what I can expect. Drop me a line if you'd like to chat...debbs

I bought seeds from Amazon.com and had them delivered and they got through customs ok.

Raspberries and Blueberries would be great if you can grow them here.
 
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Bred

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Aug 13, 2006
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Sosua
Beware of the biggest curse here - root-knot nematodes. I have been fighting with them for about 2 years. They affect roots of all vegetables and are very difficult to get rid off.
 

TOOBER_SDQ

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Nov 19, 2008
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...............Are prices on garden tools extremely high there or comparable?............

The price is not comparable, but whats worse it the quality of almost all hand tools (gardening tools included).

Tools rust out and become useless very quickly here, no matter how well you try to maintain them. My advice is to bring your own.
 

The Virginian

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Mar 16, 2007
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Please let me know should you decide to sell your product outside the Hotel. I LOVE tomatoes and just simply can not seem to get the hang of it here. Back home (USA) you could simply through the seeds/plant in the ground and come back at picking time. Actually I love ALL veggies, but I buy them instead of growing them. Good luck.
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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The price is not comparable, but whats worse it the quality of almost all hand tools (gardening tools included). Tools rust out and become useless very quickly here, no matter how well you try to maintain them. My advice is to bring your own.

Good advice. We send big plastic drums down all the time [shipper provides the drum, they're huge and very sturdy - I think they're $20] and fill them with all heavy stuff like tools because we need them for our gardening and orchard upkeep. Last drum even had a big axe in it to cut/prune some of the big trees on the property. We then keep the drums scattered around the land, each filled to the brim with water, in case there's a problem with the water pump we use for irrigation or the electricity gives us trouble. You can also send big boxes instead [provided free by the shipper] and save the cost of the drum, if what you're sending isn't very heavy.
 

debbs

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Apr 2, 2009
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Thanks for all your input...keep it coming! So I guess I should ship a small tiller down there too, eh?

Selling exotic veg locally in the DR is the aim of the gardening effort. Exotic probably means whatever is not sold locally there...so list em! Are okra, loquats, pomegranate, yard long beans, asain spinach, tomatillos, prevelant there?
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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tomato need lots of liquid feeding and water ,,,but they dont like the rain so try to cover them and dont water the leaves if possible
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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okra - yes (molondron)
loquats - maybe (is it nispero here?)
pomegranate - they can grow but are not that common (granada)
yard long beans - think so (vainitas?)
asian spinach - the most common spinach like plant is chard (acelgas)
tomatillos - no, but I'm sure they would grow in some areas
 

DannyS

Member
Jun 19, 2007
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Selling exotic veg locally in the DR is the aim of the gardening effort. Exotic probably means whatever is not sold locally there...so list em! Are okra, loquats, pomegranate, yard long beans, asain spinach, tomatillos, prevelant there?

Not a good idea to introduce plants (or animals) not native to an environment. With the possibility of no natural predators that could reek havoc on the surrounding environment. There have been a number of cases of this around the world. Stick with indigenous species.

If you mean indigenous just not sold of course that would be great.
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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stick with indigenous species like we do in our home countries ahem - there wouldnt be a lot in the garden.........does anyone actually eat okkra by the way

I dont recall any vegetables reeking havoc but you never know lol
 

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
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Great

stick with indigenous species like we do in our home countries ahem - there wouldnt be a lot in the garden.........does anyone actually eat okkra by the way

I dont recall any vegetables reeking havoc but you never know lol

UMM Okra try Gumbo, breaded and deep fried, Soup. Okra is great in all of them. Just dont boil it, gets all slimy then.
 

AlterEgo

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...does anyone actually eat okkra by the way

I never ate okra until I married a Dominican [in the US it seems to be a southern thing], and now I love it. Wash it, cut off the ends, then cut them into pieces about 1/2" thick. Saute onions [I like a lot of them] and as soon as they become opaque add the okra and saute until soft/cooked [a lid helps]. My mother-in-law adds a couple of beaten eggs to bind it all together, but I like it both ways, with and without the egg. Last week we bought a huge bag of okra from a farm stand between Palenque & Najayo beaches for 30 pesos, it was so good. Here at home in NJ I just saw it at a discount produce store for $3.79 a pound!!!