Greek Plant Cuttings

Hello all,

We are off on our hols next week to Greece (Halkidiki to be exact) and I would like to know if anyone has any tips for bringing back cuttings/plants etc? I remember having a conversation with DavieM (I think) about cuttings for olive trees, so I wondered if anyone has any advice on the best ways to do it (e.g. how to protect them, bring them back etc)?

The region is renowned for its olive trees and other vegetation, and we like anything that reminds us of our favourite country! It would be lovely to continue growing something that came from over there!

BTW ââ?¬â?? Iââ?¬â?¢ve just thought that this may not be legal under the EU movement laws (fruits/veg etc) so if I shouldnââ?¬â?¢t be doing this, feel free to tell me before I have a run-in with the authorities!

Thanks muchly,

Dave

 

Hi Dave!!!!
I find Mr HB's shoes just right for popping cuttings and plants inside, with soggy tissue and plastic bag!!!!!!!
er - that'll be the ones in the suitcase, of course!!!!

 

Hi HB - nice, that's an image for me to contemplate!

But seriously, thank you for the advice :D

 

DaveIHG - hope you have better weather than I am going to have......

 

It's true it is not allowed anymore (but it ain't gonna stop me)I tend to bring bougainvilleas and oleanders back and then have so many I don't know what to do with them! I always seem to find seeds in the battery compartment in the camera case, no idea how they get there! :D

 

Roche effervescent vitamin tubes. Pretty water tight, and fairly unsuspecting.

Or good quality cigar tube, like Montecristo!

BM

 

There is nothing better than growing your own plants from seeds collected on holiday. Here are a couple of yukkas grown from seed collected in Tunisia in may 1998


this from the cliffs at Mousehole, cornwall last may

these agave ? seedlings from the sand dunes in Spain last April

and these from cornwall last week

 

Hi
Can't see your last 3 pics....
Where abouts were you last week???? We were down there too!!! (as was 1/2 the country!!!)

 

Carbis bay , next door to st ives.....opposite the cornish arms down the hill a little.

 

Very nice down there - this year we were near Looe.....
The boys want to go camping down there in the summer, so I'm looking for a camp site, not too commercial, right on the beach, which allows dogs!! Not easy to find!!! .. was it good surfing there??

 

I believe you can take any cuttings / seeds you want back into England ... it's the soil where the problem lies (ie, potted plants) that's the big no-no.

I did work for MAAF a few years ago, before it was DEFRA, and things may have changed.

 

Sorry, forgot to say, the best way to transport cuttings in wrapped in wet paper towel / tissue / toilet paper or the like, then in a baggie and tucked in a shoe doesn't just "hide" them but protect them from being crushed. If possible, also take the cuttings nearer your departure date rather than the day you arrive!

I worked in the law environment in the States and it was utterly amazing how many people "took" things (pictures, towels, even TVs) from their hotel/motel rooms shortly after they arrived (obviously they were in cars) rather than the day the left and the maids caught them out.

Taking the cuttings of plants is for freshness obviously, not that you'll be arrested for it

 

As far as I know all plants and cuttings are banned maybe seeds too but I think they would only be confiscated if found. I bought a Delonix Regia (Flamboyant Tree) in Tenerife airport (15ins high ) carefully put in my backpack knowing it may be found but there were no visible customs at Bristol. Three lots of seed 6 Bougainvillea and 2 Oleander cuttings also went through.
I don't know what I'll come back with from Turkey and Northern Cyprus in august (apart from sunburn). Something will fall in to my bag/pocket/camera case. :D