Building my nursery in Costa Rica

[geonomaDude]

Hi,

I am starting my nursery here in Costa Rica with my brother FossylNypa. Right now, we are working in the structural thing of the greenhouse. I would like advice in watering options, on fast growing palms... easy germinators, and everything else you may consider useful.

Thanks,

Adolfo

[DoomsDave]

Hey, you want a roommate?

(Chip me out of the ice . . . .)

dave

[Jeff Searle]

(geonomaDude @ Jan. 15 2007,22:50)

QUOTE

Hi,

I am starting my nursery here in Costa Rica with my brother FossylNypa. Right now, we are working in the structural thing of the greenhouse. I would like advice in watering options, on fast growing palms... easy germinators, and everything else you may consider useful.

Thanks,

Adolfo

Adolfo,

    Well, where do we start??

Watering, do you have access to a pond, river or lake to pull your water from? If not, you might have to dig a well.

 There's a whole slew of species that you probably can grow that would do very well and grow quickly. Examples are, Cyrtostachys renda, Euterpe sp., Geonoma sp., Roystonea, Bismarckia, Foxtails and and many more.

 In what area are you located? In the mountains, near the coast, and what's the elevation where you are? These all matter on having the best results for growing different species of palms.

   Are you growing sun palms, or shade loving species or both? Do you know how big you plan on growing the palms that will be under shade? Make sure the house will be tall enough.

   You will need to invest in some kind of sprayer, something you will probably need to pull behind a small tractor. Do you have a small tractor in mind yet? Probably one or two backpack sprayers to use for spraying small areas.

 Are you putting down ground cloth or plastic to keep the weeds out?

 And one of the most important things you need to know....where's your market to sell these palms?? Are you going to set up as a retail, or sell wholesale to landscapers only. Is your surrounding area going to have a need for many palms species at different sizes? Well, these are a few things to think about.

Jeff

[geonomaDude]

Thanks very much Jeff. I already have access to water from a well and have a creek crossing the property (the problem is that local neighboors pollute this precious creek water), so I would go for the well water.

Since theres some canopy I can grow shade palms, but I have a question. Does full-sun palms grow faster???

Also thanks for the other points you exposed, I'll kept them in mind.

Regards,

Adolfo

[Palmtrader]

I have been building a nursery here in Spain for the past two years and two mistakes we have made were first of all under estimating the extremes of the weather so I think it is important  to study the climate statistics as best as possible for your area like the average amount of rainfall  and maximum/ minimum mean temperatures etc and then plan your infastructure around this information to cover all eventualies. We built a number of polytunnels with interior shade netting and sides that winch up and down and this seems to work as the summer heat is the biggest probelm here in Spain and we use a mixture of drip feeders and overhead spray irrigation depending on the species. Also the amount of water you need depending on the amount of palms you grow can become a financial inhibitor so it is important you use water conseravtively and to it's best effect.

The second problem for us was not knowing that every form of wildlife wants to live in your tunnels and greenhouses and we had many unwelcome visitors during our first year including snakes, rats, and very large wolf spiders in fact so many creatures that my wife is now terrified to go in them. We have dealt with these issues now but at great expense.

I blame my inexperience completely for these minor setbacks but overall the set-up has been a great success. Good luck.

[Bilbo]

Good luck Adolpo and you wont get advice than from those Searles.

They are tru pros.

.  .  .  oh shucks I only had to put my hands around Andreas loverly shoulders and Im now hooked for life!

X X X  etc.

 Regardez

Juan

[Bilbo]

Apologie :I Did mean - better advice!

Regardez

Juan

[JakeK]

Hi Geonomadude!

If your nursery will be located in Alajuela, then the only palms you couldn't grow for retail would be the palms that appreciate some cooler weather like the Ceroxylon & Parajubaea palms. I am sure there are probably a few others too, but not many. I have been to Alajuela several times and coconuts grow very well there. I think Alajuela is a bit warmer than San Jose so you should be a zone 12a/11b, meaning all the tropicals should grow very well for you.

Is there any way to construct a water catchment system, like a reservoir? Alajuela receives plenty of rain during the wet season and if you could catch the rain in large basins and use gravity to flow into the irrigation system, that could help with the water problems. I am not really an expert of water catchment systems, but I have seen them on a few houses in San Ramon.

pura vida!

Jake

[Utopia Palms]

Hi Adolfo,

           Are you ready to work 24/7 as there is always work that needs to be done in a nursery!!Ask Jeff!.

Make sure that the water in the wet season runs away from the area were you are going to start, this can go into a pond then into the creek after filling, also make sure the water does not sit in the area where your plants are going to be, this can also run to a pond .Allow for future growth and easy access for the growth of your nursery.

If you are going to build shade houses, I’ve found that blue fencing wire the best to join the shade cloth together simply put the cloth together and sharpen the wire like a needle and thread through every 40cm apart, I have also found that when you put this up only tie down around the bottom of the shade house, if you tie it down at the top of the shade house it will rip easier in strong winds. This should give you enough work to get you started. It is very important what Jeff has said also work out your market first and grow from there!! The market will end up letting you know what species to grow as I think you should be able to grow just about every thing, so go for the more colorful palms and good landscaping plants. HOPE THIS HELPS. Good luck.

Clayton

[geonomaDude]

Thanks all of you guys. Your comments have helped me see things i hadn't care before, and now I found myself working on some of these issues.

Jake I do live in Alajuela, but my nursery would be located in Salitral, Santa Ana. The climate there is quite similar to where I live.

Clayton thanks for the tips on building my shadehouse.

Andy, gracias! I would keep in mind the thing about wild intruders.