Hi, can any one help????? was just wondering whether there will be any problems bringing our houseplants over with us when we move. I know there used to be funny laws about this and wondered if they still applied.

I dont know the legalities for sure, but when we moved to Spain, our removal company advised us that although bringing plants was ok, it tends to cause hold ups and problems at customs cos they dont like plants and usually will pull them out and check them. If we insisted, we would have had to put all the plants in the same box to be put near the door of the lorry - we didnt bother, most of mine were clinging on to life anyway, the move would have been the end for them, besides, I have the same plants growing beautifully in my garden here!

Jo

In general there are not restrictions in bringing plants to Spain

Thankyou both of you, will do a little more research but as its only one plant(my other halfs baby) hehe we will probably bring it.

We are new to the Costa del Sol and have just fixed ourselves up with a lovely house in Mijas. Unfortunately it does not have a garden, just a terrace. I rather like the idea of growing our own things and are going to speak to people to find out whether someone can spare some of their land for me to grow things in return for some of the produce. Are also wondering about grow bags and pots. I will be interested to know whether any of you grow your own in Spain, what you grow, general info and if anyone has got round the problem of not having a garden. Also I will need a book to learn what I can grow, how etc. Anyone know where I can buy a reasonably priced book other than over the internet? Thanks for any help.

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Beverley

Hi Beverley,
Welcome to Mijas! I live in Mijas and have just started to experiment with growing my own vegetables. It is early days yet, but I have planted tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in pots on my terrace. I haven't a clue what I'm doing, but its fun watching the seedlings come through and the kids are watering them every day! I think you'd be best to get a book through Amazon, although there is an English book store called Bookworld in Fuengirola and in the Miramar centre. Good luck with it...

Hi there,
We used to have access to a friend's garden and we grew peppers, tomatoes etc. Although it may seem strange after the rain we've had this year, the first thing you'll proably need to get sorted is an irrigation system. If not, you'll end up being a slave to your garden having to water at dawn and dusk, and you'll use far more water than is needed.
Here's some info, but if you search drip irrigation I'm sure you'll get lots of info.
HowStuffWorks "Trickle or Drip Irrigation"
This is not to say Lynn's children should stop enjoying watering their plants every day, which I know is a lovely parent child activity.
I also found this which may be useful.
Plants and Gardening in Spain - Gardening in Spain - Spanish Gardens
and this
Gardening In Spain

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“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

If you are going to plant anything in clay pots then you should soak the pots in water for at least 24 hours... this will stop the pot taking all the moisture out of your soil when you first plant up.
Grow bags are convenient but personally I don't like them.. pots are easily moved grow bags aren't once you have got plants growing from them plus the soil in them really need to be thrown after one use.

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http://holidayvillacostablanca.weebly.com/

I'm in the fortunate position of having a neighbour who keeps me supplied with tomatoes, peppers, corgettes, aubergines, beans and marrows. This year we have just started planting our own tomatoes.

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there IS intelligent life on Earth, but I'm not staying

We grow loads of stuff on our terrace without any problem at all.. as said though, it's worth spending a few euros (49€ from Leory Merling last year for everything I needed) on an irrigation system because if you forget to water things they don't survive well!

A few weeks ago we planted (from seed) cucumbers, lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, chillies, peppers, coriander, chives, basil and some mixed leaves in whatever pots we could find kicking around in the shed and bought a few seed trays from Leroy Merlin!