Foliage cuttings are the largest part of Sri Lanka’s live-plant exports. Sri Lankan growers supply nurseries in the Netherlands, Japan, the Middle East and the United States with unrooted cuttings and canes that the buyer roots, pots and finishes locally.

What we quote

• Dracaena canes: leafless, rootless stem sections cut to length, for nurseries that root and sprout them
• Dracaena and cordyline tip cuttings: unrooted cuttings with leaves
• Other foliage lines grown by Sri Lankan nurseries, on request

Note for US buyers: leafless, rootless dracaena canes are among the simplest plant material to import into the United States. Leafy or rooted dracaena may face extra conditions. Confirm the current status for Sri Lanka in the USDA ACIR database before ordering.

What to include in your request

• Species and varieties
• Cane length and diameter, or cutting length
• Quantity per shipment, and whether you want a standing weekly order
• Destination airport and your import permit details

Packing and transit

Cuttings are graded, bundled and packed in ventilated cartons without soil, and travel by air freight because they are perishable. Many buyers set a standing order so harvesting and packing line up with a fixed flight. We confirm the flight, transit time and freight cost with the quote.

Importing into your country

Every shipment travels with a phytosanitary certificate from Sri Lanka’s National Plant Quarantine Service. What else you need depends on where the plants are going. Send us your species list and destination and we check the rules before we quote.

• European Union: all plants for planting need a phytosanitary certificate, including small lots and parcels. Some genera are on the EU high-risk plants list and cannot be imported until they are assessed, so we check each species first. Any growing medium must be new or treated and declared on the certificate, and professional importers register with their national plant-health authority.
• United Kingdom: plants for planting need a phytosanitary certificate, pre-notification on IPAFFS and inspection at a border control post, where fees apply.
• United States: the importer needs an APHIS import permit (form PPQ 587, free, applied for online; allow 30 to 60 days). Plants arrive bare-root, without soil, and enter through a port with a USDA plant inspection station.
• United Arab Emirates and the Gulf: the importer usually needs an import permit from the national ministry before the plants are shipped (in the UAE, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment).
• Japan, Canada and other markets: a phytosanitary certificate is required, and some plants also need an import permit or inspection on arrival. We confirm before quoting.
• Australia and New Zealand: very strict. Most live plants need an import permit and post-entry quarantine, so we quote these case by case.

How to get a price: tell us the species, quantity, size and destination airport. We quote FOB Colombo, CFR or CIF by air, with lead time and minimum order, and arrange samples before an order.

SLE ref: SLE-29ZAY6 · © SriLankaExport.com