My friend & I live in Ohio. He sprouts curly willows & pussy willows and transplants them to dirt.

He's tried multiple times to gift them to his mother in Costa Rica but they die off down there.

Is there a trick to getting them to grow in South America? Will they even grow there?

Thanks!!

Curly willows, no matter which kind of curly willow they are, are not tropical plants. Unless your friend's Mom live high in the Costa Rican mountains, I doubt they could survive.

The other thing is, what is he transplanting. Willows hate transplanting bareroot or with the soil "falling" away. Sometimes the top of the plant will completely die and then resprout, but usually not.

Leftwood said: Willows hate transplanting bareroot or with the soil "falling" away.

Gotcha, I think. You're saying they don't like real loose soil with pockets or air? (For lack of better description)

In other words when transplanting make sure all of the soil falls into place around the roots?

And thanks!

Almost. I am saying the young plants don't tolerate transplanting very well. Any kind of jostling, handling, soil removal, root damage, etc. I still don't think it would work in the tropics, but he would be better off rooting the willow sticks in a pot, or better: in the ground, in Costa Rica, rather than rooting in the USA and transporting and transplanting down there.

Maybe send her some cuttings when they go dormant and let her plant them there.