Bringing plants into California (house, moving, transport)

[penella]

Im moving from Michigan to California next month and I can't find any recent post about bringing house plants into California and how strict they are and all that.

Their website makes it seem like it isn't a problem as long as they are healthy but older post on here and other places online make it sound like they pretty much automatically confiscate them no matter what. I hoping someone that regularly goes through these check point stations can give me some insight or someone who has also tried bringing plants into the state.

Are those stations even open any more and are they going to take my plants? I have a few orchids and other plants I do not want to have to leave behind and am hoping it won't be a problem. It also worries me that someone that knows nothing about plants will see a brown sun spot and instantly think my plant is sick or something.

Please let me know how this all works. Thank you!

[nightlysparrow]

Yes, they are open, yes they will confiscate plants and produce. They look for out-of-state plates on cars. They are being even more vigilant now because of bird flu and citrus pests.

Recent CDFA Border Protection Station activities protect bird flocks and citrus | CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog

[AustinTraveler]

We had absolutely no problem bring our house plants into California. This will give you some good guidelines:

CDFA > Plant > Frequently Asked Questions Concerning the Transport of Houseplants in California

[penella]

Originally Posted by AustinTraveler

We had absolutely no problem bring our house plants into California. This will give you some good guidelines:

CDFA > Plant > Frequently Asked Questions Concerning the Transport of Houseplants in California

Ok awesome, thank you so much! I assume they just looked at yours and made sure they didn't have any bugs or diseases?

[AustinTraveler]

They didn't even look. He asked if we had fruit or nut trees and I said, "No, just a couple of houseplants." No problem. If they look at yours and see a couple of orchids, I doubt there will be any problem. They are looking for plants that carry diseases/bugs that can endanger California crops. Also, they are looking for invasive species.

[BeauCharles]

Most of your houseplants were probably grown here. Of course that means nothing after you take them home. Whether they allow them or not is probably a crap shoot depending on the agent at the border and how zealous they're feeling at the moment.