Cast and crew braved a 40 ºC (107º F) day in the middle of the Northern Mexico desert on early summer for the shoot.
The tree "blooms" bolillos, a popular Mexican type of baked bread.
The tree used on screen had to be transported from a nearby city, planted on location in the middle of a dry river bed, kept there for seven days for the production, and then happily uprooted and transported to new property where it was replanted and still grows today.
El árbol (The Tree) was shot at Icamole, Nuevo León, México, a small community of about 75 people, where almost the entirety of the film's extra live in. And even though Icamole itself has no movie theaters, the town residents are somewhat familiar with the production process since they've worked as extras in numerous other films made in the area.
Some scenes where shot steps away from the state line between the northern Mexican states of Nuevo León and Coahuila.