Richard, as a Master Gardener, I agree whole heartedly with your suggestions. Karl Church Dinuba, CA Zone 9a On Feb 23, 2013 9:40 AM, "Richard" <richrd@nas.com> wrote: > Gastil > > I usually weigh in on this issue now and then because I am concerned the > regulatory system has holes as large as the current gun control debate. > Seriously, I would not accept bulbs or live plant material from California > regions flagged with Sudden Oak Death, unless is certified clean. I had a > conversation at the Berkley get together that left me gasping. A couple > growing and distributing bulbs that had their rhododendrons die. > > I have received seed from overseas shipped 'under the radar' that included > large pieces of debris and also from the exchanges. We were briefed by > APHIS in spring 2012 and I asked directly about moving seed around. They > are not concerned about clean seed but were about debris. However in some > species there are seed borne diseases ie smut in grains etc, so some > research is advised. In context of sudden oak death APHIS is not concerned. > However since we collect seed from wild, California to Montana to > Washington we are very careful how we handle our seed cleaning debris. > Ours, including fruit pulp all goes to the burn pile. Liquids are washed > into a septic system. > > Once the seed is clean a chlorox wash then water rince, would be a wise > practice. For some of our seed going into stratification we dip in captan > and ridomil to eliminate molds during strat. This works very good. If the > seed is clean and no signs of soil or vegetative debris I would go ahead > and sow if it is local seed. > > > > Richard Haard, Propagation Manager > Fourth Corner Nurseries > 5652 Sand Road > Bellingham, Washington, 98226. > 360 592 2250 > cell 360 201 5174 > http://fourthcornernurseries.com/index.html > > > On Feb 23, 2013, at 8:51 AM, "M. Gastil-Buhl" <gastil.buhl@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > Hi Richard, > > > > I took what you wrote to heart. Your precautions for your nursery > > sound wise. > > You wrote "let the regulatory system function." > > > > My intention in writing to pbs about import permits was to encourage > > people to play the game by the rules, to get a permit. > > I am so sorry if what I wrote implied I was suggesting anyone bypass > > the regulatory system. > > Of the 3 orders I have imported, all 3 got to me without any apparent > > miss-handling. > > The most recent was mailed from South Africa on Feb 4 and arrived at > > my door Feb 18, having been forwarded from the Plant Inspection > > Station in San Diego. > > > > The imported seeds are subject to inspection for prohibited species. > > And I certainly do not want my neighbors to import an Oxalis pes- > > caprae that sets seeds, for example. > > > > But maybe the biggest danger is from the smallest organisms, microbes. > > You mention taking care to dispose of the "debris collected in the > > seed cleaning process". > > But I guess that microbes on pods or chaff may have already inoculated > > the seeds. > > I wonder if perhaps I should request the seeds be treated prior to > > export, when that is available. > > Would you recommend treatment of seeds upon receipt with a dry > > fungicide powder? > > Or would a brief bleach soak and rinse just prior to sowing be > > sufficient? > > Or is that unnecessary? > > > > - Gastil > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >