Those warnings are backed up by enforcement; so no need to worry.

Can you put out a link to that source?

It became illegal to grow and sell anything on Kuharske Citrange in Florida.

Steve

w.w.wwhittierdailynews217/12/18

The link didn't work for me. I was really looking forward to reading it. I did find an article about the Asian Pysillid with pictures of the bug on leaves. At least now I know what to look for if I see one.

https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2017/12/18/dozens-of-trees-with-incurable-disease-found-in-pico-rivera/

Pico Rivera is not that far from where the original incident of infested bud stock was discovered in Hacienda Hts.

I read the link about the trees in Pico Rivera, but nothing was mentioned about big box stores not being able to sell citrus trees. Did I miss it?

Denise, if the disease get out of hand, they are next.

It is so sad to see HLB spreading and there is no cure to get rid of it, I really feel bad for the growers of citrus in those regions.

All the nurseries that we know might have a hard time staying in business if that is all they sell. In Florida a lot of citrus groves are already being sold to real estates.

Us northerns might want to enlarge your stock now, tree's might be harder to purchase.

persimmonbob I have a hard time believing that citrus trees will not be available to the public. Sorry, there is just too big a market for the home grower in other states not affected. I messaged 1 Dog Ventures who is very active in establishing citrus groves in my state to get her perspective on what you just said. If she agrees with you, I am going to purchase every darn citrus tree my heart desires and I'll even screen in my back patio.

It is sad what has happened in Florida. I saw it during my visit there in August....so many dead groves all over. I do hope we can still buy citrus online. If now, then I will need to add a few final varieties to my collection although I am pretty overstuffed ;)

persimmonbob I spoke to Lindy Savelle, president of the Georgia Citrus Association (GCA) and owner of 1 Dog Ventures. This is what she said about your comment about nurseries and big box stores: "I haven’t heard anything such as that. I hope that is fake news." With that said, I think no one should worry about not having access to purchasing citrus trees.

It is not going to happen overnight,Denise. You get plenty of time. Maybe by that time they will find a cure,hopefully, and btw there will so much Budwood available just ask Laura and Suz and a bunch of others, including Steve.

It is amazing how much fake news has been uncovered by the Trump/ Pence regime.

Hlb has been found in the state of Georgia and Alabama, if those are added to the quarantine list, you can still buy tree’s but only from within your state for now. California is very strick about it, you can not even buy from within the state different area,s. Check it out.

One of our big box stores out west had them off the shelves last summer. They told me it was because of a "citrus disease".

Quarantined in Southern California. Hard to say if the citrus lobby is worried or trying to get rid of home grown competition. They cash from the governor tho. State employees are going neighborhood to neighborhood inspecting the trees they can access. Creepy.

http://www.thesungazette.com/article/business/2017/06/07/california-adds-9-6-million-to-fight-against-citrus-disease/?print=1

If all the backyard citrus is eliminated, I wonder if the pests will adapt and move on to some other plant in order to survive.

Healthy soil is key. Pests simply do not attack healthy trees. Farmers with healthy organic, biodynamic soil principles do not have this problem. Millions in Florida went into research to only find out that farms with strong, healthy soils make strong trees, no pests. In Asian countries, the guava trees attract this pest away from citrus. Perimeters planted thusly.

Beebee, the Asian citrus psyllid is no respecter of citrus trees, They like them all, organic trees or not. In good soil, fair soil or bad soil, it makes no difference to the psyllid . All it takes is JUST ONE (1) single bite by an infected Asian psyllid.

As growers since 1922, our family farms have always believed in soil health for prevention of any pest. A good read, researcher thoughts,

http://citrusindustry.net/2017/09/21/organic-management-hlb/ 

Also, food for thought, Tropicana has applied for a patent on the guava remedy.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2010/0009002.html

GUAVA TREE EXTRACT INSECT CONTROL

United States Patent Application 20100009002

Kind Code:

A1

Abstract:

The invention relates to insect control compositions, and more particularly to repellent and attractant compositions that may be used to control insect populations from damaging citrus trees. It has been found that the Asian citrus psyllid, the vector that transmits citrus greening disease, or Huanglongbing (HLB), is attracted to certain compounds in guava tree extracts. The guava-based compounds may be used to attract psyllids to traps to monitor populations and disrupt breeding cycles.

Silica,

"the Asian citrus psyllid is no respecter of citrus trees, They like them all"... that is not entirely correct. All citrus are susceptible to the infection; but the ACP really does not like the Kaffir lime. In some areas of Africa, where virtually all the citrus have been killed by HLB, only Kaffir limes survive. I am actually working on a long term project to produce enough Kaffir lime trees to surround all of my Meyer plantings with a row of Kaffirs; so that the ACP will encounter it and go somewhere else. If you happen to know a rootstock that is compatible with Kaffir, I would be most happy to learn from you.

I have been a fan of organic growing for a long time. I personally believe a tree that is grown as fast as possible using non-organic fertilizer at higher than natural rates will have softer wood (wider growth rings with more separation of dense, slow growing periods with soft, fast growth periods) and might be more susceptible to freezing for example. That is not a fact but a surmise, hopefully reasonably based on some facts about things we understand about tree growth rates during different conditions. I personally am frustrated with slow growth rates of my trees but I have a very close neighbor who had to bulldoze a fairly large satsuma orchard after a freeze we had two years ago. My two satsumas were completely unharmed. We have LOTS of people on this Earth to feed and I understand the commercial production needs with regard to being marketable and profitable. Some do remain profitable using organic production methods but they have to market to a smaller group like me who are willing to pay a higher price. Citrus trees probably have some similarities to us humans in our diets. I think we as humans are healthier on more natural diets, including the micro-nutrients and microbes that help us thrive. I understand the concept of an infected psyllid piercing a leaf on an uninfected tree and infecting it with HLB so no need to drill that point home but do we know for a fact that the psyllid is as just as likely to home in on a healthy tree as it is a tree that might look fine to us but may not look as healthy to a bug...i.e., the tree doesn't reflect the same full set of spectral colors? I don't personally know the answer but I'm interested in being different from the masses (but only if there is a logical reason, but possibly unsubstantiated, to be different) if the masses are suffering from a problem. I agree the main thing we need to do is watch for the psyllid and regulate entry of citrus materials to uninfected areas but I think we have to be on the lookout for any other tools that might be available to us.

I don't want to get into the organic vs conventional run around, that horse has been beat to death a thousand times over. It is simply true that an Asian citrus psyllid kills all citrus trees, organic or conventional. Johnmerr, as for the Kaffir lime, you could be correct. I don't know much about Kaffir limes, as no one, at least commercially, bothers with them, with the possible exception of a few hobby type growers. In the real world of citrus growing, the ACP likes them all.

It's about the phenology of the tree. According to my friend and mentor
Dr. Mamadou Setamou (world's foremost authority on the ACP), if you release the ACP in front of a mixed citrus grove, first they will attack the lemons (and unfortunately for me, the Meyer is the first of those); later they attack sweet oranges and mandarins; after that grapefruits and pomelo; and last of all the Kaffir. I asked if perhaps the Kaffir was immune to HLB; but alas is it not; it is just that the ACP doesn't like it. Hence my plan to produce enough Kaffirs to ring each of my Meyer plantings to serve as type of repellent; it will take some years.

johnmerr, thank you for the information you shared. Love knowing about Kaffir. We planted guava for sane reasons.

Johnmerr, instead of a Kaffir hedge around your grove, have you looked into a Photonic fence which is a multi-modal system that uses several different types of light in order to detect, track, identify and, if desired, kill specific target insect species in flight before they can move into your grove.

Silica,

That is a bit complicated for my simple mind; and unlikely to be found in Guatemala. I think the Kaffirs will be a big advantage, especially with our high density plantings; and a system which will allow us to replace an entire grove in 3 years.