Good info! Thanks!
Steve
Jay Vannini wrote:
Steve:
Glad to have been of service.
Several clarifications appear in order.
- IMO, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that anthurium blight is not already in
everyone's exotic aroid collection who is reading this, either manifest
or latent.
- From old lab work I know that I have had at least three separate
introductions into my own, from South Florida nurseries (1999-2000),
from a domestic anthurium cut flower source (1998-2000), and from a
commercial supplier in South America (this was diagnosed from tissue
collected at port of entry by our Ag Ministry lab in 2003...at that
time Xanthomonas campestris-positive did not require destruction of the
plants so they were waived. Needless to say, I quarantined the blazes
out of this and all subsequent commercial imports through
2006. Following ratification of DR-CAFTA we are now under the regional
one size fits all rule...these plants would be incinerated if this
import occurred today).
- Based on the protocol I outlined earlier, I grow many flawless, very
blight-sensitive Anthurium spp. in close proximity to other plants with
minor blight halos evident on leaf edges and have images to prove it.
- For George Yao's benefit, what I outlined in response to your initial
posting IS an IPM-inspired protocol for control of this blight in
private and public collections.
- Commercial growers have a vastly different set of challenges and
require a very different protocol for blight management and require a
somewhat different approach (see below).
- I have the short form product data sheet for Agri-mycin formulation
that I use (manufactured at Pfizer's Toluca plant in México) before me.
A correction to an earlier statement I made...it is in fact 15%
streptomycin sulfate and 1.5% oxytetracycline + inert balance, not 17%
streptomycin as I wrote. In any event, in free translation the sheet
reads that the product is "recommended" for "control of the
following diseases": "...bacterias caused by the genera Xanthomonas,
Erwinia and Pseudomonas" in the "following crops":
"Ornamentals"...Philodendron, Dieffenbachia, Aglaonema."
- At yesterday's market close, Pfizer, Inc. market cap was almost US$
160 BILLION.
- If, say, it were revealed that Pfizer, Inc.'s ag-chem
division was making manifestly false claims regarding the efficacy of
one of their mainstream products then, say, a well-heeled large
ornamental plant grower might be tempted to sue their pants (and big
pants they are!) off.
- Agri-mycin can provide very effective suppression (not cure) of
anthurium blight in COLLECTIONS OF ORNAMENTALS when used properly in
conjunction with a broader IPM-inspired protocol. It is NOT a panacea
nor a silver bullet to eradicate anthurium blight and neither I (nor
Pfizer) would ever claim that it is. However, it certainly can provide
suppression to a point where healthy, well-grown plants can prosper
with it latent in their environments. My own fairly large
blight-susceptible aroid collection, plus several published
sources, proves it.
- IMO, and as diplomatically-put as possible; anyone who claims
otherwise doesn't know what he/she doesn't know.
- If a given grower blithely continues to challenge their
blight-susceptible tropical aroids with environmental (note: IME, lousy
water quality aggravates anthurium blight in delicate plants for
certain) or management issues, this critter will ultimately (often in
short order) decimate all those vulnerable plants and nothing short of
Divine Intervention will save them. Don't waste your money on ag-chem
if you are not willing to practice clean culture - it won't really help.
Thus, from a hobbyists' perspective, successful management of this
nasty pathogen requires a certain mindset and quite a bit of discipline
with regard to handling and triage of visibly-affected plants. Believe
me, it works. Conversely, commercial growers have, in the past, been
faced with no other economically viable option other than having to
destroy their entire blight-susceptible inventory and start afresh with
new cultivation protocols and blight-resistant stock from
micropropagation. This also works, but at a very steep price.
All those here who are willing to properly dispose of the entirety of
their exotic aroid collections just because they contain some
suspicious-looking or blight-diagnosed rare plants and start all over
with those handsome (the colors!!!) tissue-cultured,
mass-produced, PATENTED (no unauthorized asexual propagation,
folks) anthuriums, aglaonemas, alocasias and philodendrons, please hold
up your hands.
Didin't think so...
J
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