Posted by Tom Broome on 10/28/2008, 10:40 pm, in reply to "Asian scale"
Message modified by board administrator 10/29/2008, 9:21 pm
--Previous Message--
: Tom, I would like to relate to the
: fellow cycad folks my experience
: today. If you feel this is
: inappropriate, you may delete this
: post.
:
: I want others to know of my
: experience, and say that if this
: scenario should ever unfold to me
: personally again, I will just 'call
: the authorities, and say noting to
: the business owner.
: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
: Mark C. Johannessen
: **********************
: Las Vegas, NV 89118
: 28 October 2008
: (702) ***-****
: Department of Agriculture
: Division of Plant Industry
: 350 Capital Hill Avenue
: Reno, NV 89502
:
: Dears Sirs:
:
: I am an amateur cycad enthusiast
: here in Las Vegas. I have a passion
: for cycads. I often browse local
: nurseries and look at the plants.
: Today I decided to check out a
: particular nursery I always liked
: and had a good selection of plants,
: where I had been shopping for over
: 20 years. On the 28 th of October I
: was browsing at the '***** *****
: *******' at **** *. ***********
: ****., Las Vegas, Nevada at
: approximately 4:30.p.m. I happenned
: to see a Cycas Revoluta I believe
: was a 65 gallon container that
: possibly was infected with the Asian
: Scale. It was covering the
: undersides of the leaves with a
: 'white snow-like' appearance. The
: infection appeared more severe near
: the leaf bases, but in general,
: covered the entire leaf undersides.
: Firstly, I want to point out that I
: am not an expert in this area, and
: my knoweldge is limited to my
: membership in the cycad society and
: various other websites. My concern
: is that I do know there is an asian
: scale that kills cycads, and
: threatens the industry in Florida.
: I informed who I believe was the
: nursery owner, he always wears a
: yellow shirt, and he looked at the
: plant, and he said it possibly
: looked like a scale, and that he
: would 'take care of it'. I left the
: nursery, got in my car, and spoke
: with a friend who is a nurseryman of
: cycads in California,************.
: He told me the 'asian scale' is a
: very extremely dangerous pest and
: that extreme care should be taken in
: the handling of this matter. I went
: back to speak with the man in the
: 'yellow' shirt, and I told him that
: maybe it's not the asian scale, BUT
: he should handle the plant
: carefully, and treat it like a
: 'quarantine hazard' and remove the
: plant from the vicinity of the other
: cycads. They did indeed remove the
: plant. A guy with a forklift took
: the plant away, and unfortunately,
: brushed it against the other cycads
: along the way. This made me cringe,
: as they possibly infected other
: plants. At this point the 'yellow
: shirt' man went to the back office,
: saying he was gonna make some calls,
: and I waited in the front by the
: register to see if I felt confident
: they'd handle the matter 'properly'.
: About 3-4 minutes later another
: man, similar in age, approached me
: and asked me what I wanted. I told
: him I wanted to talk to the
: 'yellow-shirt' man, and he angrily
: called me a 'troublemaker' and said
: they had no time to talk to me, and
: then angrilly asked me to leave. So
: I did. Since this possibly is a
: serious concern, and my faith that
: 'the right thing' would be done had
: been shattered,I therefore submit to
: you my experience and ask that this
: be 'checked-on' and investigated by
: the appropriate authorities. I ask
: that I be contacted at (702)
: 217-3089, to let me know what the
: results of your investigation
: reveal.
:
: Sincerely,
:
: _________________
: Mark C. Johannessen
:
Mark, what you described is exactly what the Asian scale would look like. NO SCALE will cover a leaf as thick as CAS does and it DOES cover the petioles first and is usually thicker at that location. I have done the same thing you did, but I pick up the phone and call the inspector directly and he comes out within 24 hours after I call him. Your letter might take several days to get to the right person whoi will go out to that nursery, but you can bet that there will be someone watching them, if they know what kind of threat CAS is. It may be somewhat new to your area, but I know, here in Florida, they take CAS very seriously now. You did good, but you are right, chances are, every cycas in that nursery has the scale now and will show itself in the future.
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