Calif. Another unwanted visitor.

[beastmaster]

A few months ago I met a commercial citrus grower from San Diego, He was telling me of a new pest that is threatening the Citrus industry here in Calif. He described the the symptoms to me and the next day i went out to my citrus trees and sure as hell I had them. The Asian Citrus Psyllid. I did a little research and wasn't overly concerned as it seemed easy to control this insect on non commercial size areas, as they wouldn't lay their eggs where a horticultural oil was sprayed. That along with limiting new growth seemed to control this pest.
Then after going to a CDFA meeting a few nights ago I learned the real problem is more then cosmetic. The Asian citrus Psyllid is a vector of a destructive bacterial disease, Huanglongbing or Citrus greening Disease. Once infected the tree is condemned, and must be distroyed to prevent the further spread of this disease that causes the tree to stop producing fruit(citrus)
It's important that us Calif. tree people be aware and on the look out for this pest. The calif. dept. of food and agriculture is going to come out for free and inspect and treat my trees for free(or destroy them) You should make your self aware of this pest(think google) and if you find an infestation call the CDFA at 1-800-491-1899
We are on the front line of this war.

 

[Gologit]

Thanks for letting us know. Is the disease limited to SoCal or has it spread north?

 

[beastmaster]

The Asian citrus Psyllid has just recently been discovered in riverside and San bernardino Co. My 4 citrus trees in my yard 3 have the psyllid. One has the bacterial disease. I thought it was an Iron deficiency. Now that I am aware I will keep a look out for this pest, but I'm thinking it has a strong foothold here already, and unless there is some climatic issue it'll be making its way north swiftly.
www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/acp http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/video.html