Re: [PestList] Live plants

[Matthew Mickletz]

Hi Jef, I’ll give a try at helping you out. I’m new into the world of horticultural IPM, but have had to inspect a few truckloads of plants from California and Florida.  When we scout the plants for pests, we’re usually finding insects harmful to the plant. Occasionally we’ll get an anole lizard pop out and fire ants in the soil. At any rate, our tactic is pesticide application. Not always something everyone wants to jump to do, which is understandable. Tom’s suggestion of baiting is definitely something to consider doing they are where they are.  So, you could, before the plants go to their destination (a location away from animals and people) have the plants sprayed and/or drenched by a licensed pesticide applicator. There is a restricted entry interval (REI) that will pass after a certain amount of time depending on what’s used, then you’re good to go and be around the plants - ranges from a few hours to 24 hours.  I’ll gladly pass this to colleagues with a bit more experience and get back to you with more ideas! Especially since I’m typing on my phone in a parking lot haha! Best, Matt Mickletz Longwood Gardens  Sent from my iPhone On Jan 29, 2024, at 15:26, Jef Taylor <jefctay...@gmail.com> wrote:  Hello everyone, My situation is probably different from most of you, as the collection I protect consists of live animals. I work in a zoo, and read all of your posts with bemused interest. I'm posting because I'm wondering if anyone here knows of a standard protocol for ensuring live plants are not hosting structural pests before they are moved from place to place.  My concern is that plants that are in place temporarily in a building infested with American, Australian, and Surinam cockroaches, will serve as habitat for these insects, and spread them to new places when those plants are installed in a new building. I'm wondering if I need to research what port inspectors do to prevent pest introductions with transcontinental commerce, or if there is something available in the plant nursery industry. I asked our horticulture curator, and did some basic googling, but I didn't get too much from those resources.  Sorry if this is out of the usual parameters of this group, but I admire your expertise and attention to detail and thought it was worth a try. Jef C Taylor IPM specialist Zoo New England -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CA%2Bqio8WxomPucr%2BbcQcdHvtxzRQtG%3DJhpu4FhGuZaY%3D5Rc7jOQ%40mail.gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CCE39BD4-C1E3-4986-A056-D2589C22AE72%40gmail.com.