Hi Karyn,
Oh dear.. I just received one rooted plant and 3 cuttings from Hawaii. I hope this is not true, sure would hate to lose them.
Karen B.

This was a major topic on plumeria forums last year as well. The beetles are already established in Florida, California and Hawaii. The only defense is to watch your cuttings and plants and destroy any infected ones. I canÂt find citations, but I think I remember reading the larva make holes in the stems in order to breath and that they are more likely to infest old trees that are in poor health. One eBay seller from Key West was notorious for sending boxes of cuttings that had adult beetles fly out when the boxes were opened! She joined at least one forum in order to call the recipients a bunch of liars. Below are several threads on the subject of beetles.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/618214/

On the thread below, a poster named father has included links to images of infected plants. I think it is the eleventh post down.

http://www.mauiplumeriagardens.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7032

Philip

Thanks for the links Philip. I have a question that maybe you can answer. On the MPG forum someone said something like "and to think I was almost a client of Evelyn's". Do you know if they are talking about the same Evelyn that sells on Ebay that was recently the topic of discussion here?

I guess I should pay a bit more attention to any new plumies and maybe quarantine them for a period of time. I'd hate to infect other plants. I always quarantine new fish but never thought about plants.
Karyn

Hi Karyn,

Last year several people who had among EvelynÂs regular customers received infested cuttings. One or two of these regulars stated they wouldnÂt be buying from her again because they didnÂt want to risk infesting their own collections. She travels between CA and HI and gets her stock from a number of different sources from what I have gathered. At the time, I decided to be safe and not bid on her cuttings, which was too bad, because she is ok with local pickup for people who live near her. At the time, I lived about a half hour drive from her home in Newport Beach and would have been happy to buy from her directly if this hadnÂt been an issue.

This year, I heard that she had taken steps to prevent a repeat of last yearÂs fiasco. This is why I stated on another thread she had experienced a "quality control problem" with some of her sources, something that could happen to anyone. I bought a Dwarf Pink Singapore cutting from her, inspected it very carefully, and made a point of saying it had come with an inspection certificate when I wrote about it in the "eBay!" thread. I donÂt know her personally, and this purchase has been the only cutting I have ever bought from her. For the record, she isnÂt the nasty seller I referred to in my earlier post. Everyone who has met Evelyn says she is a very nice lady.

Philip

Evelyn has always been pleasant when I've bought from her on Ebay. She wasn't rude or anything this last time when there was a problem. I just couldn't wait for her to return to HI because of the claim deadline. Anytime I've received cuttings from HI (from multiple sellers) there has been an inspection sticker on the box. I was just curious because I saw the name Evelyn mentioned on the other site.
Karyn

I know Evelyn and she is a very honest and pleasant lady. She did sell one buyer a cutting w/ a larva in it a couple years ago, but this was after she scrubbed it, had it inspected by the Ag dept and took all the right steps to get them back to the mainland. I wouldn't fault her for the larva, I mean what else can you do besides cut the cutting open to inspect? it could probably happen to anyone and as long as the buyer is compensated, i wouldn't bash Evelyn. This is a serious problem and it is probably undetectable to the untrained eye. we will only know our cutting is infected when it it is too late too salvage.
i would definitely quarantine all hawaiian cuttings until they root. Successful rooting = no infestation. If it doesn't root or is taking too long.....you might have a problem.

Nobody is bashing anyone here. I hadn't even heard of this borer until yesterday. The name Evelyn came up in another forum that was linked and I was wondering if it was the same person. It was mentioned that the pest cannot be detected until the damage is visible. I normally do chop open cuttings that rot out of curiosity and have never run across any larva.
Karyn

I got the same post about bugs too. That same article went around the Pals chat site last year. I had heard that the site they were tallking about in Hawaii was looking better.
I have bought tons of cuttings from Evelyn. I have been warned but have never found any bugs or larva in her cuttings. They have always been nice cuttings too. Whe we get second hand or even third hand it's hard to know if it is really true to begin with.
Mickey

Hi,
As mentioned I just received a very thick yellow cutting and a dwarf pink singapore from Evelyn. should they be set away from other cuttings? seemed ok. I did cut new cuts on the bottom, appeared fine.
Karen B.

All you can really do is watch new cuttings or plants. It isnÂt obvious at first that a cutting or new plant is infested. Examine carefully any cutting that fails to root. Keeping your cuttings away from your established plants might be a good idea. This is a guess on my part, but because the beetle seems to prefer weak diseased trees, I would be suspicious of any cutting that looks weak or scraggly.

If you do find a larva or beetle, photograph it before destroying it. Then notify the person you received the cutting from and send the picture with your note. Be tactful, the overwhelming majority of people who sell or trade plants would never knowingly put someone elseÂs treasured plants at risk. You are doing them a favor by letting them know their own personal plants that they treasure or the plants that provide their livelihood are in danger.

The best defense seems to be to keep your plants in good health. Any new plants or cuttings need to be watched until it is clear they are healthy. The problem is serious, but not as bad as it first appeared last year.

Karen, I wouldnÂt be too worried about your cuttings from Evelyn. After what sheÂs been through because of this, her cuttings are far less likely to be infested than cuttings from someone who has never heard of plumeria borers. Because of the damage that occurred to her reputation, she is probably hyper-vigilant in order to prevent it from happening again.

Philip

Reading this post and not having any experience with Evelyn all I can say is that these things happen (bugs, viruses, etc) occasionally. But what I appreciate is when the seller acknowledges the problem and tries to rectify and prevent future problems. In my book that shows she is a great seller. I have seen other sellers "take on" their buyers and make personal attacks on them in public forums (it must be your fault, you obviously don't know what you're doing, etc) so it is refreshing to hear about someone who's honest and not continuing to sell infested items deliberately in the name of profit.

As much as I can, I do try to keep newbies isolated...just in case.