Scary. Thanks for reminding me, it's time for me now to treat.

It's nice that California reacts so strong. Hopefully it was just infected by the other one and the quarantine works.

Actually, we're all hoping that is NOT The case, pip. We are hoping that this was also a smuggled in tree or scionwood, and completely unrelated to the other. Just a case of another person deciding that the regulations did not apply to them, and they decided to smuggle in a tree or scionwood that was infected. And our supreme hope is that an ACP did not visit this infected tree, and now is an infected vector, and has the capability of now spreading HLB in California. We, again, are all holding our collective breaths.

The sad truth - there are probably several (even many) HLB-infected trees existing here in California, just yet to be discovered. This was Dr. Alan Dodd's feelings back in 2012, when he spoke at our N. San Diego CRFG chapter. And really, it was just a matter of finding those infected trees. Here is a link to his presentation on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBEilvE1JA

Patty S.

From my understanding ca is full of acp. So it stands to reason people should be killing trees soon and spraying. Unfortunately I doubt that will happen. Sorry to hear the bad news, but hoping there are no infected bugs seems too optimistic.

What did they do last time?

Yes, ACP is working its way up California, county by county. So, the vector insect is here, which is why we are all so vigilant. Don't think folks will be killing trees due to ACP, though, no need to do that. Yet. But, the commercial citrus industry is a large and powerful industry here in the state, and I wouldn't put it past the CDFA to say all residents will have to destroy their trees, if HLB gets a foothold in the state. The CDFA is monitoring our state very closely, and everywhere for infected ACP's, especially in commercial growing areas. So far, none have been found in traps. But, doesn't mean there aren't infected ACPs here in California, sadly. For now, the CDFA have found just these two infected trees that were not infected by transmission from within California, but were infected elsewhere, and smuggled into California. This is exactly what Dr. Dodds predicted - HLB will start in someone's backyard, and not in a commercial grove (for exactly the reasons these two infected trees were found - infected plants or plant materials being smuggled into the state, because people do not think the rules apply to them.)

What did the CDFA do last time? Last time (and this time), the CDFA removed the infected tree, and tested a lot of trees within in a certain perimeter, and placed a quarantine of the moving of any citrus or citrus relatives within a larger perimeter. The CDFA is being even more vigilant this time, and testing more trees in a wider area. So, we'll just have to see what they find out, and then take whatever additional precautions we need to, until an effective treatment or cure is made available to the public.

Patty S.

Thank you, Mike! Hope you're having a really nice summer out your way. We've been very mild, although of course, still in terrible drought conditions. At least it's not crazy hot or worse, having Santa Ana wind conditions. And, my Jade is GIGANTIC, and the smaller one my dog tried to kill, is coming back very nicely. I'm going to transplant them out of pots and into the ground. They are both going to go in my meditation succulent garden around my lovely big fountain down in the "jungle" area, where have that nice covered pergola. That's where we go often at the end of the day, to enjoy the end of the day, watch the birds and butterflies, and enjoy the lovely quiet evening!

Patty S.

No, essentially zero winter. Which was great for my citrus, but terrible for my stone and pome fruits. Extremely poor fruit set on those. And this summer has been very, very mild. No heat at all so far. Reminds me a lot of our 2009 summer, which was the beginnings of significant El Nino event for us and a LOT of rain. So hoping and praying that the "significant El Nino possibly Super El Nino" that NOAA has said we're in for this year actually happens here in S. California, breaking our terrible drought. And yes, the Jade is all kinds of great colors, Mike! When I get a chance, I'll post a pic. :-)

Patty S.

Thanks for letting us know, Penny. The worst possible news ever. HLB is now officially here in California. This sounds like HLB has possibly spread from the first tree found about 10 miles away. Just so you know, Tanglefoot won't do a thing for the ACP, it will just keep the ants out of your trees. You're going to need to treat your trees with Imidacloprid 3 times a year. Did the CDFA give everyone a treatment regime?

Patty S.

Hopefully ca goes nazi on this and kills all trees in the area. I mean what other way is there to stop it? Kill them kill them all.

The number of Greening infected trees in California is now up to 5 trees. The numbers will probably begin rising faster.. No one knows how long the trees have been infected, or how long psyllids have been eating on them and passing the disease onto many many other trees. - Silica

The article below is taken from Farm Press news:

It has quickly risen to 5 trees.

Two new confirmed cases of Huanglongbing were revealed in the same San Gabriel, Calif. neighborhood, bringing the total to five the number of trees infected by the bacterial disease in citrus since 2012. Four of those cases were confirmed within days of each other in July. The announcements forced the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to effectively double its regulatory quarantine within the region to 180 square miles. That region now effectively covers a zone from Pasadena to LaHabra in the counties of Los Angeles and Orange. According to the CDFA, HLB was confirmed July 10 in a kumquat tree in San Gabriel using standardized testing procedures. A lime tree in a neighbor’s yard was confirmed within a couple days and shortly thereafter confirmations were made in nearby calamondin and mandarin trees. So far the disease has been limited to residential neighborhoods with non-commercial citrus.

Yes, just got this update from CDFA, Silica a few days ago. It is not looking good. Very disturbing news.

Patty S.

It's sad that something like this isn't considered a national disaster. Food is at stake. Jobs will be lost. And the worst part is like Florida, California farmers once affected enough will sell off tens of thousands of acres of orchards to developers, never to be replanted again.

Im so saddened by this and I don't even live in California.

I agree, pip. This has absolutely devastated the Florida commercial citrus industry. California is being very proactive, and if they think it is spreading in residential neighborhoods, I do believe that the CDFA would consider going into neighborhoods and removing ALL citrus trees. Dr. Dodd speculated during the presentation, that this might actually be a viable option to help curtail the spread of HLB. I would like the federal government to step in and try to intervene. Very sad and very scary.

Patty S.

Yes, I hate government intrusion but this is too serious to be politically correct about.

This is horrifying and I hope you can get it stamped out, pronto. It would be personally very sad for me to see it spread to Riverside. My grandfather was one of the research engineers at the citrus station for many many years. I love my citrus trees and would be deeply saddened if the disease spread to AZ--please keep it contained & eliminated there in CA!

Surprised that have not heard anything on the local news stations. Maybe they are keeping it from local media to not induce panic?

No it's because important stuff like this won't feed into the agenda of the stations. They would rather us argue about race or income.

Nevermind the real important stuff like food.

Orange production only effects big corporations and "a few" backyard growers. I doubt this is even a blip on the news radar.

Socal that "big corporations" is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs hundreds of thousands of Californians. And a "few" backyard growers has been estimated at approximately 70% of California backyards. So, not exactly a few. In my neighborhood, 100% of the homes have citrus trees. This isn't a "blip" on the radar, sadly but as pip pointed out, apparently not as compelling news as even the Kardashians, sadly

Patty S.

Told my local nurseryman about it today and he was also unaware.

How right you are Patty! but it's not just an American default, it is worldwide. Kardashian seems to be here more important than news of this kind.

African psyllid has arrived to Spain, one of the main citrus producer in the world, but it is not an important news here...

Patty, my comment was more tongue in cheek than it was taken as. Thinking about what I see on the news, rarely is it that I see anything having to do with growing things unless it is roses for the rose parade or two neighbors battling over who needs to pay for a tree removal or damage. I'd reckon the amount of back yards with citrus trees growing in them is staggering, in SoCal.

Sorry, fireball, missed the tongue in cheek. And Axier, this is so sad! What have we all been reduced to, a bunch of blethering idiots?!? I am very sorry to hear the psyllid has made it to Spain. It is just a matter of time before HLB follows. I would really like to see HLB get some national attention, like 60 Minutes or Dateline. We really do need to get the information out. I am praying the researchers will get some of the very hopeful treatments out to the public, soon. The very best and most hopeful research project on the horizon for HLB is this one:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/22/citrus-greening-treatment_n_7103984.html

And right behind it, is this possible treatment:

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2014/06/05/uf-team-finds-possible-treatment-for-citrus-greening/10017477/

Genetically altered cultivars (using a Spinach gene) has shown great promise, but it would mean replacing your tree, and, there will only be a handful of genetically altered cultivars available to start (and probably in total) that would be the main commercial cultivars, and those trees will be expensive, no doubt, and only offered to commercial growers to start with. So, not really a viable option for us home growers. We needs something that will treat our existing trees.

Patty S.

Gmo rootstocks are showing promise with those spinach genes and non gmo scion. If that holds out there will not be any need to convert every scion.

Boy, pip, that would really make an enormous difference. That would allow for any cultivar to become resistant/immune. But, it would mean having to replace over 100 trees for me. So, not really an option for me, or any other serious citrus hobbyist. I am hopeful that the combination of treatment options, as well as predator insects, and modified ACP that will create sterile progeny will be able to protect my existing trees. No doubt, the control/eradication of HLB will be a combination of methods and efforts, per the researchers and industry leaders. Also, I cannot find any indication that Dr. Mirkov is experimenting with GMO rootstocks and the Spinach genes - just scions. There is research going on to identify resistant/immune rootstocks, and so far, 17 have promise and are being studied, but this a different a separate research project. Can you provide a link to Dr. Mirkov's work with just creating GMO rootstocks, inserting the spinach gene? I would be interested in reading that.

Patty S.

No disrespect but you need to brush up on your grafting skills. There might not be many options left in a few years.

My grafting skills are fine, pip. But, I think we'll see many different options available. I may not have to start from scratch. We'll just have to see what the future has in store for us here in California, and other citrus belt areas.

Patty S.

A total of 15 states or territories are under full or partial quarantine due to the presence of the Asian citrus psyllid: Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. - Silica

Patty completely agree with you, unfortunately mass media are focussing for a bunch of idiots.

On the other hand, very sad, but interesting thread.

HLB is supposed not to be here yet, but it will arrive because being of odious African psyllid.

In the best scenario for us, we have a few (I think very few) years of advantage over you, and we probably will benefit from the excellent work of American scientists, which I think they are the only ones in the world who are seriously spending time and money fighting against HLB.

Of course, logically, it will not be free for us, they will have to recover the investment.

Hope that we, the home growers, will can use in a near future a easy solution for this pest.

By the way, a very interesting recent (June 2015) document to control ACP:

Imidacloprid: Soil Application to Non-Commercial Citrus Trees for Asian Citrus Psyllid Control

And two important and calming notes from it:

- Imidacloprid is slowly taken up by the tree roots and translocated through the tree’s xylem to the leaves and other vegetative plant parts. Insects that feed or suck on the leaves ingest the imidacloprid and subsequently die. A very small amount of imidacloprid may also be distributed to the fruit and flowers via the phloem

- OEHHA considered potential exposure to imidacloprid following soil application by CDFA for residential control of ACP and found that consumption of citrus fruit is the only significant pathway. This pathway is quantitatively evaluated using citrus fruit residue data provided by DPR that is specific to the ACP treatment. The results show that imidacloprid doses associated with this pathway are relatively low and are not likely to pose a health hazard to residents whose yards are treated by CDFA for ACP.

Thanks for sharing the assessment study results, Axier. I've been using Imidacloprid now twice a year for a couple of years, now. When we first had the siting of the ACP about 12 miles or so from my location. I decided then, that it was "just a matter of time". One of the biggest challenges with trying to control both the ACP and HLB is the number of citrus trees here in residential backyards. I would venture a guess that probably 70% or more of those homeowners either have no idea about the ACP and HLB or if they do, they still are not treating their trees. So, as Dr. Dobbs so prophetically said to all of us CRFG in 2012, "HLB will first be discovered in someone's backyard," He was right. And, very good to have the acknowledgement of Imidaclopird only being present in low amounts in flowers and fruit. So, for now, I will continue to treat my citrus trees and hope for a viable treatment/cure before HLB shows up down in in area of California.

Patty S.