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[APD] "Disinfecting" wild plants



Tom wrote:

> I've never had issue with soaking in tap water for a few hours, then
adding
> them to the tank. I think bleach is pretty harsh stuff but some seem to
like
> it for some reason. Tough plants are okay but wimpy/fine needled plants
> /moss etc are no good for bleaching. Having collected plants all over for
a
> long time now, I see no need nor found any need to do all that.
<snip>
> Well, I've never had any issues collecting wild plants ever. Seems I've
done
> it more than most. Nothing bad to report using plain old tap.

Well, another case of not being able to argue with Tom. ;-)  Or at least not
much.<g>

I don't know what soaking in tap water is likely to accomplish.  With
domestically collected material, all I do is rinse it in tap water, remove
damaged leaves and feel for (and remove) snail eggs.  With plants that are
very dense, and may harbor troublesome critters like mosquito larvae, Innes'
old trick of putting them in a bucket with a Betta for a day or two will
solve the "problem".  But the real "problem" insects are dragonfly larvae,
(which live under water for a long time, and can take small fish, even up to
small guppy or tetra size) and for those, as long as the roots are thoroughl
cleaned of mud, you'll find the dragonfly larvae... they're big.

Like Tom, I've never had a problem with plants handled this way.  But then
I've never bleached any plant for any reason.

If you want to know how the APHIS wants plants treated to avoid bringing
infective agents into the U.S., they don't want you to bleach things either.
When bringing in plants from a foreign source, the plants must be bare
rooted and CLEAN rooted.  The plants need to be dipped in insecticidal soap
then rinsed thoroughly, ALL foliage with ANY damaged or discolored areas
need to be removed. (and they'll check with a jeweler's loupe, so do it
thoroughly) Then the plants have to be bagged in clear plastic that can be
easily opened and reclosed during inspection, and labeled with ID as close
as possible.

Karen


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