Charleston's Citrus is... Trapped!

How many of you reading this right now know that you can't take citrus trees out of Charleston County?  

It's true! It is illegal to move any citrus trees, leaves, stems, roots, cuttings, or any other part of the tree out of Charleston County (true for Beaufort County, too). Now hopefully, most people know that it is illegal to bring any part of a citrus tree out of Florida already. If not, this is what the USDA has to say about that:

The entire state of Florida is under quarantine for Citrus Greening Disease and Asian Citrus Psyllids. It is illegal to move live citrus plants, plant parts, budwood, or cuttings from Florida. (Note: Dooryard citrus fruit cannot be moved from Florida unless the fruit is packed at a certified packinghouse and has been issued a Limited Permit by USDA. Florida gift fruit must also come from a certified packinghouse and be shipped under a Limited Permit issued by USDA).

You can substitute the words Charleston County for the word Florida in the above paragraph. Why is this happening?

Citrus Greening
It's also called Huanglongbing (pronounced: Hung-Long-Bing), or "yellow dragon disease." This is very serious. The bacterial disease is thought to have originated in China in the early 1900s—today, there are three strains of the bacteria: an Asian version, an African version, and a Brazilian version.

The Asian strain (referenced in the USDA's Florida statement), Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, was found in Florida in early September, 2005. The most characteristic foliage symptoms of Citrus Greening are the blotchy mottling of leaves and leaf yellowing that may appear on a single shoot or branch. The disease may also cause small, narrow leaves and short stems that give plant growth a bunched appearance. Other symptoms include twig dieback, poor flowering, and stunted growth. Fruit from diseased trees is small and often misshapen. Typically, some green color remains even on ripe fruit. Affected fruit tastes bitter, medicinal, and sour. Seeds usually abort, and fruit set is poor. The tree may survive for several years, but death is inevitable. There is NO CURE.

The insect that spreads the disease, the Asian Citrus Psyllid, was found in Charleston County in 2008. The disease was soon found after that in April of 2009.

Are my plants at risk?
There have not been any new findings since then, but there have been a couple of scares. One of the main reasons this disease is hard to detect, even with all of the above symptoms, is that it very often mimics nutritional deficiencies. But there are easy tests you can perform. Remember the old ink blot test? Take a leaf from the problem area, and if the leaf is a mirror image on either side of the midrib, it is a nutritional problem. If the two sides are extremely different, contact me, the Extension office, or USDA.

How do I get a new plant?
I tend to get a lot of questions along these lines of: “I want to grow a citrus tree, and I live in Charleston County. Why am I not allowed to get one?” The answer is, you can certainly bring it IN. For example, if you live in neighboring Dorchester County and have a citrus tree, you can bring it to Charleston County. Just be ready to leave the tree here. Here's another example: if you live in Dorchester County and come to a big box store that happens to be selling citrus trees in Charleston County, you LEGALLY cannot buy that tree and take it home. How illegal? The tree can get confiscated and destroyed, PLUS a $2000 fine.

I know what you are thinking—then WHY are the big box stores selling citrus trees if there is a chance of illegal exportation? The best answer I can come up with is, they don't know! I have asked many store managers that very question. I basically get the, "We sell what they ship us" reply. So somewhere along the line there is a disconnect. I am trying to fix this in my small part of the world.

For more information, many more pictures, and a map of where the quarantines are, go to this website: http://www.saveourcitrus.org/ And if you have any questions, as always, I am just an e-mail away: TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

Happy Growing!

Darren