Jan 16, 2004

Ralstonia Update II

The quest is still on to dissect the current Ralstonia situation, and the outlook is positive. After spending two weeks at the Goldsmith Plants Guatemala site, Richard Goldsmith is happy with the farm. “It looks beautiful, and we are comfortable with shipping again when we are approved to do so.”

Many people have been investigating the site, including Goldsmith Plants’ pathology specialist and USDA/APHIS representatives. According to Goldsmith, USDA has been down to the farm and is taking its findings back to Washington, D.C. Results are expected Tuesday, and Goldsmith sounded positive, emphasizing that it is important to remember that all of this concern is still based on just one grower. The one grower is a commercial greenhouse in New York, where Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 was confirmed in rooted cuttings of the ‘Americana Coral’ variety on December 31, 2003, and in direct-shipped material from the Goldsmith Plants facility in Guatemala of the ‘Americana Bright Red’ variety on January 2, 2004. Goldsmith stated that other growers have found questionable symptoms, but there has been no confirmation, which is a good sign for this situation.