DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
PESTICIDE AND PLANT PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT DIVISION
REGULATION NO. 609. STRAWBERRY PLANTS
(By authority of Act No. 189 of the Public Acts of 1931, as amended, being S286.201 et
seq. of the Michigan Compiled Laws)
R 285.609.1 Strawberry plant inspection and certification.
Rule 1. (1) Strawberry plants shall be considered eligible for inspection and
certification provided the plants are taken from plantings that are:
(a) First year plantings.
(b) Well cultivated and maintained essentially free of weeds and grasses.
(c) Generally thrifty. Very thin plant stands may be disqualified.
(d) Planted on soil that has not been exposed to the Red Stele disease within the past
15 years.
(e) Maintained apparently free of insect pests, plant diseases and parasitic
nematodes and within the standards established by this rule.
(2) The following combination of inspections shall be required as a prerequisite to
certification:
(a) One or more inspections of the plants made on or about blossoming time or at
such season of the year when soil temperature and moisture and growing conditions
are proper for expression of the symptoms of the Red Stele disease caused by the
fungus Phytophthora fragaria.
(b) One or more inspections made during the late summer or fall seasons for other
insect pests, plant diseases, and nematodes.
(3) Certified plants must be apparently free of insect pests, plant diseases, and
parasitic nematodes, and must originate from plantings in which the number of plants
infested with certain pests do not exceed the tolerances herein provided:
(a) Red Stele--zero.
(b) Crimp (Foliar nematode disease)--zero.
(c) Root knot nematode--zero, provided that plantings not generally infested at the
time of field inspection may be restricted at the discretion of the director subject to
inspection at the grower's request and his expense, after the plants have been dug and
graded.
(d) June yellows (Blakemore yellows)--1% provided visibly affected plants are
rogued.
(e) Crinkle and virus yellows--zero.
(f) Aster yellows and witches broom--1%, provided infected plants are rogued.
(4) Only those strawberry plants that meet the foregoing certification requirements
and have been produced in accordance with the following standards shall be
certified to be "disease free" or "virus free" or "produced from 'virus free' stock" or
"registered" or "foundation stock" or any other term or terms that may be so construed,
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