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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and the use of any such terms in labeling, advertising or selling strawberry plants  
shall be restricted to plants so classified by the legally constituted plant regulatory  
official of the state of origin, provided that strawberry plant foundation stock utilized in  
Michigan shall mean plants determined to be free of known harmful virus diseases  
by the Michigan department of agriculture:  
(a) Foundation stock approved by the plant regulatory official must be planted on a  
site approved by such official and shall be at all times isolated by at least 1,500 feet  
from other strawberry plants, either domesticated or wild, provided that enclosure of  
the planting site with an approved insect-proof screenhouse shall nullify the isolation  
requirement.  
(b) The planting site shall not have been cropped in potatoes, tomatoes, or other  
solanaceous plants within the preceding 5 years.  
(c) The soil of the planting site must be fumigated for the eradication of parasitic  
nematodes prior to planting.  
(d) Fragaria vesca indicator plants must be planted in  
a
border row around the  
planting or interplanted in a manner approved by the plant regulatory official.  
(e) Insect vectors of viruses and other insect pests shall be controlled by the application  
of insecticide at prescribed intervals, using such formulations and quantities of  
materials as shall be approved by the plant regulatory official.  
(f) Propagation of plants for special certification may continue from foundation  
stock for a maximum period of 2 years, provided that virus-infected plants are  
not found at the planting site.  
(5) The requirements set forth within the provisions of subrules (1), (2), and (3) of  
this rule shall constitute the minimum for the certification of strawberry plants  
shipped or carried into or within Michigan, and plants so certified, shipped, or  
carried must be accompanied by a valid certificate of inspection issued by the  
legally constituted certifying agency of the state of origin.  
History: 1979 AC.  
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