Monrovia separates camellia production

Thursday, 04 January 2007

In a move to protect its massive inventory from possible Phytophthora ramorum infections, Monrovia Growers dedicated 60 acres for camellia production adjacent to its 900-acre nursery in Visalia, Calif.

In 2004, P. ramorum was discovered at Monrovia’s Azusa, Calif., facility, and the company was forced to destroy all of its camellias and other potential host plants growing nearby. The separated production allows Monrovia to isolate the camellias if a P. ramorum infection occurs.

“It is truly a separate entity, across a river and canal from the rest of the nursery, and has its own nursery license and compliance agreement,” said Monrovia president Gilbert Resendez.

Camellias are shipped separately from other plants at the Visalia nursery.

Monrovia took other steps to minimize the spread of disease, including growing camellias on beds of compacted gravel with a layer of plastic topped with groundcover cloth. Plants are grown in small section sizes, more drip irrigation is in place and water is chlorinated. All vehicles entering the nursery must have their undercarriage and tires disinfected.

The pathogen that causes sudden oak death has not been found at the company’s Visalia location.