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Anubias Sp, banned from UK import?

jonnyf84

Member
Joined
22 Mar 2009
Messages
37
hi,

I was told by our foreign suppliers that all Anubias species are soon to be banned from been imported into the UK, has anyone else heard this? Does anybody know if this will mean cultivation within the UK will also be chopped?

thanks.
 
Hi all,

No reply from DEFRA yet but I was contacted and told that Anubias is stopped being supplied to the UK from Oriental (huge Far East plant supplier).

It's not a ban but a voluntary action by Oriental, due to the amount of complaints Oriental get from UK authorities with regards reported pests on Anubias.

If this is the case then Anubias should still be available from European nurseries i.e. Tropica, Aquafluer etc.

Cheers,
George
 
Interesting that a supplier should voluntarily withdraw a product. Thats quite a responsible approach. I am glad to hear it should still be available from other sources. The stuff I got today was Tropica and it was AWESOME quality. I got 5 reasonable sized plants from the one pot. Someone on another aquatic forum site was selling these for three quid each a couple of months ago. I am glad I did not go plunging in, because as a Rookie I would not have realised it was not a very good price. I cannot praise the Tropica stuff enough.
 
voluntary in the face of (possible) stringent, enforced measures. self preservation.
 
darren636 said:
voluntary in the face of (possible) stringent, enforced measures. self preservation.

Yeah but the outcome is still the same. Hopefully this way they can sort out the issue and reintroduce the plant at a later date.
 
maybe we could form some sort of group to sort it out? we could call it the ... errr.... Anubias team. or A team for short.
 
darren636 said:
maybe we could form some sort of group to sort it out? we could call it the ... errr.... Anubias team. or A team for short.

Lol. Well I am sure we will be inundated with wannabe members ! I will just stick with my nice Dutch examples hehe.
 
Hi all,
I had a look on the FERA/DEFRA web-site and after seeing George's comment, I think this relates to some incidents of the Tobacco White Fly (Bemisia tabaci) being found on Anubias plants imported from the Far East. This is a terrestrial pest, so doesn't bother us, but it is pretty serious for glasshouse Tomato, Cucumber, Cut flowers and Pepper producers etc. if it gets loose in the UK.

Bemisia tabaci details
<http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/publications/documents/factsheets/bemisia.pdf>

B. tabaci on Anubias
<http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants...ases/documents/interceptionCharts/23Mar10.pdf> & <http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants...ses/documents/interceptionCharts/06Sept11.pdf>

I had a bit more of a look and there are a couple of incidents on Echinodorus and Hygrophila corymbosa as well, so we may not have heard the last of this.

I also think this may tie in with the "Shrimp Deaths" thread, as all Whitefly spp. are notoriously difficult to control with insecticides, possibly leading to producers using the "nuclear" pesticide cocktail option that has led to all the problems catalogued in the "Wipe out" thread <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19481&p=202007&hilit=systemic#p202007>.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,
I've dug a bit deeper, and I think I have the reason for the lack of exports, and it is actually a bigger problem than just the UK. The good news is that it might explain the decay symptoms you often see with Anubias, the bad news is that it is even more difficult to treat than the Tobacco Whitefly.

I've found that Anubias has been banned from import by S. Korea, due to the presence of a root nematode - Radopholus similis and that lead me to this.

Nematropica (2000) 30, 63-75
P.S. Lehman, N. Vovlas, R.N. Inserra, L.W. Duncan and D.T. Kaplan (2000)
Colonization of foliar tissues of an aquatic plant, Anubias barteri Schott, by Radopholus similis
Nematropica 30 (1), 63-75
Abstract: In this paper evidence is presented for the reproduction of Radopholus similis in foliar tissues of Anubias barteri Schott. Burrowing nematodes colonized petioles and leaves of A. barteri in addition to the rhizomes. The nematode invaded the epidermis and the mesophyll of leaves causing cavities and cell disruption in the epidermis, palisade parenchyma and spongy parenchyma. Cavities extended from the spongy parenchyma into the periphery of the vascular bundles disrupting the regular flow of nutrient solution in the leaf tissues. Nematode feeding and migration also damaged the palisade parenchyma and cell chloroplasts inducing chlorosis and small brown lesions on the blades of the infected leaves. The burrowing nematodes recovered from A. barteri reproduced on sour orange and Duncan grapefruit in the greenhouse and on sour orange in the laboratory. In greenhouse tests, the citrus race of R. similis from citrus and the population from A. barteri reproduced on four Anubias species. Morphological and morphometric characteristics of R. similis from Anubias spp. did not differ from the R. similis citrus race from citrus.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radopholus_similis>

cheers Darrel
 
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