From: Lester Kallus lkallus at earthlink.net> on 2000.11.14 at 15:19:28(5683)
Yes, I have left - I'm back now. It was a work related trip and so as soon
as my talk was over I pretty much had to leave and come back.
I had found a USDA document indicating that plants can be returned but need
only be "de-soiled" and de-bugged. I was excited about that. One of the
users here had emailed the name of a grower. Unfortunately, that place
proved to be 25 minutes away from my hotel. With only a couple hours free
on Monday morning, I couldn't go there.
Instead, one of the conference organizers drove me to a local "vivero"
where I found material for the most part of about the same variety (but
lower quality) than my local Home Depot. I did manage to find a couple
things I've wanted that aren't at my local Home Depot. I had to purchase
something given that they were kind enough to drive me to this local
vivero. I can't say I was very impressed with anything though except that
the prices were as high as they were.
I carefully washed the roots, removed diseased leaves, packaged the plants
as they should be and prepared to have a thorough USDA inspection. Well,
it never happened. I boarded the plane and landed at Kennedy 4 hours
later. Although we landed at the international terminal, we were just
directed to baggage claim with no checks. If I'm ever invited back to PR
for another talk, I plan to get to at least one of the places that were
recommended and will make plans to bring back some better variety.
Les
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