§ 122.3. Requirements for registration and certification.
(a) General. Participation in the program is voluntary. Once a written request to participate in the program is received by the Department, no participant may withdraw until the end of the calendar year. Registration or certification of geraniums does not imply a warranty or guarantee on the part of the Department or any employe thereof beyond the terms of the program.
(b) Responsibility of applicant. The applicant shall be responsible for proper maintenance and indexing of registered plants being grown under the provisions of the program. The applicant shall be responsible for maintaining the identity and records of the propagation history of all registered plants in a manner approved by the Department.
(c) Certification. Certification shall conform with the following:
(1) All plants sold or advertised as virus-tested shall be certified by the Department.
(2) Only registered plants may be certified.
(d) Requirements for certification as a registered plant. Requirements for certification as a registered plant shall conform with the following:
(1) Registered plants shall be located in an environment in which insects are effectively controlled as approved by the Department.
(2) Registered plants shall be rooted and maintained in soil which has been freed of nematodes by methods approved by the Department.
(3) Blocks of registered plants shall be physically separated from each other in a manner approved by the Department.
(4) Registered plants shall be indexed or propagated from indexed plants.
(5) Registered plants shall be labeled as to variety by methods approved by the Department and shall not be off-type.
(6) Registered plants shall have a record kept of their propagation and indexing history.
(7) Registered plants shall be kept in thrifty growing condition, and pests and diseases shall be effectively controlled.
(8) Approved sanitary practices shall be used to prevent mechanical transmission of viruses to registered plants.
(9) Registered plants shall only be propagated from other registered plants or heat-treated meristem tip cultures. Saleable plants may not be used as a propagation source to produce registered plants.
(10) Registered plants, other than saleable plants, may not be shipped or sold without permission of the Department.
(11) Registered plants shall be less than 1 year old.
(12) Registered plants shall not be permitted to flower except for variety identification purposes.
(e) Indexing. Indexing shall conform with the following:
(1) Indexing shall be the responsibility of the applicant.
(2) Indexing techniques and indicator plants shall be approved by the Department and will be made available to interested persons upon request.
(3) All registered plants in nuclear elite and nuclear blocks shall be indexed.
(4) A representative sample, as approved and selected by the Department, of increase block plants shall be indexed.
(5) The Department may require the indexing or reindexing of any registered plant which is suspected of being virus-infected.
(f) Propagation. Propagation shall conform with the following:
(1) Elite nuclear plants shall only be propagated from heat-treated meristem tip culture or other elite nuclear plants.
(2) Nuclear plants may only be propagated from elite nuclear plants.
(3) Increase block plants may only be propagated from elite nuclear and nuclear plants.
(4) Production block plants may only be propagated from increase block plants.
(5) Saleable plants may only be propagated from production block plants.
(6) Plants propagated from saleable plants are not certified.
(g) Eligibility. A geranium (Pelargonium spp.) variety with stable horticultural characteristics, when approved by the Department, is eligible for entry in the program. New varieties entering the program shall go through heat treatment, meristem tip culture and the prescribed propagation route before they can be sold or advertised as certified as virus-tested.
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