This looks like something out of Science Fiction: Officials are warning residents to not plant seeds sent from China. If you receive a package of seeds in the mail, agriculture officials are imploring you not to open or plant them. Individuals in at least 27 states across the nation, including California, have reported receiving a packet of seeds in the mail — seeds they did not order. The packages appear to have originated in China. San Francisco news article: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/china-seed-mail-package-california-15439581.php
Yeah, I read the same. Talk about weird, like North Korea news weird. I am looking forward to see if they have infections, or just what is going on.
I think this is only the beginning of a wave of methods to cause problems for the U.S. I wonder if other countries have been targeted?
Like that Asian beetle they sent us that tries to destroy my lilies every year. It can start in China but it can end there also. Buy locally and support local business. Repair the old and make it last a few more years.
In some ways I would like to plant them to see what grows...not outside, but in some sort of planter.
After reading a couple of news sources I would highly recommend you do not even touch them. Do not burn them as you don't know if they are toxic. Do not flush them and possibly contaminate ground water. Do just what they say-report to the USDA and see what they want done with them.
Don't even think about it. The spores will eventually escape and possibly cause plant diseases which could devastate our crops.
Reminds me of when I was an undergraduate student at U of KY I had a friend who worked for Animal Husbandry (no, no, no). There was a barn where they studied horse diseases that had to be entered by air locks and had its own incinerator. If some of these diseases escaped, the KY horse population would be devastated.
Shades of Jack and The Bean Stalk......... Seeds, right? Not Pods? '56 version (flick) is way better than the '78 version.......(Invasion of the Body Snatchers)
Screw asian stink bugs. They somehow sneak into my bedroom every spring and fall. I won't know they are there until I hear the typical buzzing (like a a small aircraft), and they typically divebomb my head. Then I have to catch the little buggers in a ziplock bag because if I smash them they my room stinks for 3 days. I have a particular form of hate for those buggers.
Fairly certain it's some dropshipper feedback scam sending the cheapest thing possible to people they have name and addresses for and ringing it up as a sale and leaving themselves the positive feedback. All I've seen of the seeds is they are like pumpkin or sunflower or melon seeds, citrus seeds, ect. from the pictures I've looked at. Just padding their feedback for their business with self written positive sales from satisfied customers. I'd think from the way they are doing the labels they are a costume jewelry type business normally. This scam gives the illusion that the business is credible by finding a person's name and address online, sending the product to them and writing a review using their name. They're also boosting sales rankings on the internet because they're showing this high volume of product moving from point A to point B. Maybe they intend to sell knockoff jewelry at legit jewelry prices in the long run, who knows what their end game is really, but they are doing it to make it look like they do volume to a whole lot of satisfied customers... That said, they got your name and address from somewhere to send you this free "gift". and that should be concerning that somewhere in china, at least that information about you is bouncing around, and maybe more than just that.
I rarely have a stink bug get into the house. Right now there are some little beetles (100's at a time) that look very similar to Lady Bugs that attach to the screen door every night. It's too early for Lady Bugs so I don't know what these are. I do spray the stalks of the lilies with a six month outdoor spray that takes care of them. They only suck on the stalk, not the flower but the stalks can be destroyed in a few days without the spray.
Just order from Alibaba or Ten Cent and you are on theirs and everybody else's mailing list in China. Big money in address lists.
