- Author: Caio Brunharo
- Author: Brad Hanson
- Posted by: Gale Perez
Summer grass weed species are becoming more troublesome in orchards in the Central Valley of California. Feather fingergrass, junglerice, sprangletop and threespike goosegrass, to name a few, are summer grass weed species that germinate (or in some cases, resume growing) when the soil temperatures start to rise in the spring, develop during the summer and complete their life cycle in the fall. With such a life cycle, summer grass weed species reach their maximum biomass accumulation late summer/early fall – coincidently when harvest operations are taking place – if previous weed management approaches were inefficient. To make matters worse, some of the mentioned weed species have some degree of glyphosate...
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
Weeds compete with crops for light, water, and nutrients, which can result in yield reductions. Weeds can also interfere with crop production by serving as alternate hosts for pests and pathogens, providing habitat for rodents, and impeding harvest operations, among other impacts. Natural areas can also be impacted by weed species when they reduce aesthetics and disrupt ecosystem services. As a consequence, growers and land managers employ a variety of control strategies, including the application of herbicides, to manage unwanted vegetation.
Although herbicides can be effective tools for controlling undesirable plants, failures can and do occur. Weeds may escape chemical treatments for several reasons including: the selection...
- Author: Scott Stoddard
- Posted by: Gale Perez
The cantaloupe industry in California is in the middle of a huge paradigm shift, transitioning from classic western shipper varieties that require multiple harvests, to new Harper varieties, also known as LSL (Long Shelf Life) melons. Purported benefits include less labor at harvest and prolonged superior quality at the grocery store. Examples of Harper-type melons are the Infinite Gold, Fiji, Caribbean King and Caribbean Gold. Due to grower and buyer interest, seed companies are rapidly expanding the number of varieties with this trait.
However, LSL varieties are expensive hybrids relative to older, open pollinated cultivars, and seed costs can become a significant portion of the total cost of production, with some estimates...
- Author: Richard Smith
- Posted by: Gale Perez
Richard Smith is a University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor in Monterey County.
Leeks are in the onion family and are increasingly important crop in Monterey County. In 2017, there were 475 acres produced worth $8.6 million. They are mostly established by transplanting and days to maturity is generally 120+ days, but varies widely depending on the time of year and market demand. Given the long crop cycle and the lack of a dense crop canopy, leeks are susceptible to successive waves of weed emergence. Growers complain that leeks “blow up” weed populations by allowing a significant number of weeds to mature and set seeds.
The preemergent herbicides DCPA and...
- Author: Travis M Bean
- Re-posted by: Gale Perez
From the Topics in Subtropics blog (Oct. 15, 2018)
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Although the main objective of herbicide use in avocado orchards (and all crops) is to manage weed populations, sometimes unintentional injury of the crop itself can occur when herbicides are incorrectly applied. Herbicide injury in avocado can reduce yield, decrease fruit, reduce plant vigor, increase susceptibility to diseases and pests, and sometimes result in plant death. Common situations resulting in injury include spray drift, tank contamination, application of the...