- Author: Joseph DiTomaso
So far, this year is beginning to look like a strong El Nino weather pattern throughout much of California. The last time we had a very strong El Nino was the winter of 1997-1998. For those of you that remember back then, yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) infestations were enormous, both in terms of cover and height. For example, the attached photo was taken in Calaveras County in the summer of 1998, after the El Nino winter. In this case, yellow starthistle probably covered 80% or more of the area and was at least four feet tall, sometimes even six feet in height. The reason yellow starthistle does so well under these conditions is that high rainfall recharges the deep soil moisture, which is where yellow starthistle...
- Author: Gale Perez
A colleague shared the following with me (thanks Sue!)
During the 2015 Sonoma Grape Expo, John Roncoroni addresses Weed Control in the North Coast.
- Author: Elise S Gornish
Cal-IPC, in partnership with toxicologist Susan Kegley of the Pesticide Research Institute, has published a new manual on "Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Wildland Stewardship: Protecting Wildlife When Using Herbicides for Invasive Plant Management." The 47-page manual includes field techniques from experienced land managers as well as risk charts for commonly used herbicides.
Available for free download: http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/BMPs/index.php
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
- Author: Brad Hanson
March 16, 2016. Editor's note.
I recently was informed of an error in the chart Lynn included in this post from December 2018. While Broadworks (ai = mesotrione) herbicide IS registered in several stonefruit crops, it is NOT currently registered for use in peach. This was entirely my error.
I struck out inclusion of peach in the text below and replaced the chart with an updated version in this post. Remember to always read a current label before applying any pesticide as labels change (or can be misread as was...
- Author: Guy B Kyser
This salsola scene reminds me of Alexander Nevsky's battle on the ice, or maybe Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Tumbleweed"
