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The local chapter of the California Native Plant Society (Ventura and Santa Barbara counties) is offering scholarships this year that are coming due and should be less competitive this year.The CNPS Channel Islands Chapter is launching its 2026 student scholarship offering!  This year they will be…

It's that time of year to see some drama in avocado orchards. Once healthy-looking trees can suddenly turn brown in a weekend and all the surrounding trees still look fine. And it can be quite common in some years along the coast. The winter weather will have mild, cool even rainy days and then suddenly…

I recently got a request from an avocado tree guardian who had just a few trees left from a once flourishing orchard in Carpinteria.  There only a few trees left and they were struggling.  I was asked to diagnose them from images that were sent.  Here they are and my diagnosis.  Old trees…

Agriculture officials have expanded the areas quarantined for citrus greening disease (known as huanglongbing or HLB) in California. The quarantined area in the Corona area of Riverside County was expanded by 37 square miles. The San Juan Capistrano quarantined area of Orange County was expanded by 18 square…

Don’t miss the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists Annual Conference, February 5–6 in Modesto, CA. Join IPM professionals, researchers, and pest control advisors for two days of engaging presentations and discussions focused on today’s most pressing pest management challenges. The program features…