Topics in Subtropics

newsletter
Topics in Subtropics Blog
You can subscribe to this  blog with multiple entries per week reflecting what's happening with subtropical crops and upcoming educational events.  Just click on the "Subscribe" button just to the right of this paragraph.  There's also our seasonal quarterly Topics in Subtropics newsletter found at our Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, San Diego, Tulare and Kern Counties Cooperative Extension websites.
Primary Image
insectary plants

Insectary Plantings, Think About Them.

April 19, 2018
By Ben A Faber
Home is where the habitat is: This Earth Day, consider installing insectary plants Stephanie Parreira, UC Statewide IPM Program Help the environment this Earth Day, which falls on Sunday April 22 this year, by installing insectary plants! These plants attract natural enemies such as lady beetles, la...
View Article
Primary Image
avocado fruit

Make More Avocado Fruit

April 19, 2018
By Ben A Faber
As of March 27, 2018, foliar application of GA3 (ProGibb LV Plus, Valent BioSciences, Corp.) to Hass' avocado trees in commercial orchards has been approved. Dr. Carol J.
View Article
Primary Image
mulch

Mulch. Read Some About It!

April 18, 2018
By Ben A Faber
Two questions and comments came up last week about the use of mulch in orchards. The first is that mulch is two edged. It serves to combat erosion and root rot, but it can also burn. Mulch and wood piled up against tree trunks and near trunks can cause damage to those trunks.
View Article
Primary Image
ACP adult and nymph

Area-Wide Treatments for Ventura ACP

April 18, 2018
By Ben A Faber
For the past 18 months, a team led by University of California research entomologist Beth Grafton-Cardwell has been conducting an Asian citrus psyllid monitoring project to determine the efficacy of Ventura County's area-wide ACP suppression strategy. Based on her analysis of the survey data, Dr.
View Article