Topics in Subtropics

Here are the top 10 blogs from Topics in Subtropics over the last 5 years. The two earliest and latest pertain to how you select products that will truly help you from amongst all those that are being promoted. Some of these have been around a long time, so that's why they are the most read.

Nitrogen and its Effect on the Balance of Vegetative and Reproductive Growth With the big avocado crop out there, the question came up about whether a grower should add extra nitrogen to encourage more canopy growth to protect the fruit from sunburn or whether that would cause the fruit to drop.

Potassium deficiency in avocado and citrus leaves often looks like salt stress and more specifically sodium toxicity. Plants will often look wilted with curled leaves, yellow areas between leaf veins and dead areas along the margins of the leaves.

All sorts of things can be blamed on this prolonged drought. And here's another one avocado brown mite. These arachnids love water stressed trees that are covered with dust. You can see them in most orchards along picking rows, most years.

RECOGNIZING NATURAL ENEMIES Proper identification of pests, and distinguishing pests from natural enemies, is essential for effective biological control. Carefully observe the mites and insects on your plants to help discern their activity.