Topics in Subtropics

By now almost everyone growing tree crops in California is undergoing some amount of mandatory water cutbacks, especially if they are buying water from water districts. Some districts in the San Joaquin Valley have had really severe cuts, up to 80%.

Citrus is a messy botany. It loves to cross with anything and in so doing creates very complex ancestry. C-35 rootstock is a citrange and was created for its tolerance to cold, but is also good in Phytophthora situations and creates a slightly smaller tree.

With hot, dry winds, the question came up this week about whether the hot temperatures or the low humidity would affect pollen viability. It turns out that both day and night time temperatures will affect pollen tube growth.

We've been getting reports of coast live oak decline along the coast, well, here's one of the causes: RIVERSIDE, Calif. A fungus associated with the western oak bark beetle is causing a decline in coast live oak trees in Southern California by spreading foamy bark canker disease.

We had a pretty mild winter, in spite of the freeze damage that occurred in the Central Valley. Now we are seeing what happens when there's not enough chilling to break bud. There is erratic flowering and leaf out. This can be quite pronounced in such trees as peach and apricots, apples and pears.