Topics in Subtropics

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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.
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brown garden snail 1

Brown Garden Snail Year!

May 10, 2024
By Ben A Faber
You see them here, you see them there, you see those brown garden snails everywhere in the avocado trees this year. A wet year. What do you expect? Lush, beautiful tree growth, yeah. And when you come to harvest the fruit, the leaves and fruit are covered with snails.
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pesticide label

Pesticides and ESA

May 8, 2024
By Ben A Faber
Pesticides and The Endangered Species Act: What You Need to Know The following description has been endorsed by the Weed Science Society of America, Entomological Society of America, and American Phytopathological Society.
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NRCS Disaster Funds Available in Ventura

May 8, 2024
By Ben A Faber
Brooks Engelhardt of Natural Resources Conservation Service says: Greetings, We have an EQIP-Disaster (for recent storm damage) fund pool open for FSA declared disaster counties, which includes Ventura County. Application deadline is May 24, 2024.
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avocado lace bug damage

Avocado Lace Bug Talk

May 8, 2024
By Ben A Faber
On May 14 at 12:30 p.m., Paloma Dadlani a graduate student under Dr. Mark Hoddle who has been spearheading avocado lace bug research funded by the California Avocado Commission will deliver her master's thesis defense seminar.
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GEM fruit on skirt

How Much Fruit is Up there?

May 3, 2024
By Ben A Faber
Old crop, new crop. What's up there in the trees? Are they big enough to sell? Is there a good set for next year? These are questions every avocado grower has every year, and often all year long. What is up there in the trees is confounded by what is called the "Avocado Illusion".
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