Do you recycle, reuse, or renew?  Many homeowners simply use the local refuse company to haul away empty boxes, yard trimmings, and other unwanted. But did you know many of the items tossed into the big green or blue bins can be recycled/reused in your garden? Have you experienced the Covid phenomenon of cardboard arriving on your doorstep en mass? Do you know most of the packaging can be used in your garden? How about paper bags from the grocer? (Search: lasagna gardening.)

Lasagna gardening is a time saving, labor reducing, easy composting method that improves soil structure, reduces water consumption, soil erosion and is an organically fertile method of gardening. Tree trimmer in your neighborhood? Ask for a trash can (or space allowing, a whole truck) full of chipped material. Most of these materials are free for the asking and can add nutrients to your soil with little or no work. These materials, when mulched or composted will add significantly to the health of your soil.

The same recycle, reuse, renew holds true in our gardens at home. At the end of harvest, the beds are recycled by adding mulch, composting left-over material or adding other amendments to prepare them for reuse. Some beds are immediately reused for winter crops; other beds are left to ‘renew' until the beginning of Spring, when new crops will be planted to await their turn at harvest in the Fall. During the growing season, trimmings are kept and recycled. Nothing from the garden ends up in a landfill. Everything is recycled, renewed, and reused.

Master Gardener members use this same cycle in many of our adventures. We join Master Gardener to renew our knowledge of horticulture, and reuse our new found knowledge, sharing it with others through our teaching. We continually recycle the information (keeping it current) to ensure our clients receive the best information available. Recycle, reuse, and renew concepts will hopefully interest more people in gardening and the Master Gardener Program.

If you find yourself in need of recycling, renewing, or reusing your skills, join us as a Master Gardener. After your training, (and when the pandemic ends) there will be plenty of activities and events to peak your interest. Master Gardeners can create new venues to reuse their knowledge and skills. Use your creativity and start a local community garden, school garden, or a booth at the county fair. Check with your local school to guest speak to children about gardening. The list is endless and only as confined as your imagination. Even if you choose to wait to join Master Gardener, dream big and start you own plan to recycle, renew and reuse. Ready to grab a pitchfork and shovel and enjoy some Lasagna?

 

 

Everyone knows the rainwater cycle…ocean water evaporates, clouds form, wind blows clouds inland, rain falls to the ground, seeps in and replenishes the aquifer and excess ultimately returns to the ocean to start the process again. But mankind has interrupted the cycle. As buildings, sidewalks, roadways, and parking lots are built the rainwater becomes runoff that is channeled into culverts, to rivers, and back to the ocean, circumventing the infusion of water to the underground aquifers. You can help stop this cycle and restore Mother Natures' balance by building Bioretention Cells otherwise known as…Rain Gardens.

Rain gardens are small depressions in the ground (from a few inches to a few feet deep depending on soil conditions), that receives rainwater from hardscapes and holds the water to seep back into the ground. Rain gardens are often planted with native plants that can tolerate wet feet for part of the year but are just as happy when the dry, drought like condition occurs. Rain gardens are relatively inexpensive to build, and are sized according to your hardscape; the more hardscape, the larger the rain garden. Most home sized rain gardens cover less than 500 square feet, so they are easy to maintain. Rain gardens are very effective at controlling runoff. One neighborhood in Burnsville, Minnesota installed 17 rain gardens at 14 homes and runoff was reduced from almost 36,000 gallons to less than 1,000!

Community parks can serve as a rainwater retention pond during the wet season. This will help the community avoid flooding, but the park itself will be unusable when the area is full of water. Curbline planting areas, front yards, side yards, even street dividers can serve as bioretention cells. A complimentary solution would be for homeowners to consider building their own rain gardens, and collect some of the water that would normally be lost to rivers and lakes or to the park retention pond. As the gardens consist mainly of native plants, the homeowner and community will benefit from less water use, beautiful yards, and everyone will benefit by replenishing the groundwater aquifers that we rely upon. Of course, rain gardens can be built anywhere…how about your yard?

 

 

 

 

Asian Citrus Psyllid and Huanglongbing Disease

While counties behind the Redwood Curtain have thus far been immune to the effects of Huanglongbing disease, it is important for growers of citrus and related plants to know of this devastating disease. This short primer on the disease is drawn from the University of California Riverside, Agriculture and Natural Resources research facility. This premier facility has over 1600 trees planted to study every aspect of citrus growing.

Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) insects are found worldwide. These insects carry Huanglongbing disease. In 1998 ACP had established itself in Mexico, Florida and Texas. The Florida citrus crop was devastated by over 50% loss of trees during the height of the spread. In 2008 ACP was detected in Southern California vectoring in from Mexico. ACP are very small winged insects the size of an aphid (approx 4mm or 1/8”). Since 2008, the ACP has migrated northward through California's central valley and is now established in the Bay area and Sacramento. The problem is not the ACP, but the disease it carries: Huanglongbing.

Huanglongbing (HLB), also referred to as Yellow Dragon Disease or Citrus Greening Disease is a major disease of citrus. It causes reduced fruit quality and yield, tree decline and eventual tree death. It is vectored into trees by the ACP. During feed-ing, the ACP can transmit the bacterium that causes HLB disease. The psyllids feed on the leaves of citrus and other related plants (Kumquats, Chinese Box Orange, Orange Jessamine, Indian Curry Leaf, and more). During feeding HLB bacterium is injected into the leaves and transmits throughout the plant.

Bacterium blocks nutrient transport, affecting tree growth, fruit production and survival of the tree. HLB causes fruit to stay green and not fully ripen. Trees infected may be misshapen and lose symmetrical appearance. Trees also exhibit yellow asymmetrical discoloration on leaves, or blotchy yellowing of the leaves. Both these conditions will worsen as the disease develops. This yellowing is because nutrients are being restricted from the leaves. Don't confuse the discoloration with some common maladies such as deficiencies of Magnesium, Manganese or Zinc. Diseases such as Sweet Orange Scab, Cit-rus Canker, cold weather curling of leaves or sunburn are not HLB related. Check for the presence of ACP to confirm pres-ence of HLB.

ACP can be found in old or new growth areas of the tree. Eggs or nymphs arefound only in the very new growth (flush growth) area of a tree. Nymphs produce a sugar filled waxy tubule as they feed. These curly tubules are unique and can be easily seen. They also attract ants, so be on the lookout for ants. Check for the prescence of ACP by their feeding position. The ACP leans forward and tips its rear end at a characteristic 45 degree angle.

When ACP/HLB first appeared in the United States, there was no cure. Tree mortality is 100%, usually within 5 years. If infected trees are discovered in California, they are removed to lessen the infection chance to nearby trees. While no cure currently exists, there is hope on the horizon. Due to extensive research at the Riverside UC facility, two natural enemies of ACP have been found. Releases of these tiny imported wasps reduce the ACP population. Attractants are being added to the standard yellow sticky traps to capture ACP. Organic growers can spray a low rate of oil on trees at specific intervals. The UC is also exploring development of resistant cultivars to eliminate HLB. These and other measures have kept the current population of ACP from vectoring HLB into Northern California. Home gardeners and commercial suppliers must maintain vigilance to keep Northern California from becoming a breeding ground for ACP/HLB.

For more information UC/ANR has produced a video which can be found here

 

Sometimes found on the lower part of the tree, ripe or ripening citrus fruit may develop a light brown appearance with a pungent odor.  This is a water-soaked decay called brown rot. Infections are caused by pathogen spores that are water-splashed from the soil during rainstorms.  The infections develop during continued wet conditions throughout the fall and winter season.

Cultural care can help in managing and spreading of the infection.  It is important to reduce the sources.  Remove fallen fruit from the ground as soon as it drops as well as remove damage fruit from the tree.  To increase air circulation, prune out dead limbs and prune trees. Pruning tree skirts at least 24 inches above the ground will help to minimize the spores being splashed up from the ground. Do not allow sprinkler irrigation from wetting the fruit.  Only harvest the fruit when the fruit is dry and do not store wet fruit -  wet fruit becomes diseased during storage. Do not store infected fruit with clean fruit.

For serious problems applications of a preventive copper fungicide can be considered. This should be applied before or just after the first autumn rain, directing the spray to the ground beneath the tree and to the tree skirt up to 4 feet above the ground.  When rainfall is extensive, additional applications in January or February would be beneficial. 

Source: UCANR Publication 3332 Pests of the Garden and Small Farm pages 128-129

            IPM Pest Information for brown rot

            Additional Citrus IPM Information