- Author: Therese Kapaun
Sixty young avocado trees were recently planted in the avocado block at Lindcove REC. Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia (UCANR, CE Subtropical Horticulturist) is introducing new varieties that may show promise for growers in the San Joaquin Valley. Commercial avocado is typically grown in temperate and coastal climatic zones, and is generally intolerant of the long hot summers and occasional freezing spells of this area.
Lindcove is one of four sites chosen for this trial, which aims to evaluate new varieties of commercial potential. Trees will be evaluated for vigor, flowering characteristics, and tolerance to cold and heat. Fruit will be evaluated for yield, maturity date, and postharvest quality.
The trial began in 2011 with 45 trees of three varieties, and new plantings each year have increased the size of the block to 222 trees of eleven varieties. Dr. Arpaia's project is funded by the California Avocado Commission.
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
The Citrus Production Manual is published!
For the month of April the price is reduced from $75 to $60! This is the first citrus manual in more than 20 years to cover all the major topics of citrus production including planting, horticulture, pest management and post harvest issues. It is a wonderful resource for all citrus producers and pest managers.
To order a copy, go to the UC Ag and Natural Resources catalog http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/ and type in publication 3539 or the search term 'citrus production manual' or call 1-800-994-8849.
Better yet, if you buy both the Citrus Production Manual and the IPM for citrus manual (pub 3539Promo) the combined price is only $85 - a savings of $30!
- Author: Therese Kapaun
This week we tested nine varieties of blood oranges in the Fruit Quality Laboratory. Recent interest in late season blood oranges prompted the Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP) and the Citrus Variety Collection (CVC) programs to collect fruit and take measurements. Fruit quality data for many varieties of citrus can be found on the websites of both organizations:
CCPP http://ccpp.ucr.edu/
CVC http://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/
The first photo shows juice from the nine varieties from left to right: Smith Red, Sanguinelli, California Rojo, Cara cara, Moro, Delfino, Boukhobza, Tarocco, and Bream Tarocco. The second photo shows juice being titrated with Lindcove's Mettler-Toledo electronic titrator.
- Author: Therese Kapaun
Lindcove's second USDA-APHIS-PPQ Approved Pest Exclusionary greenhouse passed inspection this week, and is now ready for potting materials to be brought in. Carrizo rootstock seeds will soon be planted in cone flats, and seedlings should be ready for budding in early 2015.
Federal Asian citrus psyllid quarantine regulations require that citrus nursery stock be grown in protected structures such as this one. Although Lindcove does not grow plants for commercial use, all plants grown for research purposes must comply with the same regulations that govern California citrus nurseries. USDA staff conduct monthly greenhouse inspections, looking for openings that could permit small insects such as Asian citrus psyllid to enter the facility. Lindcove's first pest approved structure was certified in October of 2013.
More information on USDA-Approved Pest Exclusionary Facility requirements can be found at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) website under Federal Screenhouse Requirements for Interstate Movement, using the following link:
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/PE/InteriorExclusion/acp_quarantine.html
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
It is important to do everything we can to avoid spreading Asian citrus psyllid around California, both because we don't want help it expand its range and we never know which psyllids are carrying huanglongbing disease (HLB). Psyllids tend to live on leaves and stems of citrus. Lindcove has just purchased field cleaning equipment for the Center. Monday we cleaned 40 bins of lemons to ship from our location inside the ACP quarantine to a packinghouse outside the quarantine. See Youtube video of fruit cleaning equipment to see how it functions. It took four people to run the equipment and field clean the fruit, averaging about 4 minutes per bin. But this allowed us to avoid spraying with pesticides prior to fruit movement. It is pretty amazing how many leaves were mixed in with fruit. The equipment is on a trailer that can be hauled to research locations outside of Lindcove. In this way, we can clean fruit before bringing it to the Lindcove packline and ensure that we are not bringing psyllids to the research center.
