- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
I am working on a project to determine knowledge about snails and slugs in ornamental production. I am a few short of my goal. If you would take about 5 minutes and complete the survey at
https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=9511
by February 15, 2014, I will enter your name in a drawing for the the tool I described in a previous post (the hori-hori knife) . Chances are pretty good - right now there are less than 10 people in the drawing.
Anybody (growers, PCAs, Advisors, etc.) involved with ornamental production is welcome to complete the survey. Be sure you put your contact information in the box at the end of the survey.
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- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
UC IPM has a new email subscription program for grape growers, farm managers, and PCAs to receive grape pest notifications for the upcoming growing season.
These notifications provide information on what pests to be on the lookout for in the coming days or weeks with links to the UC Pest Management Guidelines, year-round IPM programs, and other ANR resources with more information on identification, monitoring, and management.
Advisory team members are working to keep the memos relevant and brief with the objective of adding value for our busy subscribers.
Yesterday we sent out our first notification on weed management during a drought.
If you are curious and want to subscribe, click here to sign up!
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
Continuing Education Courses Available from UC IPM
—Cheryl Reynolds, UC Statewide IPM Program
If you find yourself needing a few continuing education units (CEUs) to renew your DPR QAL, QAC, or PCA license as the year draws to a close, take UC IPM’s online courses on pesticide application methods and preventing pesticide runoff in urban areas for landscape and structural pest management professionals. These courses are free.
Pesticide Application Equipment and Calibration givesan overview of many types of pesticide application equipment and provides a step-by-step approach to calibrating each to help you apply the correct amount of pesticide to a treatment area. Included are modules on calibrating liquid application equipment, calibrating dry application equipment, dealing with active ingredient and percentage solutions, and determining rates for soil injection and drenching and tree injection. This course has been approved for 1.5 CE units from DPR in the “Other” category.
Urban Pesticide Runoff and Mitigation contains several modules grouped into four components, each available for 1 “Other” CE credit.
- IPM – A Solution for Reducing Pesticides/Water Quality: Pesticide Properties teaches basic IPM principles, discusses when a pesticide is really necessary, and explains the various properties of pesticides and how they influence pesticide movement in the environment.The Impact of Pesticides on Water Quality/Mitigating Urban Pesticide Runoff goes through the different ways pesticides get into our waterways and gives practical steps in reducing pesticide movement from the site of application.
- Water Quality and Mitigation: Bifenthrin and Fipronil teaches about two important insecticides that are being detected in California waterways and gives some practical solutions for reducing their movement or mitigating their effects.
- Herbicides and Water Quality provides general information about herbicides – how they are classified, how they work, and what properties affect runoff and leaching. The module draws attention to several herbicides commonly detected in urban waterways, lists steps to choose the best herbicide for a given situation, and gives practical solutions for reducing herbicide use. Also discussed are alternative weed management methods and tips on applying herbicides in a way that minimizes runoff and leaching while protecting water quality.
Each of these courses is narrated and features numerous color photographs and drawings to illustrate key concepts. Quizzes throughout the narrated modules reinforce learning. Users must view all screens in each module and pass a final online test before receiving a certificate of completion. Handouts highlighting the key points of each course, including example calculations for the calibration course, are also available on the UC IPM Web site.
For more information about these courses and other pest management information, visit the UC IPM web site.
- Author: Tunyalee Martin
New Pest Alert for Bagrada bug, a pest of cole crops
—Tunyalee Martin, UC Statewide IPM Program
UC IPM’s new Pest Alert helps you identify Bagrada bug, an invasive stink bug spreading through western Arizona and southern California causing severe crop, nursery, and landscape losses. In agriculture, Bagrada bug is a pest of cole crops and other mustard family plants. In home gardens it feeds on these same vegetables and on ornamental plants such as sweet alyssum and candytuft.
Bagrada bugs use their needlelike mouthparts to pierce and feed on plants and their seeds. Damage includes leaf spotting, wilting, stunting, multiple branches or crowns, and death of the whole plant.
The Pest Alert was produced by UCCE advisors Eric Natwick and Surendra Dara, John Palumbo from the University of Arizona, and the UC IPM team.
- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
I'm not sure when I first saw or used a garden tool called a hori-hori but ever since I started using it when I do weed identification walks, people ask me about it. I once organized a meeting where part of the registration fee included one of these tools and now, even 5 years or so later, people are stilling swooning over that meeting because of the tool.
So... here it is:
The hori hori is a blade, usually made of stainless steel about 7 inches long with a sturdy wooden handle. The blade is slightly concave so it can be used as a trowel. One side is serrated and it is very useful for cutting out sod or digging in soil. I use it a lot for excavating plants to show the root structure or how deep turf roots go. It is also thin enough to dig around irrigation pipe to fix broken pipe in tight places.
They run anywhere from $20-30.