- Author: Anne E Schellman
Time for a fun pop quiz!
- Do you spend a lot of time gardening or thinking about gardening?
- Are you often asked for gardening advice by friends or family members?
- Do you enjoy learning new information about gardening and pest management?
- Are you interested in helping others and giving back to your community?
If you answered an enthusiastic “yes” to these questions and you live in Stanislaus County, please consider applying for the UCCE Master Gardener Program!
What is the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program?
The program was created in the 1980's to help extend research-based information from University of California directly to the public. Volunteers are trained to preserve and encourage healthy environments with sustainable gardening, green waste reduction, and water conservation.
How are Master Gardeners Trained?
Master Gardener volunteers spend 5 hours per week for 19 weeks learning about soil, water management, ornamental and drought tolerant plants, landscape tree care, pest management, and much more. Classes are taught by University experts and advisors.
How do you become a UCCE Master Gardener?
We are taking applications for our 2020 class that will start in January. To learn more and apply:
- Visit our Become a UCCE Master Gardener website and read the training information on the page.
- Click on the bright yellow button to fill out our application form before September 8, 2019!
- Attend a mandatory orientation meeting in October
- Interview in November
- Acceptance letters mailed in early December
- Author: Anne E Schellman
The University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Master Gardeners of Stanislaus County are teaching a free Managing Pests in Your Vegetable Garden class on Thursday, July 18, 2019 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at the Agriculture Center on 3800 Cornucopia Way in Modesto at Harvest Hall, Rooms D&E.
Join us for a free class about common pests that plague warm-season vegetable gardens. Learn how to identify insects, diseases, and weeds and how to control them using less-toxic methods.
This family-friendly class is open to everyone. Participants will receive free seeds (while supplies last). Our instructor for the class is Ed Perry, Environmental Horticulture Advisor (emeritus) for Stanislaus County. This class is free, but please visit http://ucanr.edu/vegpests2019 or call Anne Schellman at (209) 525-6862 to sign up. Space is limited, so please reserve your seat today.
If you haven't already, please “like” us on Facebook and Twitter @UCMGStanislaus so you never miss an announcement for a class or workshop.
- Author: Ed Perry
Aphids are a common garden pest in spring and are attracted to new, succulent plant growth. This year, heavy aphid infestations can already be found on roses and fruit trees.
Aphids often first show up along the edges of the garden. Many species infest the undersides of leaves first, so turn leaves over while looking for aphids. On some plant species, especially plum and apple trees, aphid feeding causes the leaves to curl. Once this happens, it's harder to obtain control because the curled leaves protect the pests from natural enemies or sprays.
When you find aphids, check for evidence of natural enemies like lady beetles, lacewings, syrphid fly larvae, and the mummified skins of parasitized aphids. Learn to recognize aphid “mummies,” as they indicate the presence of tiny parasitic wasps that lay eggs inside the aphids. The wasp larva hatches and feeds inside the aphid, killing it. The skin of dead aphids turns crusty and golden brown or black, a form called a mummy. Not long after, the adult wasp chews an exit hole and emerges from the aphid's body. During warm weather, parasitic wasps may have several generations and cause a rapid decline in aphid populations.
There are fungus diseases that infect aphids, especially when it's warm and humid. Entire populations of aphids may be killed when conditions are right. While aphids thrive under mild temperatures, populations of many species are reduced by hot summer weather conditions. If you have any of these natural controls at work, the aphid population may crash rapidly.
You may be able to control aphids in your trees by controlling ants. If large numbers of ants are seen climbing up and down tree trunks, it may mean an aphid infestation. Ants are attracted to the honeydew produced by the aphids. If you plan to use pesticides for ant control, first seek out and treat the ants' nests in the ground near the tree. Or, place sticky barriers around the tree trunk to keep the ants from reaching the aphids. Unprotected by the ants, the aphids may then be attacked by natural enemies.
You can help prevent aphid infestations, especially in vegetables, by removing weeds where aphids may be building up. Also, check transplants for aphids and remove them before planting. If you notice a few curled leaves on your fruit trees, the best control may be to simply prune out and dispose of the infested shoots and leaves.
- Author: Anne E Schellman
On Thursday, February 7, the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Stanislaus County Master Gardeners held their very first class. The topic was spring vegetable gardening. UCCE Master Gardener Royce Rhoads discussed how to tell if your seeds are still “good,” what supplies are needed to start vegetable seeds indoors, and what vegetable seeds to plant outdoors.
We were excited to have 64 people attend our first event! Feedback from participants included:
- Thanks for the opportunity to attend and learn some basics.
- Appreciated the clear and concise information.
- This program is off to a great start and will be a real asset to our community!
If you couldn't make the class, you can download our free Vegetable Gardening Guide. It has step-by-step information on preparing garden beds, proper irrigation, dealing with pests and diseases, and a guide to which vegetable crops you can grow in our area and tips for growing them. You can also contact the UCCE Master Gardeners with your questions by calling (209) 525-6800 or sending an email to ucmgstanislaus@ucanr.edu.
Never miss a class! Stay in touch by subscribing to our newsletter blog, The Stanislaus Sprout. Look for the word "subscribe" on the top right-hand corner of the page. Add your name to receive gardening and pest management tips, as well as announcements for future classes and workshops.
- Author: Ed Perry
Many gardeners are interested in knowing how winter temperatures affect garden pests. The hope is that following a cold winter–such as this year–fewer pests will survive to plague the garden. Unfortunately, both insect pests and plant diseases have ways of surviving our harshest winters. However, there are some things that you can do to lessen potential pest problems, mostly by eliminating the places where pests and disease may overwinter.
Although a few pests can migrate great distances, many come from sources within your garden or nearby areas, surviving on weeds, in crop debris, as pupae in soil, or as seeds, spores or eggs. You can also unknowingly bring some pests into your garden on infested transplants or contaminated soil or equipment.
Good common-sense sanitation practices will help to eliminate overwintering garden pests. In your fruit trees, be sure to remove and destroy old fruit “mummies” hanging in trees and pick up and destroy any fallen nuts. Old fruits and nuts often contain pests such as codling moths. It's also very important to get rid of pruned branches, especially those from your fruit trees, that might be infested with disease or borers. Bark beetles may emerge from infested branches in late winter or early spring, so be sure to dispose of prunings as soon as possible. Don't forget to treat your fruit trees, especially peach and nectarine trees, with fungicide sprays to prevent spring diseases such as peach leaf curl; oil sprays applied now will also help to control overwintering insect and mite pests on deciduous trees.
Also, remove any weeds around your garden well before planting any new crops. Not only do weeds produce seeds that may find their way into your garden, but they are also likely to harbor numerous migrating pests. For instance, cutworms, earwigs, stink bugs, thrips and certain viruses carried by aphids and leafhoppers are all pests associated with weedy areas. If you wait until your garden is planted before destroying these weeds, the pests will move into your crops. Waiting for the weeds to dry out naturally will also encourage pest migrations. Besides, it's easier to control weeds when they're seedlings, rather than waiting until they've matured and set seeds.
Good sanitation also means making sure the planting stock you're using is free of pests. Check transplants or other greenhouse stock for aphids, diseases, nematodes and other pests. Use certified seed or stock if available. Make sure any organic soil amendments you use are free of weed seeds and pathogens, and don't move soil infested with nematodes, Bermudagrass stems, or nutsedge tubers to other parts of your garden. If you're not sure whether the soil is infested with pests, it's best to not take the chance. Also, clean equipment before moving it from infested areas.
Always be sure plant debris, particularly residue from previous vegetable crops, is completely decayed or removed before planting a new crop. A good way to destroy most crop and weed residues around your garden is by composting. Composting destroys most of the pests that may be harbored in the residues.
You can download a free copy of Composting is Good for Your Garden and the Environment to learn more.
Ed Perry is the emeritus Environmental Horticultural Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Stanislaus County.