- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist for Home Gardeners
UC's Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Home, Garden, Turf and Landscape Pests Quick Link has a Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist which is a wonderful resource with monthly checklists within your selected county/region to help guide you how to keep your landscapes healthy.
https://www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/landscapechecklist/
Topics include common pest problems to look out for, preventative measures, and links to more information. You can also subscribe to receive an automated monthly list by email.
December and January Lists
I reviewed the December and January checklists for Stanislaus County. The following are some topics listed and additional appropriate links:
- Frost – Temperatures sometimes drop to freezing during the winter months. Cold temperature can kill bark, buds, flowers, and shoots, so protect sensitive plants from frost. To increase a soil's ability to absorb heat rake away mulch to expose the ground around the base of the plant. If frost is expected irrigate the soil (if there hasn't been any rain recently) at least three days prior. You can also cover sensitive plants overnight with cloth or similar material other than plastic but leave covers open at the bottom so heat from soil can help warm plants and remove covers during the daytime. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/ENVIRON/frostdamage.html
- Irrigation – Always adjust your watering schedule according to the weather. We have had a very wet December, which followed an atmospheric river storm in October. So, gardens have needed little to no irrigation lately, depending on your soil type. Overirrigation can lead to root rot. Resume irrigation if storms diminish during the remainder of the winter (let's hope it remains wet!). If there is an extended dry spell during upcoming winter months, irrigate infrequently and deeply. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/homegarden/irrigating/
- Clean up – Remove old fruit and nuts in and under trees to avoid harboring pests. Also rake up fallen leaves beneath deciduous fruit trees and roses (but leave the leaves elsewhere in your yard for beneficial overwintering insects including butterflies and bees). http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/CULTURAL/sanitation.html
- Prune – Trees and shrubs that need pruning including apple, crepe myrtle, pear, rose, spirea, and stone fruits (exception are apricot and cherry trees which can harbor certain pests, i.e. shothole borer, which should be pruned in the summer). Remove dead and diseased wood. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/homegarden/pruning/
- Mistletoe – Mistletoes are parasitic plants that absorb nutrients and water from a host tree. Healthy trees can tolerate a few branches infected with mistletoe, but a heavy infestation could ultimately kill a tree, particularly if the tree is stressed or unhealthy. With leaves having dropped during fall months from deciduous trees, mistletoe is visible on the now-bare trees, and thus can be removed easily. Remove branches at least a foot below the mistletoe attachment before it produces seeds that will infest other limbs and trees. Since mistletoe often infects many trees on the same street, a neighborhood effort to remove all mistletoe from any trees on the block will help reduce continued spread in the area. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/mistletoecard.html
- Peach leaf curl –If leaf curl has been an issue on your peach or nectarine plants apply preventive spray once or more times until bud break. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/peachleafcurlcard.html
- Bare root plants – Now is the time to plant bare root deciduous trees, shrubs, and vines, including roses, fruit, nuts and grapes. Select species and cultivars that are appropriate for the site it is being planted. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/homegarden/planting/
This compilation is a partial overview of the lists I reviewed. Check out the January seasonal landscape checklist for your area to see which tasks you need to do. Then bundle up, get your garden tools, and go outside (preferably on a sunny day!) to do the necessary winter maintenance chores in your garden. You and your landscape will be rewarded for your cold weather efforts come spring.
Denise Godbout-Avant has been a UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener since July 2020.
/h3>- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
- Author: Elaine Lander
The CDC health advisory states “Veterinary formulations intended for use in large animals such as horses, sheep, and cattle (e.g., “sheep drench,” injection formulations, and “pour-on” products for cattle) can be highly concentrated and result in overdoses when used by humans. Animal products may also contain inactive ingredients that have not been evaluated for use in humans. People who take inappropriately high doses of ivermectin above FDA-recommended dosing may experience toxic effects.”
Incorrect use of any pesticide can lead to injury, negative health impacts, or severe illness. Be sure to always read and understand the label when using pesticides and only use them where specified on the label. As a reminder, disinfectants are pesticides too, and should be used properly to minimize health risks.
Visit our website for more information on pesticides in homes and landscapes. If you suspect that you or someone you know is experiencing serious illness due to pesticide exposure, contact the Poison Control hotline at 800-222-1222.
- Author: Elaine Lander
While you are outside gardening or inside doing your spring cleaning, you may have recently found small, round, speckled beetles you've never seen before. We've had several questions this past week about insects crawling around windowsills, found on screens, or noticed on outdoor plants, or fuzzy, oblong insects on carpets or rugs. What are they? While there are many insects starting to emerge from their winter rest, if you are finding small beetles like these, they could be carpet beetles!
Carpet beetles are pests of homes, warehouses, and museums. In California, there are 3 species that damage fabrics, carpets, and stored foods including the varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci. The beetles are round like lady beetles (“ladybugs”), but much smaller in size. Varied carpet beetles are about 1/10 inch long, with black, white, brown and dark yellow patterns.
Carpet beetles adults feed on pollen and nectar of flowers. They often fly into homes from flowers in the landscape or may be accidentally brought indoors on cut flowers. A few adult beetles inside your home are typically not a problem. However, if you find larvae, the fuzzy immature beetles on fabric, carpet, or other natural materials in your home, you may need to manage the infestation.
See the UC IPM Pest Notes: Carpet Beetles for more identification, prevention, and management information.
To confirm your plant has hoplia beetles, inspect a flower and you may also spot this culprit (or three) hiding inside. The beetles are small, brown, and their undersides look like they've been dusted in gold. If you hold one in your hand, they will “play dead” and not move so you can examine them.
The best way to manage hoplia beetles is regularly handpicking or shaking them off the flowers into a bucket of soapy water and then disposing of it. This can help reduce beetle populations in the future. You can also fill white, 5-gallon buckets with water and a few drops of detergent. The white color may attract the beetles which will fall into the bucket and drown. Luckily, their populations begin to dwindle by June. You can read more details about these methods in the UC IPM Pest Note: Hoplia Beetles.
- Author: Belinda J. Messenger-Sikes
- Author: Lisa A. Blecker
[From Pests in the Urban Landscape blog]
Insecticide foggers, also known as total release foggers or “bug bombs” (Figure 1), are popular products widely available in many retail nurseries and garden centers as well as drug stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores. These easy-to-use products may seem to provide an easy way to kill a lot of bugs fast and may be viewed as more convenient and cheaper than hiring a pest management professional. But do they work?
Are Foggers Effective?
Foggers can be used effectively to kill pests that are flying around or resting on surfaces, like flies, but there are better long-term and more effective ways to manage these pests. Unfortunately, foggers are rarely effective for control of crawling insects like cockroaches, fleas, and bed bugs that can easily hide in crevices or beneath household items, escaping direct exposure. For best results, the active ingredients in these products must make contact with the pests. Insects that spend most of their time hiding will not be significantly affected by insect foggers. Even a small piece of fabric may be enough to protect bed bugs from the pesticide fog created by these products.
Since foggers leave a toxic residue on treated surfaces, users might see a few dead roaches after application, but many active ingredients in foggers are known to be repellent and may even drive pests deeper into wall voids and other hard-to-reach locations, sometimes even spreading them to other rooms. Pesticide resistance is another reason that insect foggers may not work. Many insect foggers contain pyrethrin or pyrethroid insecticides and some populations of household pests are known to be resistant to these pesticides.
Improper Use Can Cause Injuries
Foggers can also make people sick if they're exposed. In studies by the CDC, the most commonly reported symptoms after exposure were cough, upper respiratory pain or irritation, difficulty breathing, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain or cramping. Most of the time, the symptoms were mild and didn't require medical treatment, but there are reports of more serious injuries and people have even died from injuries related to foggers. According to these studies, injuries frequently happen when users don't read the instructions on the label. People can be also be exposed to the insecticide if they don't leave the premises after releasing the trigger on the product or return to their homes too early.
The labels of these products also instruct users to clean all exposed surfaces after use since these products leave pesticide residues. Failure to follow these instructions can lead to health hazards. The pesticide residues can be irritating, especially to occupants with asthma or other respiratory ailments.
For Safety, Follow the Label!
If you decide to purchase foggers, it is important to read and strictly following the instructions on the product label. You need to know the size of the room you're treating before going to the store, so you know how many foggers to buy. Otherwise, be sure to measure the size of the area you are treating before you begin fogging. More pesticide is not better; more can be dangerous.
For more information and safety precautions, see the US EPA website.
The National Pesticide Information Center also lists considerations and limitations when using foggers, along with several other resources for more useful information.
There are many effective ways to manage insect pests in the home. You can learn more on the UC IPM website. There you'll find practical, effective methods for controlling common household pests, without exposing yourself or other occupants of your home to pesticides.
[Original article published in the Winter 2020 issue of the UC IPM Retail Newsletter.]
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