- Author: Anne E Schellman
Over the past few months, gardeners have asked the UCCE Master Gardeners for help with their grapes. They want to know:
- What's this white powdery substance on my grape plants?
- Why are my grapes so small?
- What's causing my grapes to split?
- What can I do to “save” my grape plants?
The culprit is a common grape disease called powdery mildew. This fungus leaves a telltale white powdery coating on plants. It also deforms leaves, shoots, and grapes. Young grapes can be stunted or scarred, and sometimes split open.
We've told gardeners that unfortunately, powdery mildew can't be eradicated. For now, gently hosing down plants weekly with water will help to wash off and kill the spores.
In winter, prune grapes and remove and destroy infected materials. During spring, use fungicides to protect grapevines. Timing is important. Read about how and when to prevent and control this disease in the publication Pest Notes: Powdery Mildew.
Small Grapes
Small grapes are a result of too many clusters of grapes on a vine. The clusters will need to be thinned. Sometimes gardeners have trouble doing this. It may feel like you are throwing away perfectly good fruit! However, thinning out grape clusters is a necessary task that should be done in early spring during the first three to four weeks after fruit has set.
Study up on grapes now! Then you'll know what you need to do next year. For information on pruning, thinning, and growing grapes, visit The California Garden Web page Growing Grapes in Your Backyard.
- 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: Julie Silva
Tomatoes come in many different sizes–from pea-size to almost 3 pounds and as large as a grapefruit! Different sizes fulfill different needs; cherry tomatoes are perfect for salads, omelets, kebobs, and snacking. Medium size round tomatoes are easier to use for canning. Oblong, meaty tomatoes with less moisture are perfect for sauces, paste, or salsa. Large tomatoes, referred to as slicing tomatoes, are your hamburger's best friend.
You can find many different colors of tomatoes, including red, pink, black, purple, orange, yellow, green, yellow-white, swirls, and striped. Sometimes when sliced, the tomato could take on another color completely!
When deciding which tomato to grow it helps to decipher the tag. Tomatoes are either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes grow to a particular height, then stop and put on a majority of fruit all at once. Indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow and will produce tomatoes along the branches throughout the growing season. It's usually best to grow both types.
You'll notice on plant tags some capital letters after the tomato variety name. Those letters indicate the tomato's resistance to a particular disease. You can read about these diseases as well as disorders and pests of tomatoes on the UC IPM Tomatoes page.
- V Verticillium Wilt
- F Fusarium Wilt
- N Nematodes
- ASC Alternaria Stem Canker
- TMV Tobacco Mosaic Virus
- ST Stemphylium (Grey leaf spot)
- SWV Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
- LB Late Blight
Many hybrid tomatoes carry the VFN designation, unless they are heirlooms. Hybrid tomatoes are grown by crossing varieties to improve traits, making them stronger, more disease resistant and better producers. However, if you plant the seeds from a hybrid tomato, they won't produce the same tomato. This is why many people like to grow heirloom tomatoes and save the seeds for the following year.
To find the top ten tomatoes, be prepared to discover many lists. Opinions are like tomatoes: everyone has a favorite of their own! One of the most popular cherry tomatoes is ‘Sun Gold'; it's considered the sweetest tomato. The favorite early-season tomato is ‘Early Girl,' which is a determinate that produces within 54 days from seed. For main season tomatoes, ‘Celebrity,' ‘Fantastic,' ‘Better Boy,' and ‘Ace' (70-80 days) are popular.
Summer for many people just does not start until that first hamburger with a slab of tomato right out of the garden. Here at the UCCE Stanislaus Master Gardener's Office we are curious: have you planted your tomato plants yet? What's your favorite tomato variety? Please sign in and post your comments below, or on our Facebook page.
Special thanks to Julie Silva for this guest post. She is a UCCE Master Gardener in Tuolumne County.
- 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.
Winter is the time of year when many people prune their deciduous fruit trees. However, did you know that now is not the right time to prune apricot and cherry trees?
In the past, home gardeners were advised to prune stone fruit trees (cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, and nectarines) after trees lose their leaves and go dormant. However, cherry and apricot trees are more likely to be attacked by certain diseases that can be spread by rain.
Gardeners who prune cherry and apricot trees during winter create wounds that may be invaded by fungal and bacterial canker diseases. Symptoms show up in spring and summer, when infected tree limbs wilt and suddenly die with their leaves still attached, or when bark becomes discolored and limbs produce an amber-colored ooze.
This year, wait to prune apricot and cherry trees until late spring or early summer. For more information about fruit trees, visit The California Backyard Orchard.