- Author: Ben Faber
Irrigation and Nutrient Management Field Day
Monday January 14, 2019
555 Las Varas Canyon Road Goleta 7:30 am - 11:30 pm, lunch is provided The event is FREE
but please register -
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/irrigation-nutrient-management-field-day-tickets-54248292102
Learn all about soil moisture sensor systems -
• Using sensors to save water, energy, & fertilizer
• Monitoring & interpreting soil moisture data
• Checking & fixing common system problems
• System configurations & funding opportunities
• Practical and common sense considerations
Attendees get a
FREE Soil Nitrate
Quick Test Kit
The Cachuma Resource Conservation District, with funding from the Department of Water Resources, is
pleased to offer this FREE field day event in partnership with:
Parks Land and Cattle Company The Irrometer Company
Natural Resource Conservation Service
Picture: Soil Moisture Testing by the" Feel Method"
“Wood chip mulches will decrease soil nitrogen and spread pathogens” A Misunderstanding that is addressed below by:
Chalker-Scott, L. , Extension Specialist And Associate Professor, Washington State University
Downer, A.J., Farm Advisor, University of California
With chronic drought and/or record-breaking summer temperatures making it increasingly important to conserve water, many gardeners and groundkeepers are using landscape mulches. The ideal landscape mulch not only moderates soil temperature and conserves water, but also:
- reduces compaction;
- provides nutrients;
- enhances plant growth;
- provides habitat for beneficial insects;
- helps control weeds, pests and disease; and
- reduces the need for pesticides and fertilizers.
In addition, landscape mulches should be readily available, affordable, and easy to apply and replace. A review of the literature on landscape mulches (Chalker-Scott, 2007) determined that organic mulches are overall the best choice, with deep layers of coarse woody material providing most or all of the above-listed benefits. Arborist wood chips (created from leaves and branches chipped up by tree service companies) are a particularly good option as they are generally inexpensive and easy to obtain anywhere trees are managed.
Fortunately, none of these concerns are validated by research. Here are some brief explanations (Chalker-Scott, 2007) targeted to our audience:
- Wood chips will not draw nitrogen from the soil unless they are incorporated into it. When used as mulch, arborist chips have no effect on underlying soil nitrogen levels, except to increase them over time.
- Wood chip mulches, even those made from diseased trees, will not transmit pathogens to healthy plant roots. If diseased chips are incorporated into the soil they could infect plant roots, but field evidence of this is rare. Arborist chips that are stockpiled even for a few days undergo severe pathogen reduction through microbial attack within the pile (Downer et al., 2008).
- Wood chips, or any other organic mulch, will not change the pH of the soil. The soil volume is vast, and any acidification would occur only at the mulch-soil interface where it would quickly be neutralized.
- Wood chips, even those made from black walnut or cedar, will not kill landscape plants. There is no reliable evidence that chemical inhibition from decaying wood actually occurs in a landscape situation.
- Wood chip mulches do not lend themselves to tunnel building like landscape fabric and other sheet mulches do: they collapse. Termites do not eat wood chips unless they have no choice; they are negatively affected by some of the chemicals wood contains. In fact, arborist chip mulches house a number of beneficial insects and other species that naturally control pests.
For arborist wood chip mulches to be the most effective (Chalker-Scott, 2007), they should be:
- coarse – no less than ½” diameter – so water and air can move freely through them;
- applied as soon as possible after chipping both to maximize the materials available to microbes and to capture the nutrients released by their activity in the soil; and
- maintained at a depth of at least 4” to prevent weed growth.
Read on:
- Author: Ben Faber
Groundwater pumping may significantly affect growers' energy costs. As part of a California Energy Commission-funded research project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory wants to hear directly from growers—via a short survey—about their experiences with the energy needed to pump groundwater. To learn more about the larger project, click here.
Your participation in this survey is greatly appreciated. We hope to understand more about the conditions you face on the ground so we can accurately convey your experiences with pumping groundwater to policymakers. We will be asking you some questions about your reliance on groundwater, past and planned well operation practices, and barriers to lowering the energy needed to pump groundwater. Results from this survey may inform future efforts to reduce energy use and costs for growers.
Your participation in this survey is completely anonymous. The survey software will not capture any personally identifiable information, including IP address. Individual anonymous responses will be stored in a secure location accessed only by a few authorized LBNL researchers, and will not be made public in any form. In publicly available reports, results will only be presented in aggregated form.
This survey should take around 20 minutes to complete. To preview the survey before taking it, a PDF version can be viewed here. If you are at least 18 years of age, own or operate a farm or ranch in California, and rely at least to some extent on groundwater for your farm or ranch operations, please click the link below to complete the questionnaire.
If you have questions about this survey or the larger project, or would prefer to respond to this survey over the phone, please contact us at gwenergy@lbl.gov, (510) 486-6839 [Heidi Fuchs, Survey Lead], or (510) 495-2865 [Helcio Blum, Project Lead]. For issues related to your rights as a research participant in this study (LBNL HSC 382H001-31AU19), please contact LBNL's Human Subjects Committee at (510) 486-5399.
Learn more and take the survey at
https://gwenergy.lbl.gov/growers
Questions? Contact us at gwenergy@lbl.gov or (510) 486-6839
Thank you very much for your time and participation!
Tuning up for Pruning Up--Care, Maintenance and Utilization of Hand Pruning Tools
J. Downer
University of California
Fall is passing into winter and the bare sticks in my deciduous fruit orchard are calling me to my annual fruit tree pruning chores. I can prune my entire orchard with very few tools: a good pair of bypass clippers, a similar set of loppers (optional) and a high quality “razor” or “tri edge” saw. Most tools require some maintenance especially the clippers and loppers. Sharpening is the usual need. Clippers are easily sharpened but modern saw blades can not be sharpened by gardeners and should be replaced. Sometimes it is just as easy to buy a new saw, replacing the old one when blade eventually dulls or is bent from over zealous use (illustration 1)
Illustration 1: Tri-edge saw blades are made from stainless steel and are not easily sharpened. When dull or bent they should be replaced
Before using your pruning tools inspect them for signs of damage. Blades should be sharp and unbent. Loppers should have their rubber “bumpers” intact otherwise your knuckles will be smashed after exerting force on a difficult branch. Sharp tools offer less resistance and actually decrease injury to users. One exception here is with the modern “tri-edge” or “razor” saws. These saws can cut so quickly that you may pass through the branch you are cutting and continue on to some part of your anatomy quickly ripping your flesh. I have suffered more cuts (some serious) from these saws than from any other gardening activity. They should be used with careful precision, not with the wild abandon and pruning fervor of the craven academic desperate for real world gardening experience. A thick long sleeved shirt and gloves will also help prevent cuts from hand pruning equipment.
Bypass clippers are so termed because the blade passes by the hook. To sharpen these, find the bevel on the edge of the clippers and align a small file to the same angle of this bevel, and file the bevel until you can feel the sharpness with your finger (Illustration 2). Never sharpen the back side of the bevel—this will create a gap, and every time you cut, a flap of tissue will remain. Back bevel sharpened clippers will require blade replacement or grinding until the back bevel is gone. The hook does not require sharpening, do not attempt to file it. Repeat this process with lopper blades.
Illustration 2: To sharpen bypass clipper blades follow the angle of the bevel. Do not sharpen the flat side of the blade
When you are done pruning for the day, wipe the blades of your clippers and loppers with an oil soaked rag or apply a few drops of oil and rub it into the blade. Most modern saws blades are made from stainless steel and require no oil protection.
As a Cooperative Extension Advisor, one of the most common questions I receive is: “Should I sanitize my clippers between cuts or between uses on various plants?”. Indeed, many publications, extension leaflets, gardening columns, and other sources make broad recommendations to sanitize clippers after every cut. Some articles even compare various products for their killing efficacy. Often blind recommendations are made to sanitize clippers when the pathogen is not even known or specified. It is not necessary to sanitize your clippers when pruning most garden plants and fruit trees. There are a few pathogens that are spread by dirty pruning equipment but published evidence that they are spread by hand pruning equipment (especially clippers) is nil. One exception is palm wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. canariensis which is easily spread by saws. Some of the canker fungi caused by Botryosphaeria can also be spread by pruning equipment. With many of these pathogens, a wound is required for infection so it may not be that the clippers are spreading disease so much as providing an entry point (infection court) so that pathogens have a way to enter.
In my garden, I have never, and will never need to sanitize clippers between cuts. However, conditions vary across the US, and in some places rain, humidity, and temperature are more favorable for disease development. To avoid spreading pathogens, prune during the dormant season, when the likelihood of pathogen activity is lowest. Apply dormant sprays containing copper to limit the onset of new fungal diseases that may enter pruning wounds. If you still feel you need to protect wounds from dirty clippers I like to use the flame from a plumber's torch to sanitize. A few seconds along the cutting edge front and back kills all pathogens (Illustration 3). Similar for a saw but efficacy is increased if the saw gullets are wiped clean with a cloth and then the flame applied. The only time I take these measures is when I know I am working with plants that can be inoculated with pathogens by pruning (which is rare).
Illustration 3: A plumber's torch will rapidly sanitize saws and blades when pathogens are present in plant tissues.
When pruning garden plants, there are a plethora of recommendations on how to make cuts. Rose experts have extolled the virtues of an angled cut so water runs away quickly, flush cuts used to be recommended by arborists as the highest quality cut. These examples are without research foundation. Cuts on woody plants should be angled to produce a circular exposure that is the smallest surface area possible. We abandoned flush cuts many years back because they cut into protective zones that limit decay in trees. Some gardeners feel compelled to cover their cuts with a pruning paint and there is a similar paucity of research to support this practice. Leave pruning wounds unpainted.
- Author: Ben Faber
Interested Parties should email a resume to jobs@citrusresearch.org
DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2019
CALIFORNIA CITRUS RESEARCH BOARD JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB TITLE: CRB Canine Project Manager
REPORTS TO: CRB President
CLASSIFICATION: Regular – 12 month, exempt, at-will or Independent Contractor
LOCATION: Riverside, CA or Remote
WORK HOURS: Typically Monday through Friday; frequent extended hours and weekends, travel subject to operational demands
SUMMARY: The Citrus Research Board Canine Project Manager provides important support to the CRB for follow-through and implementation of a strategic plan developed by citrus HLB diagnostic stakeholders to transition canines for use and commercialization in California. Problem-solving, communications, writing, priority setting, time management and business development skills are necessary.
The Citrus Research Program(a.k.a. Citrus Research Board) is a grower-funded and grower-directed program established in 1968 under the California Marketing Act as a mechanism for enabling the California citrus growers to sponsor and support needed scientific and technical research to further the goals of the California citrus industry. The program is administered by the Citrus Research Board, which is commonly referred to as the CRB.
ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES:
- Serve as the lead support staff for the implementation of the strategic plan described in the summary above.
- Work as a liaison with the detector canine owners (USDA-APHIS), trainers (F1 K9), researchers and California citrus HLB diagnostic stakeholders (CRB, Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program/Committee, California Citrus Mutual and others) to communicate progress in implementation of the plan.
- Serve as a member of the CRB staff, unless established and designated as an independent contractor.
- Under the direction of the President and/or the Chief Research Scientist, write “white papers”, reports, concept documents and other canine detector-related documents.
- Provide staff and organizational assistance to the HLB Detector Canine Transition Team. This involves working with representatives of the various stakeholder groups, researchers, government officials and others.
- Draft transition team meeting notices and agendas. Prepare and submit minutes in a timely, correct and professional manner.
- Provide vision, ownership, accountability and leadership for project management. Details include involvement in strategic planning, follow-through on the subsequent strategic plan, reporting to the CRB and other stakeholder groups, negotiating contract terms with vendors and commercialization of the canine detector teams.
- Perform other duties as assigned by the Chief Research Scientist and/or the President.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:
- Clear, effective written and oral communication.
- Self-starter and can-do spirit with pride in the outcome of the final project.
- Leadership, thoroughness, accuracy, objectivity and integrity.
- Knowledge, experience and ability to relate the science of HLB detector canines to the citrus industry and the public in order to establish their credibility and gain confidence in them as an early detection technology.
- Ethical conduct and the ability to exercise confidentiality.
- Ability to create, organize and publish data.
- Ability to meet deadlines and organizational goals.
EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION:
B.A. or B.S. in a relevant science field is required. PhD preferred. Industry experience in science communication, entrepreneurial commercialization, and/or research project management may be substituted. Solid experience and knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, DropBox, Office 365, PowerPoint and Excel is strongly advised. Must have legal authorization to work in the U. S.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Possession of a valid California Driver's License and clean driving record.
- Frequent out-of-town, multi-day business trips will be necessary.
- Preparing and delivering oral presentations and written progress reports.
- Ability to work both independently and in group settings for problem-solving, coordination and collaboration.
- Competent use of standard office equipment such as computers, scanners, database management software, telephones and photocopiers.
- Lifting of boxes and other field materials weighing up to 35 pounds.
- Ability to spend significant time in citrus orchards and training facilities, including the observation of canine detector teams during extended periods of heat and cold.
EOE STATEMENT:
The Citrus Research Board is an equal employment opportunity employer without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, marital status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or veteran status or other characteristics protected by the law.