- Author: Richard Smith
- Posted by: Gale Perez
From the UC Cooperative Extension Monterey County Crop Notes newsletter (March/April 2014)
Excellent weed control is essential for economically producing cilantro and parsley. Both crops have had various weed control challenges over the last few years. Cilantro and parsley are in the celery family and both are small acreage crops (cilantro 980 acres and parsley 533 acres in Monterey County in 2012) that are important to the local economy. In our modern production systems, both crops are planted in dense plantings (24-33 seedlines) on 80-inch wide beds. Parsley has been mechanically harvested for...
- Author: Gale Perez
- Author: Mark Lundy
Here's more on Mark Lundy...
A new year and a new farm advisor in Colusa‐Sutter‐Yuba
Hello, I’m Mark Lundy, a new Agronomy Advisor in Colusa‐Sutter‐Yuba, based out of the Colusa office. With 2014 underway, I wanted to send out a brief note to introduce myself and give a brief sketch of some of the work I’ve initiated since I began in July of 2013.
Where are you from?
I’m from Arizona originally, but I’m starting my 9th year living here in California. For most of that time I’ve lived in or around Davis where I was a graduate student for 6 years and earned an MS in International Agricultural Development and a PhD in Horticulture and Agronomy. Prior to graduate...
- Posted by: Gale Perez
- Author: Richard Smith
Cilantro was produced on 5,543 acres in Monterey and Ventura Counties in 2011. The production of cilantro has shifted to high density 80-inch wide beds and a large proportion is now mechanically harvested. Hand weeding high density beds is very expensive and reduces the economic viability of this crop. As a result, there is a need for excellent weed control. Two broadleaf herbicides were registered on cilantro: Prefar and Caparol. Prefar was registered for a number of years and provides good control of a number of key weeds in cilantro such as purslane, lambsquarter and pigweed. Caparol was registered in 2012 and provides good weed control of a wider spectrum of weeds including the nightshades, shepherd’s purse, sow thistle,...
- Author: Richard Smith
Weed control in onions can be challenging. Onions have various challenges that make weed control difficult. They grow slowly early in the crop cycle and never achieve a good competitive crop canopy to suppress weeds. Also, given the high density plantings, it is not possible to effectively cultivate the beds. In addition, given the close spacing between plants, it is difficult to hoe out weeds without risking damage to the onion stand. In conventional onion production there are a number of materials that can provide excellent weed control (see Figure 1). The timing of application of the materials can be tricky because some weeds may grow quickly and be difficult to control by the time the onions reach the 2nd...
- Author: Pamela M. Geisel
One of the biggest challenges to growing a vegetable garden in a non-raisedbed situation can be the weeds. The can make the garden unsightly, compete with the vegetable plants you really want and make you feel overwhelmed in trying to manage them. Here is your five step plan to a better garden with fewer weeds:
Step one: Control existing weeds. If your garden has any weeds, you first need to take care of them prior to doing anything (except planning). You have a couple of options. You may rototill your garden to dig under existing weeds or you can spray out the garden with a non-selective herbicide such as glyphosate (Round-up). ...