- Author: Brad Hanson
Last week (December 1, 2010), the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) registered the soil fumigant Midas for use in the state following months (years) of controversy and protests. I’ve been meaning to talk a bit about soil fumigation in this blog and I’ll try to address the general issues in a future post. For today, I’ll focus on methyl iodide since it is a "hot topic".
Midas, marketed in the US by Arysta LifeScience, is a combination of methyl iodide...
- Author: Brad Hanson
Early winter is is a good time of year to talk about another landscape weed problem - catchweed bedstraw (Galium aperine) also known as cleavers in much of the rest of the world (among many other names).
In California, bedstraw is summer or winter annual and we are starting to see the beginning of the winter germination flush in the Davis area. We usually see a lot of bedstraw germiantion in the early winter after the rain starts and the soils start to cool; however, there is often a secondary flush of germination in the late winter and earlys spring (Feb-March). Bedstraw will grow into the summer but really doesn't do very well in the hottest times of the year. It tends to complete its lifecycle by...
- Author: Brad Hanson
Although somewhat self serving (isn't that part of what a blog is?), I thought I'd post a link to an article about the the Weed Science group at UC Davis.
Staff writer for the Department of Plant Sciences, Diane Nelson put together a nice overview of many of the weed science faculty and specialists in the Department. While not absolutely inclusive of everyone in the department working on various aspects of invasion biology, weed ecology, and restoration ecology, I thought this was a good intro to many of the "Weeders".
The article entitled "War on Weeds: UC Davis Weed Science Program Fights to Tame Invasive Plants" can currently be read here:
- Author: Brad Hanson
FYI - Symposium announcement:
Current Issues in Vineyard Health
Date: November 30, 2010
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Contact: Student Services staff is available M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Phone: (800)752-0881 From Davis or Woodland (530)757-8777
Sponsor: UC Davis Extension
Location: Da Vinci Building
Address: 1632 Da Vinci Ct. Davis, CA
Web site:
- Author: Brad Hanson
Over the last few years, several of my UC Davis, CSU-Fresno, and USDA-ARS collaborators and I have been involved in research related to using steam heat to thermally disinfest soil as an alternative to methyl bromide fumigation. The basic premise of the work is to heat soil to 70C (158F) for about 30 minutes to kill many soil borne pathogens including parasitic nematodes, fungal and bacterial pathogens, and weed propagules (seed and vegetative parts).
It is pretty clear that heat is effective for pest control; however, efficiency (time and fuel) is the biggest sticking point for this to be a viable alternative for a substantial number of growers. Below is a brief...
