Advice for Home Gardeners from the Help Desk of the 
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County

Home Gardener's Request: I found 2 of these little beetle like bugs about 1/4-inch long in our home. Are they cockroaches? I've seen them outside as well.

Your pictures are those of a three line cockroach (Luridiblatta trivittata). This particular cockroach is relatively new to the SF Bay Area arriving from its native area, the Mediterranean, in 2004.

Following is a link to a UC Master Gardener Program Blog from Solano County and below that is an excerpt from the blog that explains the biology and how to manage this new pest. The comments/responses included with the original blog are of interest to as they provide comments from gardeners with this cockroach in their home and garden as well as further comments from a UC entomologist: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=14445

This cockroach is an outdoor species with a penchant for coming inside during drought, flooding, or to overwinter. It should be treated as a nuisance 'invader from outdoors' species, similar to Oriental cockroaches. General guidance to prevent this nuisance cockroach include:

• prevent household invasions by properly sealing cracks and crevices, providing fine mesh screens for open windows, and installing door sweeps (this exclusion process is a bit difficult to accomplish due to the tiny size of this roach, but it should be the goal)
• eliminate suitable habitat near structures by reducing moisture, maintaining structural perimeters (one meter from foundation) free of dense plantings and mulches, and by reducing sources of decomposing organic matter such as woodpiles and compost heaps (especially in close proximity to doors and windows)
• this species serves as a decomposer in the garden and landscape (meaning it feeds on decaying material and typically occurs in leaf litter, plant debris, mulch, and compost piles) and is unlikely to become established within structures. At most, it might be considered a nuisance, as stated above. In many cases, no management actions whatsoever will be necessary against this insect provided you follow the general guidance above.

We hope you find this information helpful for dealing with your new neighbor. Please contact us again if you have more questions.

Help Desk of the UC Master Program of Contra Costa County

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Notes: Contra Costa MG's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at  http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Biog.

If you have house or office plants and have ever seen small, dark-colored insect swarming around them, your plants could have fungus gnats.

Fungus gnats are tiny flies that as adults, resemble mosquitoes. Fungus gnats don't bite people, but their presence can be annoying. Their larval stage lives in wet, overly moist potting mix, where they feed on decaying matter.

The first step to managing fungus gnats is allowing the soil in your houseplants to dry out in between watering. To read more about how to manage this pest, visit the UC IPM publication Pest Notes: Fungus Gnats.

If you have house or office plants and have ever seen small, dark-colored insect swarming around them, your plants could have fungus gnats.

Fungus gnats are tiny flies that as adults, resemble mosquitoes. Fungus gnats don't bite people, but their presence can be annoying. Their larval stage lives in wet, overly moist potting mix, where they feed on decaying matter.

The first step to managing fungus gnats is allowing the soil in your houseplants to dry out in between watering. To read more about how to manage this pest, visit the UC IPM publication Pest Notes: Fungus Gnats.

 

 

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County

Client;s Request: Hi! Do you know of any small citrus trees that would do well living inside? Thanks!

MGCC's Help Desk Response:  Thank you for your inquiry to the Contra Costa Master Gardeners regarding citrus suitable to be grown indoors. 

Growing citrus indoors will allow you to grow these trees in areas beyond their natural hardiness zones and avoid the problems of insects and excessive cold. But at the same time, citrus needs at least 6 hours minimum of direct sunlight (preferably 8 to 12 hours) to flower, bees to naturally pollinate the flowers for fruit, and high summer heat to develop sugar in the fruit. Therefore, to obtain fruit, a dwarf variety is probably the only choice and you should most likely consider keeping your tree indoors during the colder months, and then moving it outdoors during the warmer months. Hand-pollination could also be used for flowers produced indoors. If you cannot provide the appropriate light, you may also consider supplemental “grow” lighting.

Root stock will determine the overall size of the tree. Because you may need to move the potted plant, select a dwarf citrus, which is often grown on Flying Dragon Trifoliate Orange root stock – a natural dwarf that grows to about 10'-12'.  It has a limited root system and must be watered carefully (will not withstand missed waterings or drought). If needed, you can prune the tree to a manageable height and width. Plant in a well-drained potting soil mix in a pot that is at least twice the size of the root ball. You will probably need to re-pot the citrus again later as the tree matures.

The MGCC publication, Citrus for the Home Garden may also be useful to you http://ucanr.edu/blogs/slomggarden/blogfiles/4260.pdf

Citrus varieties commonly available as dwarfs are lemons, limes, kumquats and clementines. The UC ANR publication Tried and True or Something New has a list of common and new citrus varieties for you to consider -http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8472.pdf

meyer lemon
pix: Logees

Growing indoor citrus actually has a long history in Northern Europe and at one time was a sign of wealth and position with the building of orangeries. Most of the content of the references above is primarily meant for outdoor growing of citrus, one of the benefits of California-living for most of the temperate, lower elevations. Not so, for the colder parts of the United States where citrus are often grown indoors, especially in a sun room or a special room heated and usually with lots of glass for capturing as much sun as possible in the winter (Google: “Growing Citrus Indoors” ). 

California does have some large citrus specialty nurseries, several of which are located in Northern California. They do offer citrus that can be grown indoors (“house plants”). While some do supply mail-order access, it has been my experience that many of the citruses you might be interested in from these nurseries are also available in retail nurseries and even in some of the big box stores at times. One of the larger wholesale/retail growers also has several pages on the web on growing citrus as “houseplants” that should be of interest to you (e.g., https://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/tips-and-advice/growing-dwarf-citrus/as-houseplants.html). I'm sure other citrus specialty nurseries can supply similar information on their trees, especially dwarf trees.

Good luck with your indoor citrus selection! Please do no hesitate to contact us again if you have more questions.

Help Desk of the Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County (VLT)

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Note: The  UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA  94523. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.