- Author: Lynn Wunderlich
"Beautiful acidity" in the later red varieties was the common theme as the cooler August and September temperatures
Although some foothill Zinfandel remained unsold, a continuing trend following last year's Zinfandel dive, demand for Cedarville's organic fruit is up. "Buyers are very interested in our Zin", Jonathan said, "and some winemakers in the area are showing a renewed interest in Cab. as well, which is so great to see".
Other than in frosted locations, yields came in at average to slightly above, although crop estimates may have been misleading early on.
Challenges of the season included a high powdery mildew index in the cooler, higher elevations (perhaps the price paid for the payoff in slower ripening later), and mites, especially in some Zinfandel blocks and often brought on by heat and drought conditions. Some growers buck the miticide train and choose to use biological control to combat mite outbreaks. "We've been releasing 6 spotted thrips for years", Ann Kraemer, Shake Ridge Vineyards and Yorba Wines, told me. 6 spotted thrips is a generalist predator, which means it will prey on any soft bodied insect it can, including leafhopper nymphs. It has the ability to get under the webbing of spider mites to attack them, making it an excellent mite predator!
Concern about smoke due to the Ferguson and Mendocino Complex fires made for an "oppressive" July-when some days air particulate matter counts were deemed unsafe to work and crews were sent home early-all blew away by August as clear skies ushered in the first whites.
As we made it through her vineyard blocks, Ann made one more keen observation. "There were fewer birds this year. My owl boxes are empty and even when putting out netting I noticed there didn't seem to be as many birds as usual." One (unproven) theory: the high summer smoke affected the bird population, causing them to fly less or leave.
Now that the fruit is almost all in, let's hope the rainy season comes, and our owls return, soon.
- Author: Ben Faber
BIG Things are happening in the avocado world!!!
Come find out at the Annual Avocado Meeting to be held in two weeks. Yes, it's coming up fast. And it's going to be in the Temecula area. New growers need to come to learn from the members what wonders are in store for them as growers.
Check out "Which Way World Avocado?"
http://ceventura.ucanr.edu/newsletters/Topics_in_Subtropics76791.pdf
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West Nile Virus is spread by mosquitoes that get the virus from infected birds. Mosquitoes infected with the virus can transfer it to humans and other animals. Humans infected with the virus may become very ill. The disease usually is most serious in children, people with weakened immune systems, and the elderly. In 2017, California reported 553 human cases of West Nile Virus, which included 44 fatalities.
Protect yourself and your family from mosquito bites by following these tips:
- Drain any container that holds standing water, use mosquito-eating fish, cover pools, or use a pesticide product containing a bacterium that kills mosquito larvae.
- Use screens on doors and windows to keep mosquitoes out.
- Avoid being outside during dawn and dusk.
- Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants socks/shoes and a hat.
- Use an effective mosquito repellent such as one containing the following active ingredients: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus (also known as PMD or para-menthane-diol)
Read more about managing mosquitoes by visiting the UC IPM Mosquitoes web page.There you will find short videos, information in Spanish, and more resources on West Nile Virus and Zika.
- Author: Dong-Hwan Choe
Some pictures from 27th UCR Urban Pest Management Conference (March 21, 2018).
27th Annual UCR Urban Pest Management Conference was held at UCR Extension Center on March 21, 2018.
There were about 200 attendees from urban / structural pest management industry and other related parties, several industry sponsors, and 13 speakers from university labs, UC ANR, industry, government agencies. We think the conference was a big success.
This one-day conference has been UCR urban entomology program's one of the most important outreach events for professionals in the pest control management industry and the public interested in these questions. For more information, visit the following website.
http://ucanr.edu/sites/ucrurbanpest/Conferences/
- Author: Shane Feirer
Last week saw the ESRI Developers Summit come and go in Palm Springs, CA. The Dev Summit is billed as being “designed to show you how to build cutting-edge apps using advanced mapping technology from Esri.” ESRI highlighted many of their new technologies including the ESRI Javascript API that has been updated to support 3d web maps on mobile devices, the ability to incorporate virtual reality/augmented reality VR/AR into your apps, and many other new features. They also highlighted new tools and some of the added functionality to some of their existing tools such as the Python API for ArcGIS and the addition of the ability to work with Rasters in the r-bridge package. To see for yourself what ESRI was highlighting at this years Dev Summit watch the videos of the plenary below.
2018 ESRI Dev Summit Plenary Part 1