- Author: Chris M. Webb
Cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi, is an easy pest to spot. Cottony cushion scale can infest a number of woody ornamentals and some crops.
While the pest themselves are orangish brown to red throughout their life stages, attached to the females are elongated, white cottony egg sacs. Each sac contains 600 to 800 red eggs. The egg filled sac may become two to three times as long as the body of the female. Combined the length can reach close to ½ an inch.
After the eggs hatch into crawlers, they settle along leaf veins and begin to produce the white cottony secretion they are known for. Each time they increase in size, they shed their outer skin leaving it behind before starting the process over.
To learn more about these pests and how to manage them, please see UC ANR’s Cottony Cushion Scale Pest Note.
Topics include:
- Identification and life cycle
- Damage
- Management
Commercial growers can find pest resources by crop on this page of the UC IPM Online website.
Additional information can be found in the related publication, Stages of the Cottony Cushion Scale and its Natural Enemy, the Vedalia Beetle (Rodolia cardinalis).
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Spider mites are among the most common pests found in California. Preferring hot, dusty conditions, and plants under water stress, these tiny pests can produce rapidly between June and September. In some areas of our state, populations stay active year round.
Because spider mites are so small, damage is often the first visible clue of an infestation. Damage is caused by sucking cell contents from leaves. Visual signs of damage to leaves can include: light dots on the leaves, which may turn the leaves a bronze color; leaves may turn yellowish or reddish and drop off; and/or large amounts of webbing may cover leaves, twigs, and fruit.
Luckily cultural controls and natural enemies are often all that is needed to reduce spider mite infestations.
To learn more about spider mites in the home garden and landscape, please see UC ANR’s Spider Mites Pest Note.
Commercial growers can find pest resources by crop on this page of the UC IPM Online website.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
UCCE Farm Advisor, Oleg Daugovish recently participated in a trip sponsored by the Partners of Americas Farmer to Farmer Program. This program is designed to improve economic opportunities of people living in rural areas of Latin America and the Carribbean.
Over nine days, Oleg helped participants in the Dominican Republic (DR ) learn how to increase food production and distribution, suggested improvements for farm operations and conserving natural resources. Most producers in this area of the world have small acreage and part of the production takes place in greenhouses or under tunnels. Most operations use drip irrigation. Greenhouses are equipped with double screen doors. Diagnostic facilities are not readily available.
Much like in Ventura County, many of the farmers Oleg worked with in DR grew strawberries and peppers. Growers in both places face many of the same challenges, but with different climates and infrastructures. While in the Dominican Republic Oleg covered many miles, visited multiple farms per day, and educated a lot of people at several meetings.
Topics covered included:
- Weed management
- Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD)
- Substrates
- Fumigation
- Quality of planting material
- Crop rotation
- Slight adjustments in production to increase yield
- Propagation
In addition to the help he provided in person, Oleg shared the following UC ANR online resources with DR farmers.
- University of California post-harvest management for fruits and vegetables (en Espanol) -- the produce facts sheets are available in several languages
- University of California IPM guidelines, available for most crops, including strawberry (en Espanol). This site has a crop –specific pest and weed management treatment table for each pest/weed/pathogen and is updated frequently
- Phytophthora spp. seem to be prevalent among soil-borne pathogens in the DR. Aside from fumigation and ASD, phosphorus acid materials can be used such as Fosfite, Alliete or others containing the same active ingredient. Details are at this page of the University of California IPM website.
- Section of web-page for Strawberry production at the UCCE-Ventura County website. The menu on the left contains presentations on various subjects and links to UC weed susceptibility chart for herbicides available in California and cost and return studies for crops
- Foundation plant Services at U. California – strawberry. The site provides info about obtaining the UC varieties of strawberries.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
There are several different species of mealybugs, with a wide range of hosts. High populations of these insects can slow growth and cause plant damage.
UC IPM Online’s Pests in Gardens and Landscapes resource provides readers with photos and text to identify and manage mealybugs.
Topics include:
- Identification of species
- Life cycle
- Damage
- Solutions
Resources for commercial growers can be found here.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
The recent issue of UC’s California Agriculture is packed with interesting and informative articles. Two articles help to directly connect farmers and consumers. All articles can be accessed online.
Please see topics below:
- 150 years after Morrill Act, land-grant universities are key to healthy California
- Uncertain future for California’s biomass power plants
- Community Supported Agriculture is thriving in the Central Valley
- UC Cooperative Extension explores a farm-to-WIC program
- Crop rotation and genetic resistance reduce risk of damage from Fusarium wilt in lettuce
- Citrus growers vary in their adoption of biological control (availible only in E-Edition)