- Author: Chris M. Webb
Today Maren Mochizuki explains how scientific conferences are organized for optimum exchange of ideas and knowledge.
Similar to many other scientific meetings, the ASHS annual conference offers several days of presentations and tours running simultaneously. Sometimes it is a challenge to decide what to attend at any given moment!
Well in advance of the meeting, presenters submit abstracts or brief synopses of their research. Conference organizers use this to determine the credibility of the work and suitability for presentation; once approved, conference attendees use the abstracts to determine which presentations to attend.
The typical format for research presentations is either an oral or poster presentation. In either case, presenters briefly discuss the problem or question they seek to address, research methods and results using photos, graphs, and tables.
Oral presentations are usually conducted using a presentation program such as Microsoft Powerpoint and last 10-12 minutes with an additional 2-3 minutes for questions from the audience. In other oral presentation formats such as colloquia or workshops organized around a particular topic, about 30 minutes may be provided for each presenter to provide more depth.
Posters are typically 3 ft x 4 ft in size and are available for self-paced viewing for the duration of the conference. In addition, each presenter has a one-hour time slot in which he or she is present at the poster to answer questions and interact with other attendees.
At this year’s ASHS Annual Conference, UCCE Farm Advisors and staff conducted three oral presentations and three poster presentations and were co-authors on at least four other oral presentations and two other posters. The research presented will be topics for future posts.
To browse the conference program, please visit http://ashs.confex.com/ashs/2010/webprogram/meeting.html
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Today, Maren Mochizuki shares with us preliminary findings from a local research project.
Soil pH along most of the California coast north of Los Angeles ranges between 7.3 and 8, which is generally higher than many edible and ornamental plants prefer. In some cases, availability of micronutrients such as iron is severely limited in soils above pH 8, leading to deficiency symptoms in plants. Other plants such as blueberries, rhododendrons, azaleas, and hydrangeas prefer acidic soil conditions (pH 6 and below).
To investigate potential soil pH reduction over time, UCCE Farm Advisors Jim Downer and Ben Faber and UCCE Staff Research Associate Maren Mochizuki applied coffee grounds, lemon waste, peat moss, pine needles, oak leaves, and municipal yardwaste in addition to elemental sulfur to soil with an unadultered pH of 7.8.
The project is on-going and is in its third year. Preliminary findings indicate that the combination of organic material plus elemental sulfur reduces pH to a greater degree and more quickly than either the amendment or sulfur alone. We have seen the greatest effect thus far with elemental sulfur plus coffee grounds, chipped lemon waste, or peat moss.
Lemon waste from Ventura County packinghouses.
Lemon waste was chipped before application and
incorporation into soil.
Coffee grounds (top) and peat moss applied
to soil prior to incorporation with a rototiller.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Today Ventura County Cooperative Extension Staff Research Associate Maren Mochizuki shares with us local SWD research results for the month of July.
Many seasonal changes occurred at our trapping locations last month. We opted not to continue trapping at the strawberry/blueberry location because the strawberries were removed and we had never trapped any SWD at this location. We hope to resume monitoring once the newly-planted strawberries and blueberries fruit at the same time.
Blueberry plants at the other two locations were pruned, removing foliage and fruit. Traps were moved in mid-July to a group of plantings scheduled to be pruned last, located farther east and downwind from the original trapping location. We had been capturing about the same number of males and females at the original location during the first two weeks of July but after the move found only females in traps at the new location and fewer individuals overall (Fig. 1).
At the mixed garden location, we trapped an average of 7 individuals per week, mostly females, among stone fruits and blackberries (Fig. 1). We also found females among strawberries located to the east and downwind but not consistently each week and so far have not trapped any SWD among newly-planted blackberries located to the west and upwind from the stone fruit trees.
Fig. 1. Total number of spotted wing drosophila trapped at two Ventura Co. locations during July 2010. One location was blueberry adjacent to blueberry and the other was a mixed garden with stone fruit, blackberries, and strawberries.
Bucket-style trap used in low-growing fruit such as strawberries.
For more information about this pest, please read previous posts or visit UC ANR’s intergrated pest management website.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Today Ventura County Cooperative Extension Staff Research Associate Maren Mochizuki shares with us local SWD research results for the month of June.
For the month of June, we have detected an average of 1-2 individual spotted wing drosophila (SWD) per week (evenly split between males and females) at two of the three locations (Fig. 1). SWD was trapped in raspberries adjacent to these two locations in mid-April.
Graphed data summarizing the trapping results is shown below. More information about local SWD research can be found here (make link to SWD local research posts)
Fig. 1. Total number of spotted wing drosophila trapped
in blueberries at three Ventura Co. locations during June 2010.
For more information about this pest, please read previous posts or visit UC ANR’s intergrated pest management website.
Bucket-style trap under blueberry canopy.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Today Ventura County Cooperative Extension Staff Research Associate Maren Mochizuki shares with us procedures used while conducting local spotted wing drosophila research. The procedures for successful research require planning, organization and devoted attention to detail.
About 3 days before each trapping period, we prepare fresh bait -- a solution of yeast, sugar, and water. After letting the bait rest for 24-48 hours (Mark Bolda, Strawberry and Caneberry Advisor in Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey counties speculates the flies are attracted to the fermentation smell), we add it to the traps in the field. The next day, we check the contents of the trap and then dispose of the used bait offsite.
Another monitoring technique we utilize is sweep netting. For this project, we sweep the net back and forth along about 20 linear feet of blueberry shrubs, strawberry plants, or blackberry canes and then the contents are dumped over a container of soapy water to look at any flying insects that were caught.
We have been trapping weekly since the beginning of June in blueberries in Oxnard and Camarillo and added a mixed garden location in Santa Paula in early July.
For more information about this pest, please read previous posts or visit UC ANR’s intergrated pest management website.
Bottle-style trap used in caneberries and trees.
Bucket-style trap used in low-growing
plants such as blueberries and strawberries.