Archive Nut, Prune and Olive Programs

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avocado fruit cluster
Topics in Subtropics: Article

Breaking Alternate Bearing in Avocado

April 18, 2022
By Ben A Faber
Alternate bearing is a condition not unique to the avocado but many other crops as well. Citrus, pears, apples and apricots are just a few other crops which struggle with this problem.
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Seedlings-pxfuel
Spill the Beans: Article

Indoor Seed Starting

April 18, 2022
by Melody Kendall From an early age growing plants from seeds has been a continual source of awe, amazement and satisfaction for me. Those tiny little bundles of life emerge into cute green sprouts and then into larger, sometimes mind bogglingly huge plants.
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Photo 1. Necrosis and yellowing of young leaves (Photo courtesy of Andy Robinson, NDSU)
UC Weed Science (weed control, management, ecology, and minutia): Article

Potatoes and Glyphosate: A Mismatch

April 17, 2022
By Jaspreet K Sidhu
Jaspreet Sidhu is the UC Cooperative Extension Vegetable Crops Farm Advisor in Kern County. Glyphosate, a popular non-selective herbicide is widely used in agriculture to provide cost-effective, broad-spectrum weed control in more than 100 crops.
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Denise is holding a book about bees, and Rhonda is dressed like a monarch butterfly.
The Stanislaus Sprout: Article

A Story About a Book on Bees

April 17, 2022
By Anne E Schellman
When I was in the 6th grade, we were given an assignment to read books from several different topics (i.e. history, famous people, a classic) and write a book report on each. Being a voracious reader since pre-school, I quickly went through all the assigned topics but one. . .science.
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Ceanothus Concha(Pixabay)
Napa Master Gardener Column: Article

Big or small, a ceanothus for us all

April 17, 2022
By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa County For me, the great question at the plant nursery these days is whether to buy the little plant or the big one. The small Hot Lips' salvias I bought two years ago are fat and fluffy and covered with flowers today.
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This image of a parasitized Ammophila azteca beneath a microscope is the work of RJ Millena.
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

Spotlight on UC Davis Entomology Awards

April 16, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A feature story spotlighting former UC Davis entomology senior, Rebecca Jean "RJ" Millena, received the gold award or first place, in an international writing competition sponsored by the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE).
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Praying mantis nymphs, Stagmomantis limbata, scatter on a metallic quail sculpture near where they hatched the afternoon of April 9 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

A Quail of a Time

April 15, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Talk about a quail of a time.... When the ootheca of a praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, hatched April 9 on a clothespin clamped to our clothesline in our yard, all the nymphs scattered. Some crawled up a metallic quail sculpture, the highest structure on the clothesline.
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Some illustrations from Jared Ali's seminar.
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

Jared Ali and 'The Chemical Ecology of Plant Defense'

April 15, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Jared Ali, an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University, will speak on "Chemical Ecology of Plant Defense and Multi-Trophic Interactions: Bad Bugs, Pungent Parasites and Toxic Travelers" at the next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology an Nematology.
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Seed packet back. photo by Brenda Altman
Under the Solano Sun: Article

New Normal?

April 15, 2022
There's a map on the back of your seed packet. Colored zones of the contiguous forty-eight states are highlighted. On the side the colors are identified as when to plant your seeds. Climate change has disrupted that map. Areas that were cooler in the spring are now getting warmer.
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