Ongoing research

Leaf analysis is the preferred method of guiding a fertilizer program for fruit tree crops. Soil testing is less important, since the tree has the capacity to store nutrients in its various parts roots, trunk, stems and leaves.

Alternate bearing is typically initiated by adverse climate. Once initiated, in the absence of additional environmental constraints affecting crop load, the bearing status of an orchard alternates between ON and OFF years, with ON years exhibiting less vegetative growth than OFF years.

In a recent citrus meeting in San Diego County we asked how many growers were using soil moisture monitoring equipment to help schedule their irrigations. Only 3 people out of 40 indicated that they were using some sort of equipment to monitor soil moisture.

South African plant pathologists were the first to show that root rot in avocado could be controlled by trunk injection with both phosphorous acid and the patented material Aliette.

Growers are faced with an ever-changing list of commercial tools, each with the promise of providing some advantage to the farmer.

Thrips, those tiny little critters about a millimeter long or less that wreak economic havoc to U.S. agricultural crops--not to mention crops worldwide--may have met their match. They're under attack by entomologist Diane Ullman of UC Davis and her team of eight other investigators.

Everyone recognizes the mighty monarch butterfly.

California almond growers are worried--and rightfully so--about the honey bee shortage. Honey bee guru Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology, said today that almond growers may not have enough bees to pollinate this year's crop of 800,000 acres. We need 1.

Alternate or biennial bearing is a phenomenon where fruit production alternates between large crops consisting of smaller, lower value fruit during an "ON" year and smaller crops consisting of larger, higher value fruit during an "OFF" year.

In 1985, H. Schneider and J. Pehrson published an article documenting a decline of Frost Nucellar navel oranges on a number of trifoliate rootstocks (H. Schneider and J.E. Pehrson, Jr. 1985. Decline of navel orange trees with trifoliate rootstocks. California Agriculture. Sept. Oct. 1985 p.