Test PB Collection: FTE

As winter turns into spring, Southern California residents who live in areas where the red imported fire ant has taken hold will want to keep a close eye out for colonies establishing themselves in lawns, parks, schools and golf courses.

Fruit tree pruning ranks high on most home gardeners' to do list during the winter months. While deciduous fruit trees may be pruned at other times of the year, most gardeners do their annual heavy pruning during the trees' dormant period.

They're small, about 1 mm long or less, with characteristic fringed wings. They fly, but not well. But thrips do pack a powerful punch. A major pest of many agricultural crops, including lettuce, they damage plants by (1) sucking their juices and (2) transmitting viruses.

How do you manage thrips in lettuce production? Research entomologist Daniel Hasegawa of the Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U. S.

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By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County One of the reasons I really enjoy having fruit trees is that they are perennials: they give back a lot for relatively little effort. You can get the same benefits from perennial vegetables.

Have you thought about making sauerkraut? Do you already make sauerkraut? Or, have you made sauerkraut, and something went terribly wrong and you don't want to make it again? These are questions many of us have asked and continue to ask ourselves.

by Carrie Strohl An Invitation to Propagate and Donate Expertise or Plants A few months ago, I read about the rise of houseplant popularity in the American Gardener, a publication of the American Horticultural Society (AHS).

While we continue to spend more time than usual indoors, you may have noticed a few unexpected (and perhaps unwanted) co-occupants like ants, cockroaches, or mice.

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