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Effects of Drought and Botryophaeria Fungi on Permanent Crops
HLB - Potential Threat Near San Diego County
HLB detected in Riverside County:
The Asian citrus psyllid is a tiny, mottled brown insect about the size of an aphid that poses a serious threat to all of California's varieties of citrus (e.g., oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and mandarins).
“For more information on the Asian Citrus Psyllid, please click on “Exotic Pest” above”
The insect is associated with the fatal citrus disease Huanglongbing (HLB), also called citrus greening disease. The psyllid takes the bacteria into its body when it feeds on bacteria-infected plants and spreads when a bacteria-carrying psyllid flies to a healthy plant and injects bacteria into it as it feeds.
HLB can kill a citrus tree in as little as five years, and there is no known cure. All commonly grown citrus varieties are susceptible to the disease.
The only way to protect trees is to prevent spread of the HLB pathogen in the first place, by controlling psyllid populations and removing and destroying any infected trees.
Topics in Subtropics Blog
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Avocado Guide from Down Under
The 2nd edition of the Avocado Problem Solver Field Guide is OUT NOW! It contains 14 new disorders (including six spotted mite, panicle dieback and tree lodging), it updates and expands the information provided in the original edition, includes three new...
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Calculating Irrigation with CIMIS
Avocado Irrigation Calculator using CIMIS (California Irrigation Management Information System) Updated March 13, 2024 Gary S. Bender Farm Advisor Emeritus – Subtropical Horticulture UC Cooperative Extension – San Diego...
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Feathertop
For years, I thought I was seeing fountain grass, an invasive grass that is found in all kinds of wild and disturbed settings. I was told it got its name because it was the only thing that would grow around communal fountains where people tamped...
Riverside and San Diego County Newsletter
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Topic in Subtropics Newsletter
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| Winter 2024 | Click here to read this issue of the Topics in Subtropics newsletter. |
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PEST ALERT - Black Fig Fly
(Diptera: Lonchaeidae: Silba adipata)
Invasive Fig Pest Recently Discovered in Southern California
Avocado: Food of the Gods
Watch this video (in Spanish here) on Avocado Fruit Production. California is the biggest avocado producer nationwide; this delicious, versatile fruit arrived in the state in the 1890s. The demand for avocados has increased substantially over the last couple of decades. Nevertheless, avocado production faces many challenges.
Avocado Production in California Books
Book 1: Background Information
In Book 1, Gary S. Bender, Farm Advisor, takes you through the history of the avocado industry in California and teaches you about grove development.
Book 2: Cultural Care
Book 2 focuses on cultural care and includes articles on irrigation, fertilization, disease and insect control, vertebrate pest management, pruning and frost management. The author for most of the articles is Gary S. Bender, Farm Advisor for Subtropical Horticulture in San Diego County.