Past webinars - avocado pests

As webinars are completed, we post them here for future study and sharing with others.  CE units are not available for this group, as only the live webinars receive credits.

Avocado Pests and their Management in California by Dr. Ben A. Faber (September 4, 2024)

• In this webinar, Dr. Ben Faber, University of California Cooperative Extension Advisor in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, discussed biological and abiotic stresses on California avocados. He discussed insect pests such as avocado thrips, caterpillar pests, and avocado lace bugs as well as brown garden snails. Dr. Faber also discussed pest disease complexes such as laurel wilt spread by ambrosia beetles and Fusarium spread by invasive shot hole borer. (Presentation slides in PDF format)

Biology and Management of Avocado Lace Bug in California by Dr. Mark Hoddle (July 7, 2021)

• Dr. Mark Hoddle, Extension and Biological Control Specialist at UC Riverside and Director at the Center for Invasive Species Research, discussed biology, damage and distribution of Avocado lace bug. He also discussed their invasion into California and the response to that, which included phenology studies, natural enemies, and insecticide evaluations. (Presentation slides in PDF format)

Current Challenges for Avocado Weed Management by Sonia Rios (January 27, 2021)

• Sonia Rios, UCCE Area Subtropical Horticulture Advisor, discussed identification and control of most commonly found weeds in orchards and challenges avocado growers face - biology and life cycles of weeds, treatment options, herbicide resistance and preventative measures.  (Presentation slides in PDF format)
  

Invasive Shot Hole Borers in Avocado by Dr. Akif Eskalen (May 20, 2020)

• Dr. Akif Eskalen discusses the identification and symptoms of invasive shot hole borers (ISHB) and related fusarium dieback (FD) on different tree host species, ISHB current distribution in California and worldwide, current studies on biology, epidemiology of the pest and disease complex, pesticides treatments to control ISHB-FD and current biocontrol studies to control ISHB-FD. (Presentation slides in PDF format)

Gibberellic Acid Use on Avocado to Improve Fruit Set by Dr. Ben Faber (March 18, 2020)

• Dr. Ben Faber discussed plant growth regulators (PGRs), a powerful tool available for increasing fruit size and yield in an existing avocado orchard. Gibberellic acid (GA3) was registered for use on California avocados in March 2018 to improve fruit productivity. The handling, timing and application rate are critical and the reasons were included in this presentation. (Presentation slides in the PDF format; Handout by Carol Lovatt)
  

Avocado thrips by Dr. Mark Hoddle (January 22, 2020)

• Dr. Mark Hoddle discussed the biology, biological control, temperature effects, damage, monitoring, chemical control, and resistance issues for avocado thrips. 

Avocado cankers and their causes by Dr. Ben Faber (October 23, 2019)

• Dr. Faber covered the identification and biology of different types of avocado cankers (including black streak, bacterial canker, Botryosphaeria and Phytophthora trunk cankers) and management practices to prevent these diseases. (Presentation slides in the PDF format)

Laurel wilt disease by Dr. Monique Rivera (March 20, 2019)

• Dr. Rivera discussed current knowledge of the laurel wilt, the biology and ecology of its vectors - Ambrosia beetles, current known presence of the laurel wilt disease in the US, its identification, and prevention of this disease in California.

Avocado Root Rot Disease Management by Dr. Ben Faber (November 14, 2018)

• Dr. Faber covered the identification and biology of root rot, management practices to prevent these diseases, and the pesticides available to treat them, including resistance management tactics. (Presentation slides in the PDF format)