Plant Health

Freezing temperatures damage plants by causing ice crystals to form in their cells. Frost-damaged vegetation withers and turns a dark brown or black. Ice crystals can also form in citrus fruit, causing juice vesicles inside the fruit to rupture and the fruit to dry out. Although frost-damaged fruit is…

By Trish Grenfell, UC Master Gardener of Placer CountyQ:  I've been told to rotate the crops in my vegetable garden. Last year’s garden was very successful, and I don’t want to “fix it if it is not broken”.A:  Crop rotation, which has been around for centuries, refers to the practice of…

Please join us for the 2025 Lettuce Fusarium Wilt Trial Field Day in Soledad - August 26, 2025 10 am - 12 pm. Trials include variety evaluations, steam treatment evaluations, and fungicide evaluations. Pre-registration is strongly suggested. Please see full article for additional info and directions.

Five Steps to Avoid Becoming THE Problem in YOUR Vegetable Garden. I have been growing my own vegetables for the last thirty years. I have grown vegetables in the ground, raised beds, and containers. During those years I have enjoyed good and bad harvests. Sometimes the problems which resulted in a poor…

Most gardeners are aware of plant diseases that can wreak havoc in their gardens. If you grow fruit trees, you may be confronted with curled, reddened peach leaves (peach leaf curl fungus). If you grow apples or pears, your trees may sometimes look like they were scorched with a blow torch (fire blight…