Pests & Diseases

Sudden oak death (SOD) is a disease syndrome that has killed millions of native oak trees (Figure 1) along the west coast of the United States, from Big Sur in California up to Southern Oregon.

Have you been seeing a lot of defoliated sycamore trees recently? Sparse foliage and early leaf drop on sycamore trees might be due to anthracnose. The cool, wet spring in many parts of California provided the perfect conditions for this disease.

An immense amount of rain has fallen across California in recent weeks. While rain is incredibly beneficial, in excess it can cause serious problems. The continued wet conditions opens the door for many pests, so see the list of dos and don'ts below for common wet weather pest prevention tips.

Abiotic plant disorders are generally caused by environmental conditions, rather than microorganisms. They are sometimes called noninfectious diseases. Abiotic disorders can develop if a plant's needs are not being met.

With ongoing drought and local water restrictions in place in many areas of California, you may start to see landscape plants suffering from stress caused by a lack of water, calledwater stress. Water-stressed plants can have symptoms that resemble diseases caused by plant pathogens.

Ever heard of Bot canker? "Bot" stands for Botryosphaeria which is a plant disease that results in cankers of trees and other woody plants. This fungal disease can be worse under drought conditions when trees are stressed.

Originally published in the Summer 2021 issue of Utah Pest News. Many problems that gardeners experience with tomato plants are not related to insect pests or diseases. Rather, they are associated with adverse growing conditions due to the environment or production practices.

Figuring out what's wrong with your plant takes a little detective work. Plants can look unhealthy for a number of reasons, including diseases, pest insects, or even environmental conditions like sunburn, too much water, not enough water, wind damage, and other issues.

Strong winds from the latest winter storm have downed trees and branches throughout Northern California and may have also damaged plants in your garden and landscape. Further damage from wind or hail can be reduced with proper cultural care.

Your customers want their lawns to be beautiful and functional (Figure 1) but dead patches or other problems sometimes occur. Figuring out the cause of turfgrass damage can be a challenge since many plant pathogens affect grasses as well as numerous abiotic (non-living) disorders.