Pest Management & Plant Health

Richard Smith is the UC Cooperative Extension Vegetable Crop Production and Weed Science Farm Advisor in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. Automated weeders remove weeds inside the three- to five-inch-wide uncultivated band left around the seedline by standard cultivation.

While you are outside gardening or inside doing your spring cleaning, you may have recently found small, round, speckled beetles you've never seen before.

Honey bee experts at UC Davis and Oregon State University (OSU) will teach a free online bee biology course aimed at training veterinarians in their new role in supporting beekeepers and maintaining the health of bee colonies.

If you're a veterinarian or a veterinary technician in California or Oregon, then you'll want to register for a free online bee biology course aimed at training veterinarians in their new role in supporting beekeepers and maintaining the health of bee colonies.

Instructions for making homemade mixtures to control pests are easy to find online and in social media, and it's tempting to make your own home remedy when pests invade.

Our Tips for Terrific Tomatoes class is now available to watch on our UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener YouTube Channel. Master Gardeners Terry Harper and Heidi Aufdermaur delivered some great tips for growing successful tomato plants.

Join UC Cooperative Extension for a FREE online workshop.

As the weather warms up, we see more insect activity in gardens and landscapes, and you may also notice more activity of insect pests in your home. Common insect pests found indoors in springtime can include carpet beetles, fleas, fungus gnats, and boxelder bugs.

Everyone loves home grown tomatoes and other vegetables like peppers, corn, and squash. But pests like them too.

Ever seen a beneficial insect and a pest sharing the same blossom? At a recent visit to the UC Davis Ecological Garden at the Student Farm, we watched a honey bee, Apis mellifera, and a lygus bug nymph, Lygus hesperus, foraging on a batchelor button, Centaurea cyanus. The bee: the beneficial insect.