Pest Management & Plant Health

Elizabeth Mosqueda is an Assistant Professor at the California State University, Monterey Bay. Richard Smith is a Vegetable Crop Production and Weed Science Farm Advisor with UC Cooperative Extension. Steve Fennimore is a Cooperative Extension Weed Specialist at UC Davis.

If you have roses blooming in your yard in the winter--or trying to bloom--check to see if there's a lady beetle, aka ladybug prowling around. Any aphids? A lady beetle can eat as many as 5000 aphids in its lifetime, so they're the good guys and gals in the garden.

Peach leaf curl is a disease that affects peach and nectarine trees. Although you may not see symptoms right now in the dormant season in California, it's time to think about treatment, especially if your tree had the disease last year.

Valerie Eviner is a Professor of Ecosystem Management and Restoration in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis. Himalayan blackberry can be a persistent weed, particularly in riparian settings.

Insecticide foggers, also known as total release foggers or bug bombs (Figure 1), are popular products widely available in many retail nurseries and garden centers as well as drug stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores.

Valerie Eviner is a Professor of Ecosystem Management and Restoration in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis.

UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardener, Meredith Hergenrader says that one of the best parts of volunteering at Master Gardener events is the camaraderie of gardeners sharing gardening tips and tricks with each other.

Entomologist Vonny Martin Barlow of Blythe, formerly of the UC Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources (UC ANR) and the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM)--and who most recently served an entomology project consultant with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nemato...

[From Pests in the Urban Landscape blog] Mistletoe is a familiar sight of the season, often found wrapped in ribbon and hung for certain festivities this time of year.

It's time to revisit the "Thirteen Bugs of Christmas!" Back in 2010, Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (now emeritus) and yours truly of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology) decided that "The 12 Days of Christmas" ought to be replaced with insects.