Pest Management & Plant Health

[This post has been modified from the article originally published in the Fall 2018 issue of the Retail Nursery and Garden Center IPM News.] Most citrus tree problems in home gardens can be solved by pruning the trees to allow better air flow and by controlling ants.

[Originally published as "Managing Weeds in Landscapes" published in the Fall 2018 issue of the Retail Nursery and Garden Center IPM News.] Nurseries and garden centers often sell a wide range of plants for use in gardens and landscapes.

Registration is now open for several livestock-focused workshops offered by the University of California Cooperative Extension! 2019 Cattlemen's Symposium - March 20, 2019 (9am - 1pm) Lincoln, CA Co-sponsored by the Tahoe Cattlemen's Association, the 2019 Cattlemen's Symposium will feature presentat...

More nematodes in outer space? It's true. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Pheronym, a company in Alachua, Fla.

Grapevine red blotch virus, a disease that is dramatically reducing the value of winegrapes in California's premium wine production region, is harming plants by inhibiting photosynthesis in the leaves, according to research published this month in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) is an annual grass that can sometimes behave as a biennial or short-lived perennial in California. The species is upright in habit (to about 3 feet in height); seeds germinate in the late fall and the plants grow vigorously through the winter and early spring.

When planning your spring garden, one of the first decisions you must make is whether to use those seeds you saved from last year.

As written in my blog post from 2 days ago, I found carpenter ants in my house recently and decided to call a pest control company to help manage them.

[Originally published as Pesticide Briefs: What Do These Terms Mean? in the Fall 2018 issue of the Retail Nursery and Garden Center IPM News.] Last summer, we defined what a pesticide is and gave a few examples.

You just KNOW that some plants are considered weeds. Their common names give them away. They sound awful. Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus). Devil's claw (Proboscidea lutea). Smellmelon (Cucumis melo). Itchgrass (Rottboellia cochinchinensis).