Pest Management & Plant Health

Why scout for weeds? While weeds are present in every orchard, there is variation in the weed species composition and density from orchard to orchard. Scouting for weeds is the basis for a good Integrated Weed Management (IWM) plan.

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program in Contra Costa County Updated Situation: Bed bug encounters are on the rise in California.

Help for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County Gardener's Request: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk about the ant pests in your recently installed raised bed vegetable garden.

The emerald ash borer, a wood-boring beetle native to northeastern Asia and now invasive in much of the United States, doesn't just target ash trees. The jewel beetle engages in host shifting.

Here are some pictures from UCR Fumigation School 2019 (Nov5-6, 2019; UCR Extension).

When UC Davis agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen wanted to develop a free smart phone application to help strawberry growers predict spray coverage to combat pests, he knew just where to go. The UC Davis Computer Science Club. And, now the three-year collaborative project is a reality.

From the Western IPM Center November 2019 newsletter... Kochia is a tumbling weed plaguing growers and ranchers from Central Canada to West Texas. It's salt tolerant, heat tolerant, cold tolerant, said Kent Davis, a crop consultant with Crop Quest in Colorado.

Strawberry growers now have a free smart phone application tool to predict spray coverage to combat such pests as two-spotted spider mites, lygus bugs and leafrollers, thanks to a three-year collaborative project involving UC Davis agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen and several UC Davis comp...

Many factors make weed management on federal public lands an interesting challenge. In September I was invited to join one of the Sierra National Forest Rangeland Management Specialists to explore a medusahead infestation in one of the grazing allotments she manages.

Nematodes (microscopic, eel-like roundworms) aren't usually a household word but they're featured prominently in the current edition of The Plant Journal. And UC Davis plant nematologist Shahid Siddique, formerly with the University of Bonn, is at the heart of it.