UCCE Ventura County- Blogs
Cherimoya Manual Online
Back in the early 1990s the California Cherimoya Association decided to put together all their knowledge about the fruit and plant - from history to pollination and costs of production. There are numerous authors who are steeped in love of the fruit. It took several years to bring this all together. finalizing in 1995. It was only available to members of the Association, but now it's available on-line. If you make citation to this work, please recognize the CCA for all the effort that went into it, as well as the individual authors. This is the definitive work on California cherimoyas.
https://ceventura.ucanr.edu/Com_Ag/Subtropical/Minor_Subtropicals/TEST_1_/
Book 1: CCA Cherimoya Growers Handbook - Digital Version (PDF)
Chapter 1: History - Art Schroeder
Chapter 2: Botany - Art Schroeder
Chapter 3: Cultivars - Norm Ellstrand
Chapter 4: Propagation - Rob Brokaw
Chapter 5: Soil Fertility Management - Ben Faber
Chapter 6: Irrigation Management - Ben Faber
Chapter 7: Pruning and Training - Scott Van Der Kar
Chapter 8: Pollination - Theory and Practice - Tracy Kahn
Chapter 9: Insect Pest and Disease - Gary Bender
Chapter 10: Postharvest Handling - Mary Lu Arpaia
Chapter 11: Marketing - Peter Nichols
Chapter 12: Costs of Production - Claude Sweet
cherimoya
New Weed Control Method
- Posted by: Gale Perez
Sterile Pollen Technique Shows Promise for Palmer Amaranth Weed Control
Newly published research provides a novel and sustainable weed-management strategy
WESTMINSTER, Colorado – 22 May2024 – Recently published research in the journal Weed Science shows that a sterilization technique commonly used to control insect pests can be modified to control weeds that require pollination to reproduce. More specifically, the researchers determined that employing a sterile pollen technique (SPT) could effectively disrupt Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S.) reproduction.
Palmer amaranth remains among the most detrimental weeds in North American agriculture, and its resistance to several herbicide groups makes its control a serious challenge. Yet, researchers in this study were able to find a promising new control method for Palmer amaranth and possibly for many other difficult-to-control weeds.
“Our results indicate that SPT, using irradiated pollen, can be a valuable approach for reducing weed-seed production,” says Mohsen B. Mesgaran, Ph.D., a plant sciences assistant professor at the University of California Davis, and the article's corresponding author. “SPT also holds potential for broad-spectrum weed control by mixing sterile pollen from multiple weed species in a single application.”
Additionally, the researchers found that SPT shows promise for managing troublesome herbicide-resistant weeds that have survived in-season control efforts.“We observed the greatest reduction in seed set when irradiated pollen was introduced to the stigma through artificial pollination prior to open pollination,” notes Mesgaran. “It appears that irradiated pollen exerts a preventive effect on naturally occurring pollen that arrives later.”
While the researchers determined that a dose of 300 units of ionizing radiation (Gy) strikes the optimal balance to achieve both efficient Palmer amaranth pollination and seed sterility, challenges still remain. For example, irradiated pollen is currently less competitive than naturally occurring pollen. Thus, field managers may need to employ additional measures to successfully control Palmer amaranth with SPT, such as dispersing irradiated pollen in the field before male anthesis and releasing it multiple times.
More information about SPT and Palmer amaranth control can be found in the article (by Wenzhuo Wu and Mohsen B. Mesgaran), “Exploring sterile pollen technique as a novel tool for management of Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri).” The research is featured in Volume 72, Issue 3 of Weed Science, a Weed Science Society of America journal, published online by Cambridge University Press.
Original source: Weed Science Society of America (https://wssa.net/2024/05/sterile-pollen-technique-shows-promise-for-palmer-amaranth-weed-control/)
palmer amaranth
Dragon Fruit Workshop
We are happy to invite you to participate in the upcoming Dragon Fruit Workshop to be held at the Miami-Dade County Extension Service (Homestead, FL) during July 17-18, 2024. This is a free event, where lunch and light refreshments will be provided. This meeting is part of the grant entitled “Evaluating the Potential Expansion and Diversification of the Dragon Fruit Industry in North America” (FLA-TRC-006408). At this workshop you will learn about Dragon fruit pollination, production and post-harvest practices, insect pests and diseases, and more.
We will also visit two Dragon fruit plantings. You can find the tentative agenda at the end of this message. In order to attend in-person or online you MUST register (the link below). We will be sharing more information as the date gets closer.
https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0SpTDLWnPxRoRuJ
If you have additional questions, please contact Dr. Romina Gazis (r.gazisseregina@ufl.edu) or Shelby Weber (shelby.weber1@ufl.edu)
Tentative Agenda
DAY 1 [July 17, 2024 / 8 am – 5 pm]
8:00 – 9:00: Registration, coffee & snacks.
9:00 – 9:15: Welcome words from the organizers. Housekeeping items.
9:15 – 10:10: State Reports. Five States (FL, CA, TX, PR, HI).
10:10 – 11:00: Growing dragon fruit in a changing climate.
11:00 – 11:30: Dragon Fruit Diseases [general]
11:30 – 12:00: Dragon fruit stem and fruit canker.
12:00 – 1:00: LUNCH [included for all participants]
1:00 – 1:30: Dragon Fruit Pests and Pollinators.
1:30 – 2:00: Cultural practices related to crop health.
2:00 – 3:00: Section industry perspective.
3:00 – 4:00: Section economics.
4:00 – 5:00: Section postharvest and consumer preferences.
5:00 – 5:10: Wrap up / Housekeeping items for day 2.
DAY 2 [July 18, 2024 / 8 am – 5 pm]
8:00 – 9:00: Group meet up, coffee & snacks.
9:00 – 12:00: Visit to two dragon fruit fields (two local plantings).
12:00 – 1:00: LUNCH [included for all participants]
1:00 – 2:00: Visit to TREC's Dragon Fruit variety planting.
2:00 – 3:00: Industry brainstorming session and research priorities selection.
3:00 – 4:00: Closing Remarks and future efforts.
dragon field hills
Avocado Workshop - June 25
California Avocado Growers Seminars Series 2024
Scheduled Topics
June 25 (9 AM - 12 PM)
Field Day at Jackson Avocado Ranch
Valley Center (Near Escondido)
grower meeting
Movento 24C renewed for Citrus in CA
Movento (spirotetramet) has been renewed for use on citrus Asian citrus psyllid in California. It's a foliar spray that is systemic especially moving to new tissue where ACP feeds. It also controls some other pests, such as thrips and leafminer. It has a short persistence effect on natural enemies and has low toxicity issues.
As an interesting aside, I just learned that cryolite (Kryocide, Pro-Kil) which was considered for organic registration at one time, has lost its registration. It was a stomach poison that worked on leaf-feeding beetles and lepidopteran pests like orange tortrix. The high level of fluoride necessitated its loss of registration.
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