2011 Scouting and Spray Evaluation Workshop

by Steve Tjosvold

Forty growers and allied industry representatives attended the UCNFA Scouting and Spray Evaluation Workshop held in Watsonville on August 23, 2011. A lively discussion was anticipated for the field demonstration component of this workshop, and that is what we got!

 

But first we started in a classroom setting. Farm Advisor Steve Tjosvold presented information on establishing a scouting program for traditional pests and diseases, and then to get a little more specific, he talked about scouting for the important quarantine pest, the Light Brown Apple Moth. UC Davis Professor Ken Giles talked about the theory of spray application and the practical means to evaluate the spray application uniformity in the field.  Steve Tjosvold then showed videos of air-assisted sprayers making applications in nurseries, and discussed the results of the evaluation of those applications with moisture-sensitive papers. (Moisture-sensitive paper turns from yellow to blue when contacted by water droplets.)  

Then the fun really began when we visited a production area at Suncrest Nursery (with owner Stan Iversen and general manager Jim Marshall hosting). Steve had previously placed moisture-sensitive paper out in a large block of nursery stock, and then the custom-built air-assisted sprayer made an application of water just as they would when making an application of pesticide. All attendees walked out in the field and collected the paper, and placed them onto a large board. Ken Giles then discussed what he saw and the results demonstrated by the paper. As previously mentioned, this field demonstration generated lots of discussion. A final presentation was provided by Neal Murray (UC Cooperative Extension research associate, Santa Cruz County) who talked about bait and pheromone traps for LBAM, and traps were available to see.

A comparable meeting is being planned for the Central Valley in 2012. Stay tuned!

Steve Tjosvold is Environmental Horticulture Farm Advisor UC Cooperative Extension, Santa Cruz County.