Directors

Loren Oki
Department of Plant Sciences
UC Davis

David Fujino
California Center for Urban Horticulture
UC Davis

UCNFA News

Stay up to date on issues and research of interest to the nursery and floriculture industry

UCNFA Partners

Directors

Loren Oki
Department of Plant Sciences
UC Davis

David Fujino
California Center for Urban Horticulture
UC Davis

UCNFA News

Stay up to date on issues and research of interest to the nursery and floriculture industry

UCNFA Partners

Download UCNFA News as PDF

Return to UCNFA Newsletter Archive

Issue	Articles
UCNFA News Summer 2018 Volume 22 issue 2	We regretfully announce that this is the last issue of UCNFA News. In this newsletter, we commemorate the retirements of UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisors Steve Tjosvold and Jim Bethke, along with Cooperative Extension Specialist Richard Evans. These people have made valuable contributions to the floriculture and nursery industry, in addition to regularly contributing to this newsletter (Steve, has provided leadership for the newsletter as co-editor). The first issue of UCNFA News -formerly called CORF News- was published in the fall of 1997. Michael Parrella- then associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences- was instrumental in getting administrative support from the Department of Plant Sciences and establishing UCNFA. it therefore seems fitting that he is the lead author of our last feature article for this issue, which is on biological control (Michael Parrella is currently dean of agriculture at the University of Idaho). This isn't a final farewell, however, because Steve Tjosvold will be launching a nursery production blog for UCNFA as an emeritus farm advisor. Look for it to come out in August. Feature article: Update on Biological Control and the Challenges Growers Face... Science to the Grower: Clearing the air... Campus and County News: Three Retirements in Nursery and Floriculture Programs... New Publications: Water, Root Media, and Nutrient Management for Greenhouse Crops...	9/10/18	Download (2,386KB PDF)
UCNFA News Winter 2018 Volume 22 issue 1	This newsletter issue focuses on bee health and neonicotinoid insecticides. Beekeepers have been reporting significant annual honey bee colony losses. What's Bugging Our Bees... The Neonicotinoids: An Objective Assessment... Piercing-Sucking Insects and Systemic Insecticides... SCIENCE TO THE GROWER: How do you put a bee in the plantbuyer’s bonnet?... INSECT HOT TOPICS: Sweet potato and rough sweet potato weevils... REGIONAL REPORT: UCCE Santa Cruz/Monterey Counties… CDFA Nursery Advisory Report...	10/8/18	Download (4,418KB PDF)
UCNFA News Summer 2017 Volume 21 issue 1	Three feature articles are included in this issue lead by Sims, Tjosvold and Downer on various aspects of Phytophtora and its control, as well as management of other root diseases. Moreover, a new disease, boxwood blight, has been discovered in Bay Area landscapes and is described in Tjosvold's Regional Report. Phytophthora in Restoration and Forest Nurseries... Phytophthora Crown and Root Rot Symptoms and Dection... Can Fresh Wood Chip Amendments Suppress Root Pathogens?... Get Cultured: Monitoring electrical conductivity of irrigation water and rooting media... Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey Field Observations: Box... CDFA Nursery Advisory Report..	8/4/17	Download (5,003KB PDF)
UCNFA News Fall 2016 Volume 20 issue 3	This issue focuses on scouting, with feature articles providing guidance on how to scout and the benefits of scouting, in addition to pest and discease updates for growers. The nuts and bolts of scouting... Scouting for diseases and environmental monitoring... Scouting improves weed management... Scouting for slugs and snails... UC demonstrates benefits of a scouting program for insects and mites... Science To The Grower: Are plants intelligent enough to earn a scouting merit badge?... Insect Hot Topics: Chinese rose beetle... Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey Field observations: Foamy bark canker and sudden oak death... Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Salts at work again... CDFA: Nursery Advisory Board Report... Campus and County News... Gleanings from Meetings... New Publications...	8/3/21	Download (3,158KB PDF)
UCNFA News Summer 2016 Volume 20 issue 2	Sanitation is the focus of this newsletter issue and is the first part of a multiple-part series on IPM. Sanitation to Reduce Arthropod Pests... Keeping Weeds out of Your Operation... Sanitation for Pathogens: Contaminated Soil is a Primary Source of Pathogens and must be changes... Solarization: A Simple and Low-cost Method for Disinfesting Horticultural Containers... Slow Sand Filters Remove Tobacco Mosaic Virus... Get Cultured: Sanitation and Treatment for Pathogens in Recycled Water... SCIENCE TO THE GROWER: Sync and Swim Pythium and Phytophthora don’t mind asking for directions... Disease Focus: Powdery and Downy Mildews Insect Hot Topics: Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Regional Report: Summer 2016: Chilli thrips	8/25/16	Download (2,576KB PDF)
UCNFA News Spring 2016 Volume 20 issue 1	This newsletter issue focuses on emerging horticultural technologies for growing plants in highly controlled environments. Controlled Environment Agriculture... LED Technology for Crop Production in Controlled Environments... Manipulating Plant Growth Responses with LEDs... Science to The Grower: The cold, hard facts about plant factories with artificial light... Get Cultured: Nitrogen and water use of winter and summer-growing succulents... Disease Focus: Botrytis time... Insect Hot Topics: Spotted lanternfly... Regional Report: Santa Cruz/Monterey Evidence of pyrethroid insecticides and sediment in surface water in Lower Salinas River Watershed Regional Report: San Diego/Riverside: Agave pests CDFA Nursery Advisory Report Campus News New Publications	1/6/17	Download (5,807KB PDF)
UCNFA News Winter 2015 Volume 19 issue 3	This newsletter issue provides helpful tips and resources for growers trying to prepare for winter storms. Information on plant diseases to watch for in the coming months and management of these problems is also provided. Managing El Niño Storm Runoff... Impacts of El Niño in 2016... Science to the Grower: Who is lighting whom?... Get Cultured: Fertilizer and media management during El Niño... Disease Focus: The rise of Bot canker diseases... Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Potential impact of El Niño on Phytopthora diseases... Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Wind and rain, the grower's bain... Campus News: Mike Parrella leaving UC Davis... CDFA Nursery Advisory Board Report... New Publications...	5/11/16	Download (4,618KB PDF)
UCNFA News Fall 2015 Volume 19 issue 2	This newsletter issue focuses on the continuing drought and drought related issues that nursery operators in California face. Reap Profits During Drought... Irrigating Greenhouse and Nursery Crops Based on Soil Moisture Measurement... Science to the Grower: Do plants need water? Science has the answers!... Get Cultured: Fertilizer management when using secondary water sources... Disease Focus: Detecting Phytophthora in nursery plants... Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: A simple approach to knowing when to irrigate ornamental potted crops... Retirements Announced: John Kabashima and Linda Dodge... New Publications...	1/16/16	Download (2,782KB PDF)
UCNFA News Spring 2015 Volume 19 issue 1	Strategies for Diagnosing Abiotic and Biotic Problems... 1 Science To The Grower: No matter how you spell edema, it’s an excrescent intumescence on the plant leaf… 8 Get Cultured: Horticultural practices to conserve water and mitigate salt precipitation in container production… 12 Insect Hot Topics: Lobate lac scale... 15 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Ramorum blight and how to keep it out of your nursery... 17 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Pathogen field test kits… 17 Regional Report Ventura: Bot fungi wreak havoc during drought... 20 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Three unusual diagnoses... 22 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Field Observations: Ficus eye-spot midge... 22 New Publications... 24	5/26/15	Download (6,023KB PDF)
UCNFA News Fall 2014 Volume 18 issue 3	History and Status of the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter in California... 1 Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Nursery Subcommittee Update... 4 Science to The Grower: A Nobel idea for plant lighting… 7 Get Cultured: Reclaimed water use in nursery production… 8 Disease Focus: Scorch diseases caused by Xylella fastidiosa... 10 Insect Hot Topics: Daylily leafminers... 12 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Effect of insecticides on light brown apple moth larvae of different ages... 14 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Cool weather diseases of nursery crops... 17 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Light brown apple moth update... 19 Campus News: New weed specialist at UCR, Asian citrus psyllid online course... 22 New Publications... 23	12/17/14	Download (2,903KB PDF)
UCNFA News Summer 2014 Volume 18 issue 2	Maintaining Irrigation Efficiency in Greenhouses and Nurseries... 1 Leaching to Manage Saliinity in Ornamental Crops… 6 UC Resources Available to Assist through the Drought... 9 Science to The Grower: Hydrogels do not decrease water use in container plant production... 11 Get Cultured: Managing media to optimize water use...13 Insect Hot Topics: Euonymus caterpillars... 16 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Retrospective on improving irrigation management...18 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Drought exacerbates root rot... 21 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: First detection of Colletotrichum cymbidiicola in California, water supply update... 22 Campus and Counties News: Jim Bethke receives the 2014 CANERS research award... 25 New Publications... 26	7/18/14	Download (2,957KB PDF)
UCNFA News Spring 2014 Volume 18 issue 1	Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer: A New Tree Pest in Southern California... 1 The Threat of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug to Nurseries and Floriculture… 4 Management of the Bagrada Bug in Nurseries… 8 Science to The Grower: Is sustainable ornamental crop production sustainable?... 9 Get Cultured: Silicon in plant nutrition… 11 Disease Focus: Fusarium dieback and polyphagous shot hole borer… 12 Insect Hot Topics: Japanese beetles… 15 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: LBAM update on regulations and research... 17 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Polyphagous shot hole borer look-alikes… 19 Regional Report Orange/Los Angeles: Western yellowjacket… 22 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Steam treatment of sago palms and Field observations… 24 New Publications… 27	5/14/14	Download (3,315KB PDF)
UCNFA News Fall 2013 Volume 17 issue 3	Nutrient Release from Controlled Release Fertilizers in Nursery Production... 1 Organic Nirogen Fertilizers for Container Substrates... 5 Disease Focus: Effect of fertilizers on plant diseases... 7 Insect Hot Topics: Emerald ash borer update and rose rosette... 9 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: News related to Central Coast water quality... 10 Field Observations: Diagnosis of a poinsettia problem... 11 Regional Report Ventura County: A comparison of organic fertilizers... 13 Online Tool for Nursery BMPs... 15 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Do insects proliferate in response to better plant nutrition ?... 16 Field Observations: Recent insects from Florida... 17 Campus Research Update: National consortium at NORS-DUC studies... ...18	1/24/14	Download (2,751KB PDF)
UCNFA News Summer 2013 Volume 17 issue 2	Plant Selection for Vegetated Buffers: Plant Size vs Nutrient Uptake Efficiency... 1 Update of Slow Sand Filtration Research... 4 Science to The Grower: How to handle salt in a recirculating irrigation system... 8 Disease Focus: Mixed infections cause problems with accurate disease diagnosis… 9 Insect Hot Topics: Brown marmorated stink bug... 11 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Improving water quality with polyacralymide (PAM) polymers... 13 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Water quality management plans and Retirement news... 15 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: European pepper moth update and Retirement news... 18 New Publications… 22 UCNFA Programs… 23	8/13/13	Download (4,559KB PDF)
UCNFA News Spring 2013 Volume 17 issue 1	Pesticide Use on the Decline in California Cut Flower Production... 1 Progress in Managing Weeds, Mollusks and Vertebrates... 5 Science to The Grower: One thrips, two thrips, fed thrips, dead thrips... 8 Disease Focus: Do you know what’s lurking in your irrigation water?... 9 Insect Hot Topics: Ligurian Leafhopper... 11 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: LBAM field data available for Monterey Bay area growersr... 14 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Managing Invasive Plants in Nurseries... 17 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Hot water treatments to control pests... 20 Campus Research Updates... 24 New Publications... 26 UCNFA Programs... 27	5/20/13	Download (4,983KB PDF)
UCNFA News Fall 2012 Volume 16 Issue 3	Benefits of Effective Personnel Management... 1 Practical Steps to Employee Selection: Designing the Employee Selection Process... 3 Science to the Grower: Pipe dreams and postharvest schemes... 6 Disease Focus: Developing a successful disease scouting program... 8 Insect Hot Topics: Emerald ash borer on the move... 10 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Ag economic issues and LBAM update; Field observations... 12 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: News and resources related to ag labor... 14 New Publications... 16 UCNFA Programs for 2013-2014... 17	11/29/12	Download (1,293KB PDF)
UCNFA News Summer 2012 Volume 16 Issue 2	Management of Downy and Powdery Mildews: Three new diseases hit California... 1 Science to the Grower: Are liverworts lost in the ozone?... 6 Get Cultured: When disease symptoms are caused by poor nutritional and cultural practices... 7 Disease Focus: Boxwood blight — a new threat to California... 9 Insect Hot Topics: New scale insect in Hawaii... 11 Regional Report San Benito/Santa Clara: Regulatory Updates... 13 Regional Report: New anthracnose disease on New Zealand flax... 16 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Black foot disease and Field observations... 18 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Citrus greening in California and Field observations... 21 Campus Research Update: Is western flower thrips a single species?... 23 New Publications... 24 UCNFA Programs... 25	7/2/12	Download (3,002KB PDF)
UCNFA News Spring 2012 Vol 16 Issue 1	Steaming And Other Management Practices For Pre-Plant Weed Control In Nurseries... 1 Evaluation of Herbicides for Weed Control Efficacy and Crop Safety in Field Production of Nursery Fruit and Nut Trees... 6 Machine-Guided Cultivation to Control Weeds in Field-Grown Cut Flowers... 9 Organic Herbicides - Do They Work?... 11 Science to the Grower: How much would you pay for a plant out of place?... 14 Get Cultured: Non-chemical prevention of weeds in containers... 16 Disease Focus: Weeds as a source of plant virus infections and bacterial leaf spot of poinsettia... 18 Insect Hot Topics: Two New Pests from Florida... 19 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Herbicides for vegetation control on roadsides... 21 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Managing Invasive Plants in Nurseries... 22 Regional Report San Diego/Riverside: Thrips resistance management... 25 Field Observations: Invasive hairy crabweed... 26 Gleanings from Meetings: 2011 Scouting and Spray Evaluation Workshop... 27	4/5/12	Download (18,529KB PDF)
UCNFA News Fall 2011 Vol 15 Issue 3	European Pepper Moth: A New Invasive Moth Threatens California Agriculture... 1 Field Evaluation of Insecticides to Control Light Brown Apple Moth... 6 Get Cultured: Drainage channels and vegetated filter strips in nurseries (Part II)... 11 Disease Focus: Insect-transmitted plant virus diseases... 15 Gleanings from Meetings: ABCs of Fertilizer and Irrigation Management... 17 Is nursery insurance practical to manage risk in your business?... 18 Regional Report San Diego: Getting serious about palm weevils and Field observations... 20 Regional Report Ventura/Santa Barbara: Mitigating pesticide runoff while managing invasive pests ... 22 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Environmental conditions could be monitored in the nursery to limit the spread of sudden oak death... 25 New Publications... 27	10/14/11	Download (4,666KB PDF)
UCNFA News Spring 2011 Vol 15 Issue 2	Ecological Approaches Used in Nurseries to Treat Water... 1 Get Cultured: Drainage channels and vegetated filter strips in nurseries (Part I)... 7 Science to the Grower: Give potting mix the centle and clean smell of freshly laundered linens... 8 Regional Report San Benito/Santa Clara: Two new pests and soil fumigant label changes... 9 Regional Report Santa Cruz/Monterey: Light brown apple moth management in nursery stock and Field observations... 11 Regional Report Ventura and Santa Barbara: How Aussies are addressing water issues (Part II)... 13 Regional Report San Diego: Time to get serious about water... 16 Campus News and Research Updates... 18 New Publications... 18	5/25/11	Download (616KB PDF)
LBAM Bait Traps Poster		5/5/11	Download (125KB PDF)
UCNFA News Winter 2011 Vol. 15 Issue 1	New Publications from ANR ...1 Controlled-release Fertilizers and Nursery BMPs ...5 Tailoring Fertilizer Rates for Diverse Nursery Crops ...8 The Australian Ornamental Production Industry ...11 Campus News and Research Updates ...13 The California 2010 Spring Trials...14 Karrie Reid named EH Advisor in San Joaquin ...15 European grapevine moth: A new major pest on grapes with potential impact on the ornamental industry ...16 How Aussie Nursery Growers are Addressing the Water Issue (Part I) ...18 UCNFA Programs for 2011 ...19 Biology and Control of the Myoporum Thrips ...20 New “A” Rated Pest in San Diego: European pepper moth ...21 UCNFA on Facebook ...22	1/20/11	Download (1,866KB PDF)
UCNFA News Spring 2010 Vol. 14 Issue 1	Implementation of IPM in California Bedding and Container Color Plant Production ...1 UC Statewide IPM Program update: Resources for ornamental growers ...2 Foliar nematodes: Worms under your plant’s skin ...3 Farm business website for Central Coast ...5 New Publications from ANR ...5 Regional Reports from Farm Advisors: Light brown apple moth; Gladiolus rust field observations ...6 Integrated pest management of the aloe mite; Diapredes root weevil field observations ...7 Introducing Maria de la Fuente ...8 Science to the Grower: Silicon ...9 Campus News and Research ...10 UCNFA Programs for 2010 ...11	7/9/10	Download (509KB PDF)