Update - sadly the Master Gardeners have to cancel this Sunday due to rain.
Start the New Year right with seeds and plants for your
garden — the UC/CE LA County Master Gardeners will
be at the Green Tent from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, January 22, giving away
what you need to get your spring garden going and to answer your gardening
questions.
Hand planted with love by the MGs expressly for the Mar
Vista community, this month they’re bringing these organic seedlings (PS:
please recycle your used plastic “pony packs” with the MGs so they can keep
planting future seedlings for you.):
Heirloom Broccoli Raab (aka Rapini) is commonly featured in
Italian and Chinese cuisines. It has more in common with turnip than
broccoli, but has turnip-like leaves, and dispersed buds that resemble thin, leggy broccoli
stalks.
Tuscan Baby Kale - everyone loves this, MGs included!
Baby leaf lettuce mix - for those wonderful spring and
summer salads
Bloomsdale spinach - the king of all spinach! the one with
the curly edges
Cilantro - you either love it or hate it!
Snow peas - especially great with the broccoli raab if you
make a stir fry
Gourmet greens - eat them raw or add them to your smoothies
Mache - Also called lamb’s lettuce, it’s been cultivated in France since the 17th
century, a tiny dark green plant that grows close to the ground and has a
sweet, nutty flavor that some people compare to the taste of corn.
ALERT!!! This month, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is
asking all residents to look closely at their citrus trees. This is a long
document with important links for you to find out more about this disease that
is decimating citrus in states across the US and has now been identified in
California.
May
8, 2016
UC asks citrus residents to inspect their citrus trees
for Asian citrus psyllid
California citrus - both on farms and in home
landscapes - face a very real threat from a disease that is spread by Asian
citrus psyllid. Florida and Texas citrus is already suffering
terribly. California may be able to avoid the same fate, if all residents and
farmers do their part to combat the pest. We hope you'll help us spread the
word.
Spring in California is time to inspect citrus trees
for Asian citrus psyllid
A tell-tale sign of spring in California is a flush of
new leaf growth on citrus trees. Because the feathery light green leaves are
particularly attractive to Asian citrus psyllids (ACP), the leaves' emergence
marks a critical time to determine whether the pest has infested trees.
"We encourage home citrus growers and farmers to
go out with a magnifying glass or hand lens and look closely at the new
growth," said Beth Grafton-Cardwell, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (http://ucanr.edu/)
citrus entomologist. "Look for the various stages of the psyllid – small
yellow eggs, sesame-seed sized yellow ACP young with curly white tubules, or
aphid-like adults that perch with their hind quarters angled up."
Pictures of the Asian citrus psyllids and its life
stages are on the UC ANR website (http://ucanr.edu/acp). If you
find signs of the insect, call the California Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
Exotic Pest Hotline at (800) 491-1899.
Asian citrus psyllids are feared because they can
spread huanglongbing (HLB) disease, an incurable condition that first causes
yellow mottling on the leaves and later sour, misshapen fruit before killing
the tree. ACP, native of Pakistan, Afghanistan and other tropical and
subtropics regions of Asian, was first detected in California in 2008.
Everywhere Asian citrus psyllids have appeared – including Florida and Texas –
the pests have found and spread the disease. A few HLB-infected trees have been
located in urban Los Angeles County. They were quickly removed by CDFA
officials.
"In California, we are working hard to keep the
population of ACP as low as possible until researchers can find a cure for the
disease," Grafton-Cardwell said. "We need the help of citrus farmers
and home gardeners."
Grafton-Cardwell has spearheaded the development of
the UC ANR ACP website (http://ucanr.edu/sites/acp/)
for citrus growers and citrus homeowners that provides help in finding the pest
and what to do next. The site has an interactive map tool to locate residences
and farms that are in areas where the psyllid has already become established,
and areas where they are posing a risk to the citrus industry and must be
aggressively treated by county officials.
The website outlines biological control efforts that
are underway, and directions for insecticidal control, if it is needed. An online
calculator on the website allows farmers and homeowners to determine their
potential costs for using insecticides.
There are additional measures that can be taken to
support the fight against ACP and HLB in California:
- When
planting new citrus trees, only purchase the trees from reputable
nurseries. Do not accept tree cuttings or budwood from friends or
relatives.
- After
pruning or cutting down a citrus tree, dry out the green waste or double
bag it to make sure that live psyllids won't ride into another region on
the foliage.
- Control
ants in and near citrus trees with bait stations. Scientists have released
natural enemies of ACP in Southern California to help keep the pest in
check. However, ants will protect ACP from the natural enemies. Ants favor
the presence of ACP because the psyllid produces honeydew, a food source
for ants.
- Learn
more about the Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing disease by reading
the detailed pest note on UC ANR's Statewide Integrated Pest
Management website (http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74155.html).
- Assist
in the control of ACP by supporting CDFA insecticide treatments of your
citrus or treating the citrus yourself when psyllids are present.
- Support
the removal of HLB-infected trees.
