Topics in Subtropics

UC Riverside awarded $1.5 million for sustainable agriculture initiatives RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- The University of California, Riverside, has been awarded $1.

The use of foliar nutrients as frost protectants has been promoted for years. Research published by Steve Lindow at UC Berkeley explained that certain naturally occurring bacteria ,such as Pseudomonas syringae and Erwinia herbicola act as nucleating agents for ice formation.

A Frost Primer Definitions: Dry-bulb temperature: the temperature of the air as measured with a thermometer. Wet-bulb temperature: the temperature that the tree will likely sense due to evaporative cooling of the leaves.

When to Prune Avocados and Suggestions of How to Prune In the past avocados were rarely pruned. In fact, if the trees got very big, growers would stump them down to 3-4 feet and then let them regrow. This would often be a disaster, since the trees rapidly grew to stupendous sizes again.

Forecasts are for a mild La Nina which usually means low rainfall, cooler temperatures and relative humidities, all of which usually means greater conditions for freeze events.