Topics in Subtropics

VISALIA Last week's California Citrus Conference marked a major milestone for growers, and it wasn't just the 50th anniversary of the Visalia-based Citrus Research Board (CRB).

In 1911, the avocado was a relatively new crop in Southern California and the great USDA plant explorer Wilson Popenoe (pronounced POP e Noe according to Jack Shepherd), describes avocado culture and its problems https://www.biodiversitylibrary.

Although the main objective of herbicide use in avocado orchards (and all crops) is to manage weed populations, sometimes unintentional injury of the crop itself can occur when herbicides are incorrectly applied.

There's lots of talk about good soil fungus and bad fungus and what might be done about improving good ones. It's hard to figure out what is talk and what is actually happening. Robert Kourik can help make clear some of the dirt around the roots.

California avocados often are exposed to high temperatures after harvest, either in the field or during preconditioning (ethylene treatment), especially in summer.