Topics in Subtropics

The avocado trees look terrible and it happened all of a sudden. Well not really, but we have had a warm winter and in the right spots, the trees are beginning to baalllooon with flowers. They look kinda ragged at this time, even when they are in good health.

Where sufficient habitat is available, wild native bee species often provide all of the pollination services needed for high crop yields and fruit quality. Depending on the species, native bees may nest in underground tunnels, hollow plant stems, and tunnels in wood.

In the citrus world there is a relative tolerance to the bacteria that causes Huanglongbing, or Citrus Greening. Grapefruit and some orange varieties are very sensitive and some mandarin varieties are much more tolerant, meaning they live longer in the presence of the bacteria.

The Ventura County Resource Conservation District (VCRCD) was awarded approximately $152,000 in grant funding through the State Water Resources Control Board to purchase materials for erosion control purposes on fire-impacted lands within Ventura County.

In 'pond scum,' scientists find answers to one of evolution's which-came-first cases Moths and butterflies existed during Jurassic era, millions of years before flowering plants, team reports This means insects were just waiting for avocados and citrus to come along in order to start using them as a...