Digger magazine

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Better bugs

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More and more growers see “good bugs” – the pest-killing predatory insects also known as biological control agents or natural enemies – as a good idea. Now, scientists are looking at ways to breed “good bugs” that live in the soil for a longer time, thereby providing greater and longer efficacy against nursery pests.

Gardening hotline returns to Portland

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Gardeners in Multnomah County, Ore. now have a new resource to help them solve gardening problems. Oregon State University Extension Service has partnered with the West Multnomah Soil and Water Conversation District to establish a new, volunteer-staffed gardening hotline at 503-445-4608. It’s available from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday. The public can also drop in and […]

A P. ramorum breakthrough

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Researchers probing linkages between the two North American strains and the European strain of Phytophthora ramorum – the pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death – say they have found important clues to their origins. According to a USDA Agricultural Research service press release: Their evidence showed that the European lineage may be older than the […]

See no weevil

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Are you free of weevils? Good for you, but bad for research entomologist Denny Bruck of the USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Ore., who writes: I have been working with Dutch colleagues to develop an attractant for black vine weevil and potentially other root weevil species as well. As you may or may […]

Control area established for filberts

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The Oregon Department of Agriculture has declared that the entire state is now a control area for Eastern filbert blight (EFB) (download the order: PDF). Officials took action because a new, more virulent strain of the blight was detected on the East Coast. As a result of the declaration, movement of Corylus nursery stock into […]

Attention English laurel growers

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Growers of Prunus laurocerasus cultivars (including English laurel, cherry laurel, ‘Skip’ and ‘Otto Luyken’) are advised that the species was added to California’s cherry fruit fly host list. All such plants must be certified before being shipped into California. “Certification for laurel into California is possible, albeit difficult and time-consuming,” Oregon Department of Agriculture horticulturalist […]

New NWREC plant health educator

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The North Willamette Research and Extension Center has hired a new bilingual extension educator in nursery plant health. Dr. Luisa Santamaria will be introduced at a reception from 2-6 p.m. Friday, March 6 at NWREC, 15210 N.E. Miley Road, Aurora, Ore (directions). Dr. Santamaria is currently working as a post-doctoral Research Associate with Tennessee State […]

OAN legislative agenda

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The Oregon Association of Nurseries announced its federal and state legislative agendas for 2009. On the federal level, the top priority continues to be comprehensive immigration reform, which includes border security, an adjustment of status for workers currently in the United States, and a visa system that is flexible and provides for a future flow […]

Citrus longhorned beetle fears spur federal order

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The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today issued a federal order (PDF) restricting importation of several plants from several countries (mostly in Asia) due to the threat of the citrus longhorned beetle (pictured; photo courtesy of Wikipedia) and the Asian longhorned beetle. The affected countries include the following: Afghanistan, China, Japan, Indonesia, […]