Wolfskill Experimental Orchards

Wolfskill Experimental Orchards I
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Interesting Insect Find Close to Strawberry Determined Not to Be a Pest

May 30, 2025
By Dylan J Beal, Mark P Bolda
Mark was easing into some Sunday morning reading last week at a small park in Watsonville that is very close to a strawberry field when the unusual insect depicted below paid him a visit.  Given that he had never seen this insect (and doubts that many of you have either), he felt a surge of unease that…
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Introducing the Spiny Assassin Bug

November 18, 2024
By Mark P Bolda
Close readers of this blog will know that last year Mark noted toward the end of the season a very unusual looking insect in two of his strawberry research plots, which UCCE Entomologist on the Central Coast at the time Kirsten Pearson identified as the spiny assassin bug, an insect in the family Re...
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Mode of Action of Sefina

September 9, 2024
By Mark P Bolda
With the recent Section 18 permit to use Sefina insecticide for control of lygus bugs in strawberry, a number of growers and PCA's have approached both of us concerning the mode of action of Sefina, of which the active ingredient is afidopyropen.
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Some Thoughts on Intellectual Honesty

September 5, 2024
By Mark P Bolda
I'm a sucker for buying books at the airport, I think it's because so much free time beckons not only at the airport while waiting to board but then also in the airplane itself.
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Sunscald on Blackberry

July 3, 2024
By Mark P Bolda
I made a visit to a beautiful blackberry field a few days ago and was shown this example of sunscald, in this case on mature Ouachita blackberry. Notice these are not tunneled, and also one observes immediately that only the part of the fruit facing the sun is affected.
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More cracking, if you zoom in you can see a vinegar fly on task, already hunting for a site on the damaged fruit to put down a clutch of eggs. All is as it should be.
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Water Damage in Strawberry

May 11, 2024
By Mark P Bolda
The rain on Saturday (about 0.6" total by my gauge), did present a setback for area strawberry growers. Not too much, but still damage has been evident, it is worth noting that that for many varieties grown on the Central Coast water accumulation over 0.5" inches means damage for mature fruit.
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Angular Leaf Spot - Time to Worry?

May 6, 2024
By Mark P Bolda, Yu-Chen Wang
Following the rain of this past week Saturday, we've been hearing about a pretty significant outbreak of angular leaf spot in strawberry. We include some pictures from a field of Cabrillo taken the morning of May 6.
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Welcome

"The Wolfskill Experimental Orchards are a research treasure," says Professor Ted DeJong, a University of California pomologist and the Orchard's director. "Work here has resulted in the development and release of 55 new varieties - 29 strawberry, 8 processing peach, 7 cherry, 5 almond, 3 prune and 3 pistachio, as well as 2 almond-peach rootstocks."

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March 1, 2010

To view photos as a "slide show," click on a photo to view a larger version.  Then enter N to view the next photo, or P to view the previous photo.

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