March 2006

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Caneberries Like Manure In Winter Or Spring By Carol Savonen, Oregon State University In western Oregon, winter is a good time to apply manure to fertilize your established red or black raspberries and blackberries, including marionberries, boysenberries and loganberries. East of the Cascades and in other colder regions of the state, spring is the best time to apply manure to caneberries, according to Bernadine Strik, berry specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. Either spread manure over the surface of the soil in the row, or dig a 3- to 4-inch trench a foot away from each side of the row and apply the manure in the trench. If you use chemical or inorganic fertilizers, wait until early spring. Then apply four to six pounds of 10-20-20 (or equivalent) per 100 feet of row. In the spring and summer, the foliage of new caneberry canes should be a healthy green color. A pale green or yellow color may indicate nitrogen deficiency. If the plants seem to lack vigor, apply an additional one to 1 1/2 pounds of ammonium nitrate per 100 feet of row when the berries are blooming. Weed the berries periodically and mulch with any sawdust or bark except cedar to help prevent future weed infestations. The plants will need approximately an inch of water per week (rainfall or irrigation) during the growing season. Manage Chickpeas For Disease Prevention By Annette Trinity-Stevens, Montana State University News Montana State University Extension Plant Pathologist Jack Riesselman makes the following management recommendations for chickpeas. • Select good quality seed of an ascochyta-tolerant variety. • Have a lab conduct germination and ascochyta tests on the seed. • Do not plant seed that has more than one percent seed-borne ascochyta fungi present, and try to get seed with no ascochyta present. • Plant chickpeas just once every four years, allowing three years of other crops or fallow. • Scout chickpea fields often for disease, and daily during warm, humid or wet periods. • Fungicide recommendations vary by locale. In low-humidity areas such as much of Montana, growers can apply appropriate fungicides at the first sign of ascochyta blight. • Apply another application of a fungicide if needed 14 days or more after the first application. • Use only two strobilurine fungicide applications per year to avoid developing resistance. For more agronomic suggestions, growers can read the Extension publication "Growing chickpea in the Northern Great Plains," available on the Web at: http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt200204.html or http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/a1236w.htm. See related articles on chickpeas at: http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=3403 and MSU web at: http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=3404 Contact: Jack Riesselman, (406) 994-5149 or jhr@montana.edu Dormant Oils 'Critical' Start From University of Idaho's HomeWise On woody plants whose buds have just begun to swell and on days when temperatures won't fall below freezing for another 24 hours, applying dormant oils is a first-rate first step in pest-management for 2006 gardens. Dormant oils&emdash;petroleum- or plant-based horticultural oils&emdash;can control the overwintering forms of many scale, aphid, mite and leafroller pests on fruit trees and ornamental shrubs. During the growing season, gardeners can use more refined horticultural oils-called superior, supreme or narrow-range oils-but the still-popular, older dormant oils will damage plants once leaves emerge. Ed Bechinski, University of Idaho Extension integrated pest management specialist, says homeowners can safely apply dormant oils to most shrubs that have historically become infested with aphids, spider mites or leafrollers. He especially endorses the products' use on such pest-prone fruit trees as apples, cherries, peaches and pears. "It's a critical starting point for pest control in the garden," he says. "It's a control measure whose potential risks to humans, beneficial insects and other nontarget organisms are really reduced-and it's so easy to use." Dormant oils destroy the overwintering stages of insects that don't lay their eggs in deep, hard-to-reach layers. The oils block the insects' air holes, interfere with normal metabolism or disrupt feeding. Effective use depends on full coverage. "The oils work by contact and evaporate quickly," says Bechinski. "You have to make sure the plant is adequately covered. You don't casually go out and spray, because if you skip any surface where there are overwintering pests, those pests will not be killed." When selecting and using a dormant oil spray, read the product label carefully. Consider a delayed-dormant treatment for fruit trees, which can be applied immediately before the trees flower or leaf out. Bechinski cautions that some plants&emdash;including hickories, junipers, cedars, redbud, several maples and such blue-needled conifers as Colorado blue spruce&emdash;can't tolerate dormant oils regardless of the time of year. Wildflower Mixes May Include Unwanted Surprises By Davi Richards, Oregon State University Like ready-mixed, all-in-a-box "gourmet" meals, wildflower seed packets seem to promise spectacular results with greatly reduced effort. There's no need to research long lists of ingredients or spend time shopping for them when time is what you don't have &endash; much less figuring out later how they all go together. Wildflower seed mixes sound like the answer to a busy gardener's prayer. But your visions of an instant flower meadow may turn into a headache if you aren't careful. "Not only might some of the species listed in the contents be known invasive plants in Oregon, but the packet might also contain weed seeds that are not listed," said Susan Aldrich-Markham, agronomist with the Yamhill County office of the Oregon State University Extension Service. "In addition," she said, "it is not unusual for ornamental plants or even native plants from other regions of the United States to become noxious weeds in Oregon, where the growing conditions are good and the natural enemies have been left behind." In an unpublished study carried out at the University of Washington a few years ago, an undergraduate student researcher grew the contents of 19 wildflower seed mix packets. All 19 contained from three to 13 species that were identified as being invasive in some part of North America. Worse, eight plants were identified as noxious weeds in at least one state or Canadian province. Tim Butler, manager of the Oregon Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed Control Program, said there are "some examples here in Oregon where we believe that noxious weeds have found their way into wildflower mixes. "One example is yellow toadflax, (Linaria vulgaris), which is on the state noxious weed list," Butler said. "Another plant, Paterson's curse, (Echium plantagineum) showed up in Linn County in 2003 in association with wildflower plantings in field borders. This weed is a major problem in Australia where it is making a $30 million a year impact and affects range/pasture lands and livestock production." Paterson's curse was later added to Oregon's noxious weed list. If you are really short on time but nevertheless want to have an abundant medley of wildflowers growing next summer, the safest course is to buy seed packets of individual wildflowers. That way you can be sure of what you're planting while you customize your own mix. If you still decide to buy a seed mix, think ahead now to avoid trouble next summer. Aldrich-Markham recommends that home gardeners take the following precautions. First, buy from a local seed company. The wider the distribution area for seed packets, the more likely they are to contain species that are inappropriate for certain areas. Second, check to be sure the packet actually lists the seeds it contains. Not all seed mix packets do. If there are plants listed you aren't familiar with, take a few minutes to check them out in a standard gardening reference or on the web. To learn more, OSU Extension has noxious weed publications with photos on-line: EC 1419 EM 8776 EC 1563 The Oregon Invasive Species Council lists the "100 worst invaders," including 20 land plants, at its website http://oregon.gov/OISC. To look at the Oregon noxious weed list, go to http://egov.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT and click on Noxious Weed Control. On the general subject of invasive plants, see The Nature Conservancy's website on The Global Invasive Species Initiative at http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu. For more about native plants in Oregon, see http://www.npsoregon.org, the website for the Native Plant Society of Oregon.

Goats Nip Noxious Weeds From Mary Ann Reese, AgKnowledge, University of Idaho It took more than three years, but UI Extension Educator Shannon Williams has demonstrated that a herd of 1,000 goats can help control noxious weeds. Owned by Weed Goats 2000, the Spanish-Boar-Cashmere adult females, plus kids, have grazed up to 38,000 Lemhi County acres. When they grazed spotted knapweed once a year between the weed's bud-and bloom-stages, they not only stopped its spread, they shrank its coverage by 7 percent. The helpful hoofers proved so successful against leafy spurge that they're no longer needed on 11,000 acres. Williams says it takes three to four years before grazing reduces noxious weeds and cautions that it must be strategically integrated with biological and chemical weed-killing tools for maximum impact. "When you're doing home repairs, you depend on more than a screw-driver," she says. Contact Williams at shannonw@uidaho.edu. Life Aquatic In Flooded Fields By Peg Herring, Oregon State University Heavy rains in western Oregon this winter have inundated grass fields in the Willamette Valley with surprising aquatic life. New research by Oregon State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that flooded grass fields and drainages offer winter refuge to many kinds of fish, birds and other wildlife associated more commonly with streams than with fields. Surveying flooded grass fields through several winters, the scientific team has identified 10 fish species, including redside shiners, sticklebacks, speckled dace and an occasional trout or Chinook salmon. "The fish find food and shelter in these flooded backwaters then they move back into the streams as winter floods recede," said Guillermo Giannico, a fisheries ecologist with the OSU Extension Service and one of the researchers on the project. "Flooded ditches, drainage channels and remnant wetlands mark the valley's memory of its old floodplain before the river was channeled into a single main stem generations ago," Giannico added. Giannico and other OSU scientists have teamed up with USDA researchers, including Kathryn Boyer of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, to determine which species use the seasonal drainages and how grass seed farmers can provide good habitat for wildlife &endash; and still produce income from their fields. In addition, the researchers are examining what these fish are eating. "When we began our research, we thought it would be the terrestrial invertebrates that help decompose straw in the seed fields that would be washed into the drainages and eaten by the fish," said Jeff Steiner, a USDA agronomist with the Agricultural Research Service. "As it turns out, the fish are mostly feeding on aquatic invertebrates from the slow-moving drainages near fields." Mark Mellbye, an OSU Extension agronomist, works with farmers as part of the project, using conservation practices like planting wildlife buffers and maintaining drainage and field border vegetation. Many of these practices preserve water quality. He credits local grass seed producers for their efforts at conservation and opening their farms to research. More than 25 farmers have given access to their fields to determine amounts of nutrients and sediment in their drainages, and when and where fish are found. What Cures Lurk In Idaho Sagebrush Roots? From University of Idaho's AgKnowledge Beneath a 50-year-old sagebrush, UI microbiologist Don Crawford believes he may find the microbial source of a powerful new antibiotic to combat dangerous fungal infections. "Only about a half-dozen drugs are important for treating systemic fungal infections," Crawford said, "and there are signs that pathogens such as Candida are beginning to develop resistance against amphotericin B, the gold standard of antifungal antibiotics. "That is the history of disease organisms and scientists' efforts to find drugs to fight them. As a drug is dispensed, bacteria and fungi eventually develop resistance to the drugs. Fungal infections are difficult to control because, unlike bacteria, fungi are much like our cells. Drugs toxic to fungi often are also toxic to human cells. For those with weakened immune systems, fungal pathogens, such as Candida albicans, can quickly advance from a superficial infection to a lethal, systemic one. Crawford is exploring the rootzone of sagebrush plants in search of bacteria that manufacture potent antifungal agents to keep their main desert competitors at bay. After screening hundreds of bacteria-laden soil samples from Idaho deserts, Crawford and his students have isolated two new strains of Streptomyces bacteria. Both appear to manufacture powerful antifungal chemicals that show potential to control Candida strains resistant to today's antibiotics. Crawford already has brought several commercial products to market that are used to cleanup environmental contamination by TNT, neutralize explosive charges, fight fungal infections of plants, and remove thatch from turf. Contact Crawford at donc@uidaho.edu. Understanding Tribal Sovereignty From University of Idaho's AgKnowledge Emotional debate has flared throughout Idaho at different times and places about the rights of Native American tribes and of non-tribal members who live on or near reservations. To help create perspective for such issues, University of Idaho Extension educators in North Idaho developed a class to explore the legal and cultural history of tribal sovereignty. Valdasue Steele of Benewah County Extension and Laura Laumatia of Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation Extension obtained a grant from the Indian Land Tenure Foundation to buy reference materials and supplies for their course. The educators' goal was to provide a factual base for discussion within the St. Maries community. "I'm not sure we changed anyone's mind about any of the issues, but we made our level-best effort to give them unbiased information," Steele said. Surveys of students before and after they took the class showed their knowledge about sovereignty, federal policies, tribal jurisdiction over natural resource management, and other topics nearly doubled. Benewah County Commissioner Terry Doupè said the class provided him "knowledge, history and an understanding of why the laws were written as they were, not that I necessarily agree." The first class held in St. Maries was at times contentious. "The complexity and the constant change add to the emotional nature of the issues. Neither side feels these issues have been resolved. What we wanted to do was to give some perspective on how things got to this point," Laumatia said. UI Extension educators are offering the class again this spring in Plummer. Contact Steele at vsteele@uidaho.edu or Laumatia at laural@uidaho.edu. WSU Researcher Maps The Tree Fruit Genome Mosaic By Kathy Barnard, Washington State University Better apples, peaches, pears and cherries at market sooner. That is one benefit of research by Washington State University bioinformaticist Dorrie Main. Piece by piece, Main is mapping the DNA mosaic of the rosaceous family, which includes Washington's largest crop&emdash;apples&emdash;and other tree fruit as well as cherries, peaches, berries and nuts. One result of that work is a shortening of the time between breeding-improved tree fruit varieties and actually planting them for production. Main focuses on genes connected primarily to fruit quality&emdash;sugar and acid levels, color, firmness and fruit size&emdash;as well as other useful traits such as cold hardiness, disease resistance and post-harvest decay. DNA-based markers for genes with these traits give orchardists the ability to pre-select seedlings that contain the improvements, which shortens the time it takes to develop commercially acceptable varieties. "We're working on speeding up the time to crop improvement, which will enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Washington fruit tree growers," she says. "In collaboration with other WSU researchers, breeders and growers, this research will help generate a population of new apple and cherry cultivars with desirable traits much more quickly." A self-identified "data miner", she uses a 128-processor computer to analyze and house data for the Genome Database for Rosaceae, the international repository for all genetic information currently available about the family. "Basically, we take the raw data generated by researchers worldwide and try to make sense of it," said Main, who is an associate professor of horticulture and a scientist in the WSU Agricultural Research Center. "We take all of the known genes in the public gene bank and analyze them based on function. We are looking at 250,000 gene fragments and pulling out what's meaningful." In terms of economic volume, the rosaceae family is the third most important family in the U.S. and other temperate regions of the world. Its aggregate wholesale value in the United States is approximately $7 billion. Did You Know? $7 Million&emdash;The average annual cost to U.S. beef and hay production due to the noxious weed leafy spurge, despite more than $30 million spent for its control. Source: UI Idaho Weed Resources at: http://www.uidaho.edu/weeds Did You Know? 48% of all individuals receiving food stamps in Idaho are children. Source: Idaho Department of Health & Welfare Facts/Figures/Trends 2005-2006

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