How To Grow Tomatoes in the Pacific Northwest

It is nearly tomato growing season again and Dick Schneider’s advice on growing tomatoes in the Pacific Northwest is as invaluable as ever. *Save the Date:  The Jefferson County Master Gardeners are sponsoring a trip to RainCoast Farm on September 15th.  Our trip starts at Far Reaches Farm, 11:00 am, then travels on to RainCoast […]

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WPDN Newsletter

Dear First Detectors and All, Attached please find the WPDN Fall 2015 News. The news covers: –        The bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of Pierce’s disease in grapes, now found in pear in Oregon and in olive in Apulia, in southeastern Italy. The article discusses the various subspecies of the bacterium, their origin, and […]

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A Day at Plant Clinic

featured image:  Clematis bitalba submitted by Mary Ann We had another clinic day of clients trickling in, pretty much one at a time, so we never felt overwhelmed. As usual, we got an interesting variety of questions, but we all laughed when a client walked out with a diagnosis of Apple and Thorn Skeletonizer for her […]

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Common Raspberry Problem

My first hunch was A virus and then I got off the track  thinking soil amendments. The client had fertilized with both fish emulsion and regular fertilizer. Crazy trick of the brain because the symptoms would show up with lack rather than too much. Madame Parsley My question to WSU: Hi Jenny, The client came […]

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Apricots: disease and growing conditions for the Pacific Northwest

Written by Sarah F. From your sample the disease could be either of these two diseases below. Apricots are a difficult tree to grow well and set fruit with our cool maritime climate. The sample you brought in has gumming , blackening on the branch ends , and evidence of some leaf spots developing. From […]

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Juniper Woes

Diseased samples of a juniper (see photos below) were brought in to the Jefferson County Master Gardener Plant Clinic for diagnosis. The samples were forwarded to WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center along with the following description: 12 year old planting of a low growing juniper. The name is unknown .2 years ago it started to die, The […]

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They’re Early – Mature Tent Caterpillars

Written by Linda P. I just took this picture of mature tent caterpillars ready to leave the nest on my Douglas Fir tree….   really early in the year (March 14) …   so check your trees and try to catch these buggers before the infestation spreads.

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Winter Frost Damage

Written by Madame Parsley I believe that we are going to see a lot of frost and cold damage to plants coming into clinic this spring.  Last week we had a hebe that had most of the outside leaves damaged while the inside leaves were OK. Remember that the cold weather that happened in November […]

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