Year-Round IPM Program Pages
This year-round IPM program covers the major pests of fresh asparagus and nursery production of crowns in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Central Coast, southern San Joaquin Valley, and southern desert valleys.
About Postharvest (fern stage: end of harvest to beginning of dormancy)
- Special issues of concern related to environmental quality: air quality, runoff or leaching, drift, and tailwater runoff.
- Mitigate pesticide effects on air and water quality.
What should you be doing during this time?
Monitor for European asparagus aphid and their damage:
- Shake or beat samples to look for aphids and their natural enemies.
- Look for bonsai growth.
- Treat according to the Pest Management Guidelines.
Examine ferns twice weekly for:
- Beet armyworm—treat according to the Pest Management Guidelines when larvae are visibly present in the ferns.
- Rust lesions—treat according to the Pest Management Guidelines when rust first appears.
If thrips damage is detected (needle drop), treat according to the Pest Management Guidelines.
- Till beds after final harvest.
- Apply herbicides to control perennial weeds such as bermudagrass.
- Cultivate weeds if necessary just before ferns grow too tall for tractors to enter the field.
Other pests you may see:
- Asparagus beetle
- Asparagus miner
- Western yellowstriped armyworm