CORVALLIS, Ore. -Three updated research-based guides - each with its own website - on managing plant disease, weeds and insects are available through the Extension Service programs at Oregon State University, the University of Idaho and Washington State University.

The guides have been revised for 2012, and the plant disease handbook has a newly redesigned website.

The handbooks provide extensive information on pest biology and chemical and nonchemical control methods. Pacific Northwest farmers and growers as well as consultants and home gardeners will find the handbooks helpful.

The 2012 Pacific Northwest handbooks are now available in print and may be purchased for $50 online at: http://pnwhandbooks.org or by calling OSU Extension and Experiment Station Communications at 800-561-6719.

PNW Plant Disease Management Handbook

The Plant Disease Management Handbook is a reference for important plant diseases in the Pacific Northwest, and all content is available on a new website: http://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease. The handbook is the primary method for OSU Extension plant pathology to deliver information to producers, agricultural consultants, field scouts, Oregon Department of Agriculture personnel, field and nursery people, Master Gardeners and chemical industry representatives.

Organic or conventional growers should find the guide useful. General information on disease biology as well as cultural, biological and chemical control recommendations are summarized for each plant disease. Crop diversification, evolving biological systems, new cultural and biological controls and changing chemical control recommendations require continued enhancement of the handbook.

PNW Weed Management Handbook

The Weed Management Handbook is updated quarterly, and all information from the printed handbook is also available online at: http://pnwhandbooks.org/weed

The handbook is a quick reference of weed control practices used in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Chemical regulation of plant growth is complex, and a large portion of the handbook is devoted to registered uses of herbicides, crop desiccants and plant growth regulators.

Recommendations in the handbook are based on research of the Agricultural Experiment Stations and Extension Services in Oregon and neighboring states, where circumstances are similar.

Additional publications on weed management for particular crops, sites or situations can be found in the OSU Extension Catalog (http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/).

PNW Insect Management Handbook

The Insect Management Handbook contains the most current information on insect pests in the Pacific Northwest. Management information for insect pests of hundreds of crops, livestock species, and landscape and home situations is included. It is useful for commercial growers, Extension agents, consultants, field and nursery staff, and chemical industry representatives and also contains sections of particular interest to Master Gardeners and homeowners.

More than 50 contributors revise the Insect Management Handbook annually to address the latest information on insecticide registrations, formulations and use restrictions. Separate chemical recommendations are listed for commercial and home use. The handbook also includes biological and other nonchemical management recommendations.

The web version of the handbook, http://pnwhandbooks.org/insect, includes links to pest photographs, fact sheets and pesticide labels.

Source: 

Jay Pscheidt, 541-737-3472

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