All about aphids at Green Thumbs presentation

By Sequim Gazette Staff • April 6, 2022 1:30 am
Photo by Cynthia Deford Join Clallam County Master Gardener Muriel Nesbitt for the Green Thumb Gardening Tips Zoom presentation, “Aphids: Climate Sentinels” on April 14, for a look at how the problem with aphids is heating up.
Photo by Cynthia Deford Join Clallam County Master Gardener Muriel Nesbitt for the Green Thumb Gardening Tips Zoom presentation, “Aphids: Climate Sentinels” on April 14, for a look at how the problem with aphids is heating up.

Aphids are an annoyance to gardeners but their role in the food chain and farming may become more problematic due to climate change, gardening experts say.

Learn more about handling aphids at Muriel Nesbitt’s presentation “Aphids: Climate Sentinels,” a Green Thumb Gardening Tips Zoom event set for noon-1 p.m. Thursday, April 14.

Join by computer online at extension.wsu.edu/clallam/master-gardener-calendar. Or, join by phone at 253-215-8782 (meeting ID 920 0799 1742, passcode 709395).

Nesbitt will discuss aphid biology and their role on the distribution of plant viruses. She will also detail the role of heat units — or growing degree days — on aphid emergence and habitat range. Muriel will also look at projections about future local changes in growing degree days and potential future effects of aphids on food security.

“Gardeners may now think of local increases in growing degree days as a positive thing, and this talk may bring awareness of some of the potentially negative effects of ongoing local climate changes,” Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt began her career as a high school teacher in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She went on to become a graduate student at the University of Washington where she earned a Ph.D. in genetics. Muriel was a professor of biology at University of California-Los Angeles for two years and then taught biology at University of California, San Diego for 35 years before retiring to Port Angeles in 2008.

Sponsored by WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners, the Green Thumbs Garden Tips education series seeks to provide home gardeners with education on research-based sustainable garden practices in Clallam County.

The series is offered via streaming presentations from noon-1 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday each month through October (in November, December and January, one program is offered). Scheduled presentations are subject to change. Visit the WSU Extension Clallam County website calendar (extension.wsu.edu/clallam) for the latest information on upcoming presentations.

For more information, call 360-565-2679.