Organic herbicides don’t match mulch for pear growers. That’s the conclusion of University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor John Roncoroni, who determined through a series of trials that mulches hold back weeds in organic pear orchards better than organic-approved herbicides. “Available organic herbicides are relatively ineffective, especially for perennial weeds, but can reduce weed growth to tolerable levels with multiple applications,” he wrote in a report to the California Pear Advisory Board. Roncoroni, a Napa County farm advisor, tested three organic herbicides in a young orchard in Kelseyville, California, about 120 miles northwest of Sacramento. He compared the results […]