Your source for orchard news & information in the Sacramento Valley
Potted nursery trees are here to stay, but they have challenges and a learning curve for growers accustomed to planting bare root trees. One of the major challenges is irrigating during the orchard’s first year. Continue reading
Late winter to early spring is the time of year that pocket gophers are usually cranking up their Barry White playlist. This reproductive pulse generally results in three to five young per litter, roughly doubling to tripling the population of gophers that feed on almond roots and crown. Reducing gopher populations ahead of this reproductive pulse is the most time-effective way to reduce gopher damage in your orchard. Continue reading
The 2021-2022 water year, which began on October 1st, got off to a promising start. Precipitation patterns brought snow to the mountains and rain to the valleys in amounts not seen for a few years. Unfortunately, a relatively dry January snapped us all out of dreams of a “normal” year and brought us back to our new (drier) reality. Continue reading
Bacterial blast (Pseudomonas syringe), although thankfully not a problem every year (hopefully including 2022), can be tremendously damaging to almond yields. For example, significant crop damage was reported in the Sacramento Valley in 2017 and 2018, and in the San Joaquin Valley in 2017 and 2019. These grower reports of past crop loss supported a Section 18 emergency request for the use of kasugamycin on almonds during bloom. Continue reading