Your source for orchard news & information in the Sacramento Valley
Brown rot blossom/twig blight is the most important blossom disease of prune in California. Warm and wet bloom periods make for high pressure disease years – keep reading to ensure the program you are using adequately protects your orchard. Continue reading
Almond growers have been a-buzz on the topic of bee hours. The concept of a bee hour was designed as a proxy for the amount of good bee foraging weather that occurred during almond bloom. Does low bee hour accumulation mean our 2019 crop is sunk? Continue reading
Thinning should occur roughly around the same time as ‘reference date’, or the point at which 80-90% of the fruit have a visible endosperm. The endosperm, a clear gel-like glob, will be found in the seed on the blossom end … Continue reading
Allan Fulton, UCCE Water Resources Advisor, Tehama, Shasta, Glenn and Colusa Counties; and Luke Milliron, UCCE Orchards Advisor, Butte, Tehama and Glenn Counties. Advanced guidelines for prune are provided in Table 1 (below). These guidelines consider the actual orchard measurements … Continue reading
Allan Fulton, UCCE Water Resources Advisor, Tehama, Shasta, Glenn and Colusa Counties; and Luke Milliron, UCCE Orchards Advisor, Butte, Tehama and Glenn Counties. Advanced guidelines for almond are provided in Table 1 (below). These guidelines consider the actual orchard measurements … Continue reading
How are we doing on chill so far this year? Because there is not a CIMIS station close to Yuba City, Janine Hasey calculates chill based on a temperature recorder at the UCCE office in Yuba City. Chill data will be updated weekly. Continue reading
Depending upon weather conditions, pathogen population and walnut variety, walnut blight caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis (Xaj) can cause significant crop loss. Blight damage in later leafing varieties largely depends on how high the overwintering population of inoculum built up on bud scales. Initial inoculum in dormant buds can be used to predict subsequent disease severity. Continue reading
Almond bloom diseases require specific conditions for infection – susceptible tissue, moisture, conducive temperatures – and these are often all present during bloom. Appropriate material choice, application timings and coverage are critical to minimize losses. Keep reading for susceptibility and treatment information for the primary spring diseases in almond production. Continue reading
Bigger crops often follow small to medium crops. [The 2018 prune crop looks to be 25-30% off the 2017 crop.] California should expect a larger prune crop in 2019 compared to 2018, weather allowing. While nobody can be certain what … Continue reading
Emily Symmes, UC IPM Advisor, Sacramento Valley and Franz Niederholzer, UC Farm Advisor, Colusa, Sutter & Yuba Counties. Disease management during prune bloom using fungicide sprays is critical to setting a successful crop, particularly in years with wet bloom conditions that drive pathogen development and spread. Of particular concern, and often treated … Continue reading
Drew Wolter, UCCE Junior Specialist Horticulture Intern & M.S Student, University of California, Davis, Department of Weed Science Weeds impact orchard productivity and health by competing with young trees for water, light, and nutrients, and may act as hosts for a … Continue reading
Katrina Von Burg and Bob Johnson, Rizzo Lab, Department of Plant Pathology, UC Davis Prune orchard surveys throughout the Sacramento Valley in 2016 and 2017 found significant presence of the wood decay fungus Phellinus tuberculosus. Phellinus causes decay in the … Continue reading