Preventing spring diseases in almond

Petal fall through the first few weeks of nut development is a critical time for disease management. During this period, the almond fruit, newly emerged leaves, and senescing tissues are susceptible to many diseases. These include jacket rot, anthracnose, brown rot, leaf blight, shot-hole, scab, and with Mediterranean varieties, red blotch. Protecting the developing fruits should be top priority through the early spring. Thorough disease control early in the season prevents the build-up of inoculum, reducing secondary spread of the disease. Typically, this is done with fungicides, which should be applied prior to rain events.  Sprays should be made every 14-15 days if rainy conditions persist, but this period can be extended if dry conditions occur. If using broad spectrum fungicides such as Ziram, Captan, or copper, the re-application interval should be shortened to 10 days in rainy conditions. The appropriate chemistry should be chosen to target the disease of concern. For example, triazole (FRAC 3) and strobilurin (FRAC 11) fungicides are not effective on botrytis jacket rot, but they do control other diseases well.  Additionally, fungicide chemistries, not commercial brand names, should be rotated to reduce the formation of resistance. This is because multiple commercial brand names may use the same fungicide chemistry. This process has been streamlined through the use of a FRAC number. This number indicates the mode of action of the fungicide, and use of the same number in back-to-back applications should be avoided. There has been increasing interest in biological products for control of diseases within almonds. Generally, these products work well in mild-to-moderate disease pressure years, control tends to be reduced in high pressure years(i.e. prolonged wet, rainy conditions). Some of these products can be tanked mixed with fungicides, but others cant. If the product is a live agent, such as a bacteria or

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Shot Hole Fungus on Almond

Shot Hole is a fungal disease caused by Wilsonomyces carpophilus. The disease is able to infect leaves, fruits, and green wood. Leaf infections are characterized by a lesion that is between 1/8″-1/4″ (3-6 mm) in diameter, with a definitive yellow halo. Often, the lesion has a small black fruiting body in the center. As temperatures warm, the lesion drops from the leaf, leaving a hole. Fruit infections are generally smaller in diameter (~1/8″), appearing purplish-brown, slightly cork-like in appearance, and are raised. Severe fruit infections can kill the developing nut or cause deformities, impacting quality. Twig infections are similar to fruit infections. In severe cases, multiple lesions may girdle the green branch, causing dieback. This disease is very common in almond producing areas around the world. It survives/overwinters on infected twigs and as spores within leaf buds. Infection occurs when there is ample moisture and temperatures above 36F/2C. In warmer conditions, the fungus can produce spores and infect leaf tissues in less than 6 hours. Multiple infection cycles can occur within a season due to re-occurring rain events, which can cause severe defoliation. Due to the requirement for leaf wetness, this disease tends to be more prevalent in production areas that have significant rainfall after leaf-out. Frequent periods of leaf wetness that are greater than 6 hours will increase the risk of disease. In order to prevent infections, fungicides should be applied prior to rain events. These products kill the spores as they begin to germinate, reducing the number of infections. If rainy periods persist, multiple fungicide sprays will be needed. For more information on control, please see the Univ. of California Integrated Pest Management website. It highlights the life-cycle and fungicide chemistries to utilize for control. When diagnosing, be aware that there are a lot of problems that look

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Field Note – Powdery Mildew of Almond

Written by Cameron Zuber, UCCE Merced County Some interesting almonds came into the office and, no, this is not a setup for a joke. In the middle of July, some almond fruit nuts from Le Grand, CA were brought into the Merced County UC Cooperative Extension office. There were various signs of possible pest damage and disease infection. These included black growth inside the hull indicating possible Rhizopus stolonifera fungus which may lead to hull rot; grayish-black spots indicating scab (Cladosporium carpophilum); and gumming which may indicate bacterial spot (Xanthomonas arboricola pv. Pruni), anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides), or bug feeding. However, the greatest amount of damage were odd areas of russeting and cracking on the hull. After speaking with person who brought in the samples, there was not any indication of leaf or shoot die back near the nuts which starts to rule out hull rot and lab tests did not show any fungi that would cause hull rot. Lab test also showed some instances of almond scab growths, but none of these pest or disease symptoms were at a level to be extremely concerned about. Also, none have been shown to cause the odd cracking on the hull, so what was the cause, should you be worried about it, and how do you fix it? The cause was found through some digging and a lot of help from farm advisors and plant pathologists. It was determined that the cause was most likely a false powdery mildew (or powdery mildew-like) fungus of the Acremonium species. Normally these organisms live on dead or decaying organic matter (i.e., saprophytes), but do occasionally infect plant material and, for almonds, result in the russeting and cracking seen in the above fruit nuts. It is called “false” or “like” powdery mildew because it shows similar symptoms

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2018 Almond Bloom Considerations

2018 almond bloom is around the corner. This year will probably be one of the earliest almond blooms we have had in Merced County. This accelerated bloom is due to the warmer, sunny weather experienced through January. Depending on conditions following flowering, hull-split and harvest should also be earlier. Weather for the coming bloom period looks to be favorable for the San Joaquin Valley. Warm conditions (temperatures in the 70’s) and no rain in the forecast provides the conditions that are conducive for rapid flower development. Thankfully, these conditions will not favor disease. Early bloom sprays may not be needed for many tolerant varieties (e.g. Nonpareil), unless heavy dew and susceptible varieties (i.e. Butte) are present. Regardless of weather, a fungicide spray made at full bloom/petal fall should be considered. This fungicide should provide protection for brown rot, shot-hole and jacket rot. Of these three, jacket rot is one of the harder fungi to control with the modern fungicide chemistries as the strobilurins (FRAC 11) and DMIs (FRAC 3) are not effective. This spray timing will provide protection for any rain events that would occur within two weeks of application. Successive in-season sprays may be needed if the weather turns wet. Further information reagrding fungicide timing and efficacy can be found here: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PDF/PMG/fungicideefficacytiming.pdf . Fungicide applications should be made at a time of day to reduce bee exposure. Applications later in the day will reduce exposure as bee foraging is decreased in the afternoon. If applying at night, allow enough time for the fungicide dry before bee foraging begins the next day. Also, avoid any addition of surfactants with the fungicide unless directed by the fungicide label. Many more management practices for bees can be found at The Almond Board of California’s website: http://www.almonds.com/pollination . The first irrigation will be tricky

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2016 Mid-Spring Update

The crop is developing nicely in many areas across the areas of the San Joaquin Valley in which I observed. Crop loads vary, depending on last season’s stress or crop-load, but generally look good. Looking forward to this week, there area few pointers to keep in mind. Rain is forecasted for this weekend with chances through next week. This will have minimal impacts on the physiological development of the crop. It will, however, impact the amount rates of evapotranspiration and soil moisture. This variance should be accounted for by either using soil moisture monitors or plant based measurements. If possible, rain gauges (or other measurement tool) should be placed at the various farms as rainfalls can be variable. Last year, for example, a thunder cell dropped around 3/4″ of rain in a farmer’s field on the North side of Livingston, while his block on the south side received less than 1/4.” Accounting for these differences can prevent the “stalling-out” of growth from over-irrigation. Even though it warmed up this week, it might be wise to question the start of the irrigation season. Only two out of four plots in which we are measuring stem water potential have indicated the need to irrigate. The other two are still reading around baseline…one is even in a Delhi sand. Plant based measurements should be used to help determine the need to irrigate. Remember: the tree is essentially a giant tensiometer with a lot larger volume of soil impacting the result. Disease update: Multiple days of rain are predicted. This could mean conditions suitable for Bacterial Spot (especially on ‘Fritz’ and ‘Padre’), Anthracnose (for ‘Monterey’), Scab, and Shot-hole. Lingering infections of green fruit rot may also progress. If a treatment is warranted, check the fungicide efficacy table. Remember to rotate away from the last spray

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Jacket Rot on Almond

I have been receiving a few calls about issues with deformed almonds, particularly with the variety of Monterey. When looking at the nuts, it appears that the damage is associated with the jacket. This appears to be jacket rot. Samples submitted were placed in a humidity chamber and produced the gray/brown “fuzz” that is common to Botrytis, one of the causal agents of jacket rot. Based on the weather, this appears to be an issue with the four day rain event that occurred as the jackets were splitting on the later blooming varieties. I dont suspect a major problem, unless we re-enter a period of rainy, cool weather.

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Leaf Spot on Padre, Other Varieties

Odd leaf symptoms on several different varieties have been reported across the valley. Predominantly found on Padre, they are found on the edge or the tip of the leaf. The lesions can be quite large, but tend to have a watersoaked margin and a yellow halo. In other varieties, the lesion has a shot-hole-like appearance, but fruiting bodies are not visible. Farmers have complained that fungicide spray programs have not been effective in controlling this disease.

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Bacterial Spot Management

Almond growers and pest control advisors who attended our July bacterial spot field day in Manteca saw how devastating this new disease can be.  A map passed around at that field day showed two hot spots for the disease in our area.  The most severely affected area was between Highway 120 and the Stanislaus River in the Manteca/Ripon/Escalon area.  The second area was south of Turlock in the Delhi / Ballico area. 

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When to Prune First Leaf Almonds

Many are in agreement that some scaffold selection should occur on one year old almond trees. These cuts remove unwanted branches that may lead to included wood and weak branching structure in the future. Most of this pruning usually occurs in the dormant period following the first year of growth, but is this the best time?

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