Franz Niederholzer0 commentsDecember 19, 2013Horticulture, Insects

Pruning Can Improve Pest Control

A replicated field trial in mature Non-pareil almonds at hull split using a diamide insecticide (Altacor®) measured better navel orange worm (NOW) control in the tops of pruned vs unpruned trees.  As regulatory and/or resistance issues with key pests (navel orange worm, alternaria, etc.) move the almond industry towards selective pesticides that require excellent coverage to deliver effective pest control, growers may want to review pruning options for young and mature trees with an eye to improving spray coverage in the upper tree canopy.    

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David Doll4 CommentsOctober 11, 2013Horticulture

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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David Doll7 CommentsAugust 30, 2013Horticulture

Small Nut Size and Early Harvest – Why?

This year, there have been a lot of comments on almond kernel size and the earlier than normal harvest. Since crop load appeared lighter than the past few years, having a smaller nut size may have been a bit of a surprise.  This, however, was expected and research within peach, a close cousin to almond, has provided a model for understanding.

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Joe Connell2 CommentsJuly 1, 2013Horticulture

Howard Nut Drop

During about the third week in June, young Howard walnut trees experienced nut drop of perhaps as many as 200-300 nuts per tree.  These nuts were full size with the shell beginning to harden.   Cutting open an immediately dropped nut, you could see darkening of the inside watery kernel material, and termination of shell development that appears to have been triggered about 10 days before the drop was observed.  This nut drop, wide spread with the Howard variety, was similarly noted in 2003 and 2011. Several possible causes are explored in this article.

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David Doll0 commentsMay 4, 2013Horticulture

Pocket Gopher and Ground Squirrel Management

Written By: Carolyn DeBuse, Former UCCE Farm Adviser, Solano and Yolo Counties Managing gophers and ground squirrels is a year-round task.  Gophers can be controlled with most methods throughout the year but squirrel control methods change with the seasons depending on the squirrel biology.  This article will outline the control methods but also inform you about some outstanding online resources that are useful to learn new information, understand seasonal cycles, and determine the best control methods to use.

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David Doll0 commentsFebruary 18, 2013Horticulture

Cold Weather Expected

A cold front is moving into the area this coming week. Even though many areas are still at 5% or less of almond bloom, I thought providing some background information on frost protection and mitigating strategies may be useful if trees are more advanced within your area.

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David Doll4 CommentsFebruary 6, 2013General, Horticulture, Technology

Meeting Time: Understanding Figures and Statistics

It is that time of the year where it seems like there is some type of meeting every week. In many of these meetings, data is presented to show the effectiveness of the products versus other products or a control. Statistics are often used to determine if there is a true difference between the treatments by taking into account the field variability within the data set. It may be asked, “What do you mean by true difference?” In this case, a true statistical difference is not due to random chance or variability within the plot, but rather due to the treatment applied.

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