2023 Bloom Considerations

The weather during almond bloom can vary from day-to-day. This creates challenges with farm operations, but also changes how the tree adapts to the weather. Cooler, hotter, or wet weather has significant impacts on the pollination process, fertilization of the ovule, and eventual crop set. Cooler temperatures aren’t necessarily bad for bloom. Flower development is growing degree day based, meaning that cooler temperatures will slow flower development. Additionally, the viability of the ovule and pollen are longer when temperatures are cooler. This natural response increases the pollination period, and partially explains why crop set is often larger than expected during cooler than desired bloom periods. A video presentation on almond pollination and fertilization can be found here. Cooler temperatures, however, do impact honeybee activity. Temperatures below 55F (12C) suppress honeybee activity as more bees are required to remain in the hive to keep it warm. This means fewer bees are available to gather pollen and nectar, affecting the rate of the pollination process. If hive temperatures drop too much, the rate of the queen’s egg laying decreases, affecting eventual hive strength. This could be problematic during extended periods of cold temperatures followed by warm temperatures with a fast/short bloom. The effect of cold temperatures on honeybee activity is why strong hives (8 frames or more) are recommended. Hives with more frames of bees have more bees, which means hive temperatures are higher and more bees can forage. This is often evident on cold mornings, when hive inspections can reveal lower bee activity in weaker hives. If temperatures are too hot, the bloom period can be rapid. In high temperature years, bloom can finish in 7-10 days. High temperatures also shorten the viability of pollen and the ovule. Bee foraging activity must be able to match the rate of flower opening

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Almond Fungicides and Bloom: Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan

Planning your fungicide program has multiple benefits, and now is a good time to start doing so. Time can be taken to identify fungicides and respective modes of action to develop a proper rotation strategy. It allows the ability to price and compare differing options that may swap materials at specific points. Finally, it gives the opportunity to review the labels of the materials to determine application requirements, and the need to include (or most likely exclude) additional materials. To determine the year’s spray program, several things need to be considered. These include anticipated weather during flowering, disease history, materials available, operational tolerance to disease, and the ability to spray (budget constraints). Dry weather during flowering will reduce the need to spray, while free moisture from rainfall or humidity/fog can increase disease pressure. If dry conditions are present, fungicide sprays can be withheld until conditions change. In these types of years, bloom typically progresses rapidly, making it difficult to spray due to the shorter duration. As the flowering period ends and petal fall begins, it may make sense to consider a “clean-up” spray for any infections that might have occurred. Having a history of disease increases the presence of the given disease’s inoculum. This means that as soon as any rain event occurs, this disease will begin to spread at a higher rate. If dealing with a previous outbreak of a disease, especially diseases that form wood cankers (e.g. Anthracnose, Monolinia, Phomopsis, etc), fungicide applications should occur prior to going into any wet period, and re-application should be considered for any rain events that occur 10-14 days after the previous application. This may mean multiple sprays during wet years to reduce disease inoculum. As incidence decreases in future years, the spray program can be gradually reduced. Available chemistries for disease

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