Dormant Season IPM Activities for Almonds

28 Pages·2013·1.6 MB·English

Post-harvest and
Dormant Season
IPM Activities for
Almonds
Gurreet Brar
Farm Advisor
Fresno & Madera Counties
06-12-2013
Integrated Pest Management for Almonds
• Monitoring-based program to reduce pesticides
and water quality issues
• Involvement in orchard by the grower is a must
• 5 different periods of growth:
– Dormant Season
– Bloom to Post-bloom
– Fruit Development
– Harvest
– Postharvest
Integrated Pest Management for Almonds
• Post-harvest: Harvest to onset of dormancy
• Dormancy- Period of time from leaf fall until
leaf out in the spring
– December 1st until buds begin to grow, around
February 1st, or so.
• Delayed Dormancy – Period of time of
resumption of growth, indicated by bud swell
until green tip.
Integrated Pest Management for Almonds
Integrated Pest Management for Almonds
• Post-harvest:
– Monitor for rust lesions. If present, apply ZnSO
4
– Shot hole leaf lesions- fruiting structures
– Fall weed survey:
• Winter annual weeds
• Perennials
– Time pre-emergence herbicide properly

Integrated Pest Management for Almonds
• Dormant Season Activities:
– Count mummy nuts in the orchard
– Remove, or knock, mummy nuts from trees
– Let cover crop grow, and cut before bloom
– Herbicide use for tree rows
– Dormant spur sampling for scale and mites
– Observe for
other pests
Integrated Pest Management for Almonds
Count mummy nuts in
the orchard
- If more than 2/tree,
remove nuts from
tree.
- Reduces
overwintering larvae
of Navel Orange
Worm
- Flail mow by March
Integrated Pest Management for Almonds
• Remove mummy
nuts from rogue
almond trees
– Rogue trees typically
have higher % of
NOW infection
– NOW moths can
move over ¼ mile
upon emergence
Vegetation Management for Almonds
Dealing with orchard weeds
• Allow cover crop to grow
but mow before bloom
• In mature orchards,
control problematic weeds
that become established
in tree rows