Your source for orchard news & information in the Sacramento Valley
The foundations of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are rooted in economics. Putting a well-established IPM program in use can help you address the following questions: What are my best options and timings for treating economically-damaging populations? Particularly in years where crop prices are relatively low, taking an IPM approach has the potential to save cost inputs. Continue reading
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