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Almond

Year-Round IPM Program

(Reviewed 3/09, updated 3/09)

These practices are recommended for a monitoring-based IPM program that enhances pest control and reduces environmental quality problems related to pesticide use.

Water quality becomes impaired when pesticides and sediments move off-site and into water. Air quality becomes impaired when volatile organic compounds move into the atmosphere. Each time a pesticide application is considered, review the Pesticide Application Checklist at the bottom of this page for information on how to minimize water quality problems.

This year-round program covers the major pests of almond. Details on carrying out each practice, example monitoring forms, and information on additional pests can be found in the guidelines.
Dormant/delayed dormant activities
Bloom to Postbloom activities
Fruit development activities

Harvest activities
Postharvest activities

Pesticide application checklist

Dormant/delayed dormant season activities

almond photo

Why is this season important in an IPM program?  
Mitigate pesticide usage to minimize air and water contamination.

What should you be doing at this time?

Count mummy nuts in orchard.

  • If more than 2 nuts per tree remain, knock off and destroy mummy nuts to reduce navel orangeworm and brown rot before February 1.

Manage orchard floor vegetation:

  • After harvest, assess weeds present and identify those that were not controlled by a fall preemergent treatment (if applied).
  • Keep records.

In January, consider applying postemergent herbicides in tree row strips alone or in combination with preemergents.

Take a dormant spur sample for scale and mite eggs mid-November to mid-January.

Examine trees for peach twig borer hibernacula in the crotches of one-year-old wood.
Consider treatment for peach twig borer with environmentally sound material or delay treatment until bloom.
In orchards with varieties that retain leaves, monitor rust for possible spring treatment.

Other pests you may see:

  • Armillaria root rot (oak root fungus): mushrooms emerge during wet periods.
  • Pocket gophers (mound-building activity).

Bloom to postbloom period activities

almond photo

Why is this season important in an IPM program?
Mitigate pesticide usage to minimize air and water contamination.

What should you be doing at this time?

Manage navel orangeworm:

  • Be sure mummies are off trees by February 1.
  • Disc or flail mow mummies by March 15.
  • Put out egg traps:
    • Central and southern San Joaquin Valley by March 15
    • Northern San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys by April 1
Monitor peach twig borer:

When rainy conditions promote disease, time fungicide treatment according to PMG for:

Monitor for shot hole fruiting structures in leaf lesions as long as weather is wet.

  • Treat if needed according to PMG.
Monitor San Jose scale:
  • Put up pheromone traps by March 1 and check according to PMG.
  • Record results (66 KB, PDF).

Start to monitor for spider mites when mites are first seen in the lower center tree canopy.

  • Treat if needed according to PMG.

Monitor for vertebrates and manage as necessary.

  • Gophers
  • Ground squirrels
  • Voles

Other pests you may see:

  • Bacterial canker
  • Brown mite
  • European red mite
  • Forest tent caterpillar
  • Fruittree leafroller (possible nut drop)
  • Leaffooted plant bug (possible nut drop)
  • Obliquebanded leafroller

Manage orchard floor vegetation:

  • Mow ground cover before bloom for frost protection and to remove competing bloom.

Fruit development period activities (late April to start of shaking)

almond photo

Why is this period important in an IPM program?
Mitigate pesticide usage to minimize air and water contamination.

What should you be doing at this time?

Monitor shoot strikes for peach twig borer and Oriental fruit moth, examining strike to properly identify species.

  • Treat if needed according to PMG.

Monitor San Jose scale:

Monitor navel orangeworm egg traps:

  • Keep records (110 KB, PDF).
  • Treat if needed according to PMG.

Monitor ant mounds (once during April-May):

  • Keep records (92 KB, PDF).
  • Treat** if needed according to PMG.

Monitor spider mites:

  • Keep records (113 KB, PDF).
  • Treat if needed according to PMG.

Take leaf samples in July to make sure that nitrogen levels do not favor hull rot.

Monitor for and treat if needed according to PMGs:

  • Alternaria
  • Rust
  • Scab

Assess weeds in late spring:

  • Identify uncontrolled weeds to plan future management strategies.
  • Keep records (99 KB, PDF) of monitoring.
  • Continue to maintain ground cover short.

Other pests you may see:

Identify beginning of hull split; regulate irrigation during hull split to manage hull rot.

Harvest

almond photo

Why is this period important in an IPM program?

What should you be doing at this time?
Harvest early to avoid third navel orangeworm flight and hull rot.
Pick up nuts promptly to avoid ant damage.

Take harvest sample to determine pest damage.

  • Store sample in freezer until nuts are cracked open for observation.

Postharvest

almond photo

Why is this period important in an IPM program?

What should you be doing at this time?
Look for nuts or leaves stuck in trees well after harvest, indicating hull rot.

Monitor for rust leasions. If present, apply zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) to reduce overwintering leaves.

After fall rain begins, monitor for shot hole leaf lesions with fruiting structures.

  • Treat** if needed according to PMG.
If use of preemergent herbicide** in rows is planned, time it properly.

Survey weeds:

Don’t bother to seed a cover crop unless you have sparse resident vegetation.

**Pesticide application checklist

When planning for possible pesticide applications in an IPM program, review and complete this checklist to consider practices that minimize environmental and efficacy problems.

  • Choose a pesticide from the UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines for the target pest considering:
    • Impact on natural enemies and honeybees.
    • Potential for water quality problems using the UC IPM WaterTox database.
    • Impact on aquatic invertebrates. (See Pesticide Choice publication [216 KB, PDF] for impact on aquatic invertebrates.)
    • Chemical mode of action (based on efficacy, spectrum of activity, and pesticide resistance). Select an alternative chemical or nonchemical treatment when resistance risk is high.
  • Select an alternative chemical or nonchemical treatment when risk is high.
    • Choose sprayers and application procedures that keep pesticides on target.
    • Identify and take special care to protect sensitive areas (for example, waterways or riparian areas) surrounding your application site.
    • Review and follow label for pesticide handling, storage, and disposal guidelines.
    • Check and follow restricted entry intervals (REI) and preharvest intervals (PHI).
    • After an application is made, record application date, product used, rate, and location of application. Follow up to confirm that treatment was effective.
  • Consider water management practices (912 KB, PDF) that reduce pesticide movement off-site:
    • Install a tailwater recovery system for recirculating water if flood irrigating.
    • Limit irrigation to amount required by evapotranspiration (ET). Use soil moisture or stem water potential monitoring to confirm water status.
    • Consider vegetative filter strips (236 KB, PDF) or ditches to moderate winter rainfall runoff if resident vegetation is inadequate.
    • Redesign inlets into tailwater ditches to reduce erosion.
  • Consider management practices that reduce air quality problems.
    • When possible, choose pesticides that are not in emulsifiable concentrate (EC) form which release volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs react with sunlight to form ozone, a major air pollutant.

PDF: You need a PDF reader, such as Acrobat Reader version 8 or later, to view or print this PDF. If no reader is installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
All contents copyright © 2009 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

For noncommercial purposes only, any Web site may link directly to this page. FOR ALL OTHER USES or more information, read Legal Notices. Unfortunately, we cannot provide individual solutions to specific pest problems. See How to manage pests, or in the U.S., contact your local Cooperative Extension office for assistance. /PMG/C003/m003yi01.html revised: March 24, 2009. Contact webmaster.