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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 season activities |
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| 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.
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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.
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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).
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Bloom to postbloom period activities |
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| 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
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| Monitor peach twig borer:
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When rainy conditions promote disease, time fungicide
treatment according to PMG for:
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Monitor for shot hole fruiting structures in leaf lesions as long as
weather is wet.
- Treat if needed according to PMG.
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Monitor San Jose scale:
- Put up pheromone traps by March 1 and check according
to PMG.
- Record results .
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| Start to monitor for
spider mites when mites are first seen in the lower
center tree canopy.
- Treat if needed according to PMG.
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Monitor for vertebrates and manage as necessary.
- Gophers
- Ground squirrels
- Voles
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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
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Manage orchard floor vegetation:
- Mow ground cover before
bloom for frost protection and to remove competing bloom.
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Fruit development period activities (late April to start of shaking) |
| 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.
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Monitor San Jose scale:
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Monitor navel orangeworm
egg traps:
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Monitor ant mounds (once
during April-May):
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Monitor spider mites:
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Take leaf samples in July to make sure that nitrogen
levels do not favor hull rot. |
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Monitor for and treat if needed according to PMGs:
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| Assess weeds in late spring:
- Identify uncontrolled weeds to plan future management
strategies.
- Keep records of
monitoring.
- Continue to maintain ground
cover short.
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Other pests you may see:
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| Identify beginning of hull split;
regulate irrigation during hull split to manage hull rot. |
| What should you be doing at this time? |
| Look for nuts or leaves stuck in trees well after harvest, indicating hull
rot. |
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Monitor for rust leasions. If present, apply zinc sulfate (ZnSO4)
to reduce overwintering leaves. |
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After fall rain begins, monitor for shot hole leaf lesions with fruiting
structures.
- Treat** if needed according to PMG.
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| If use of preemergent herbicide** in rows is planned,
time it properly. |
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Survey weeds:
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| Don’t bother to seed a cover crop unless you have sparse resident vegetation. |
**Pesticide application checklist |
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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 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 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
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.
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