Almond Orchard Management

Transcription

1 Almond Orchard Management Joseph Grant University of California Cooperative Extension Iraq Agricultural Extension Revitalization Project Training Conference May 2010 Erbil, Iraq

2 Botany Almond shoots and spurs form flower buds the previous July to October Nuts are primarily borne laterally on spurs

3 Almonds are self-sterile Require cross-pollination Unable to set a commercial crop with their own pollen Bees transfer pollen from anthers of one cultivar to the stigma of another crosscompatible cultivar

4 Pollenizer arrangement X A X B X A X B X A X B X A X B X X X X A A A X X X X B B B Standard 1:1 planting 3 Varieties X = Nonpareil 50% A = Carmel 25% B = Butte 25%

5 Pollen incompatible groups Nonpareil Solano NePlus Ultra Thompson Carmel IXL Eureka Merced Granada Livingston Tardy Non Sonora Jenette Harvey Carrion Long IXL Kapareil Norman Mono Jeffries* Grace Vesta Price Robson Sauret #1 Profuse Ripon Sauret #2 Monarch Rosetta Le Grand Aldrich Wood Colony Mission Pearl Durango Ballico Monterey Peerless Languedoc Monterey Fritz Butte Ruby Padre Jordanolo Tokyo Avalon Plateau Kochi Winters Tu ono Dottie Won

6 Pollen growth Temperature o C optimum Rain bursts pollen grains Wind can dry styles too quickly Stigma & style flowers receptive for 4-5 days

7 Honeybee flight requires Temperatures > 14 o C No Rain Wind < 24 kph

8 Honey bee pollination Move hives in before 10% bloom on earliest cultivar 5 to 7 hives per hectare Strength, 6 to 8 frames of bees per colony

9 Good bloom overlap between varieties

10 Poor bloom overlap Poor cross pollination = poor nut set

11

12 - 4 o C - 2 o C - 1 o C Killed by frost

13

14 Rootstocks DEFEND against specific challenges 75% of roots grow in top 3 feet A few sinker roots go to deeper soil levels

15 Root system functions Anchorage Absorption of water & nutrients Synthesis of plant hormones Storage

16 Which rootstock?? Choose rootstocks to improve tree survival Anchorage Diseases -- bacterial canker, Phytophthora, or Armillaria Nematode tolerance High ph, salt, alkali Drought tolerance / tree survival

17 Cultivar considerations Time of bloom & bloom weather Pest & disease susceptibility Bud Failure (genetic) Harvest period Productivity Nut quality and defects (double kernels, shell seal) Additional information desired: Pollen compatibility Compatibility on rootstock (Mariana 2624)

18 Bloom time Early Early-mid Mid Jordanolo Winters Aldrich NePlus Ultra Peerless Price Sonora Rosetta Fritz Milow Frost susceptibility Solano Nonpareil Carmel Wood Colony Sauret #1 Merced

19 Bloom time Mid-Late Late Very Late Butte Livingston Planada Carrion Padre Ripon LeGrand Mono Savana Monterey Thompson Morley Norman Mission Sauret #2 Ruby Tokyo Poor overlap

20 Diseases Rhizopus Hull Rot Anthracnose Alternaria Leaf Spot Nonpareil Winters Aldrich Butte Kapareil Peerless Winters Donna Johlyn Monterey Livingston Jiml Kochi Wood Colony Monterey Fritz Sonora Price Wood Colony Leaf Blight Ruby Mission Padre Scab Nonpareil Sonora Rosetta Carmel Aldrich Sano Jiml Winters Carmel Peerless Wood Colony Yokut Yokut Johlyn Nonpareil

21 Nut quality Nut size % kernel % double kernels Shell seal Harvest time early or late Worm damage susceptibility (seal and harvest time): Low Medium High Butte Fritz Merced Padre Monterey Thompson Mission Nonpareil Harvey Peerless Aldrich Legrand Ruby Carmel Winters

22 Rootstock seedlings Nursery production: almond trees T-budding scion cultivar Digging nursery trees

23 Tree spacing considerations No universal best spacing Soil / site vigor Cultivar vigor Rootstock Irrigation method / amount / quality Fertilization Training / pruning Limitations of existing equipment / sprinklers Disease concerns

24 Roger Duncan Stanislaus Co. Tree spacing 3.1 x 6.7 m 6.7 x 6.7 m

25 Bruce Lampinen: optimum yields achieved at 75-80% light interception

26 Pruning --- Train young trees for primary branch strength Select primary, secondary, tertiary branches by thinning Head back to about 1 m in length tip prune below closely spaced buds Thin out vigorous competing branches

27 1 st dormant pruning Before After

28 Before 2 nd dormant pruning: Thinning cuts to maintain an open center Select two or three secondary limbs 70 cm to 1 m from trunk on each primary, evenly spaced Remove competing limbs

29 After 2 nd dormant pruning:

30 3 rd & 4 th dormant pruning: Continue previous program Open center Fill upper canopy

31 Avoid limbs with bark inclusions Weak, may break

32 Pruning mature trees 3-4 thinning cuts (5 to 10 cm diameter Maintain open center Dead or diseased branches Oldest least productive fruit wood

33 Maintain an open center Open vase training

34

35 Disposal of prunings Shredded to decompose in the orchard Chipped for power generation

36 Irrigation Sprinkler, furrow, or flood irrigation

37 Irrigation Low volume, Micro-sprinklers or drip Management is what matters

38 Normal monthly ET of almond trees (inches) Total cm

39 Insect pest management Navel orangeworm Ants Southern fire ant Pavement ant Peach twig borer Web-spinning mites San Jose scale Recommendations can be found at

40 Disease management Recommendations can be found at Bloom Spring Summer Disease Dormant PB FB PF 2W 5W May June Alternaria Anthracnose Brown Rot Green Fruit Rot Leaf Blight Scab Shot Hole Rust

41 Fertilization Don t over fertilize! Apply 0.1 kg of N per kg of kernel produced Too much N excessive growth, shading of lower wood, increased disease susceptibility Divide into multiple applications = more efficient Also watch potassium (K), zinc (Zn), & boron (B)

42 Tissue & soil analysis Collect a representative sample of 100 leaves from nonfruiting spurs in July Use leaf analysis Assess nutrient status Develop fertilization program Diagnose deficiencies or excesses Soil analysis used Before planting, to assess ph, nutrient status

43 K + deficiency Boat shaped leaf symptom

44 Potassium sulfate concentrated band application to overcome soil K + fixation by clay

45 Zinc deficiency Correction: Zinc sulfate foliar spray in November prior to leaf drop Spray Zn in spring with foliar fertilizers Soil application

46 Orchard floor management

47 Non-tillage with strip weed control Improved orchard access year around Less compaction, faster and less expensive than cultivation Improved water penetration and potassium nutrition Weed-free under trees: No competition for water & nutrients

48 A smooth, firm weed free surface is needed for harvest Promotes rapid nut drying Helps preserve nut quality Provides for an efficient pickup operation June August

49 Nut maturation Harvest when 100% split with some dry on tree (August September in California) Each variety splits at a different time and is harvested separately

50 Harvest operations Mechanical Shaking Sweeping into windrows Pickup of windrowed nuts Hulling Delivery to a handler who processes & markets nuts

51 Nuts stockpiled waiting for hulling Stockpile fumigation September

52 Acknowledgements Joe Connell, Farm Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension University of California Integrated Pest Management Program