Cooperative Extension, University of California FRUIT & NUT NOTES

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1 Cooperative Extension, University of California FRUIT & NUT NOTES Yolo County December 2003 IN THIS ISSUE: South Sacramento Valley Almond Meeting Varietal Winegrape Production Short Course Statewide Pistachio Day Tree Planting Tips Plant New Trees High SOUTH SACRAMENTO VALLEY ALMOND MEETING The South Sacramento Valley Almond Meeting will be held on February 24, 2004 from 8:30am to Noon at the Colusa County Cooperative Extension office. The program will be published in my next newsletter. Be sure to mark your calendar. VARIETAL WINEGRAPE PRODUCTION SHORT COURSE A Varietal Winegrape Production Short Course will be held on March 2-4, The three day intensive course provides a comprehensive study of all aspects of winegrape production. A bulletin describing the course, the cost and how to sign up is included with this newsletter ANNUAL STATEWIDE PISTACHIO DAY Visalia Convention Center 303 East Acequia Visalia, California Tuesday, January 20, :00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The 2004 Pistachio Day will offer three diverse, concurrent sessions starting at 9:00 and repeated at 11:00, with a 10:30 break and pesticide update at 1:30 following lunch. An agenda for the sessions focusing on physiology, entomology and pathology is outlined below to assist in choosing which sessions to attend. If you have any questions, please contact the Commission at (559) Statewide Pistachio Day schedule and registration information continues on page 2. University of California and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating

2 2004 ANNUAL STATEWIDE PISTACHIO DAY CONCURRENT SESSIONS Times Session I Moderator: Mark Freeman Ballroom A Session II Moderator: Dr. Bob Klein Ballroom B Session III Moderator: Dr. Brent Holtz Ballroom C 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Alternate Bearing in Pistachios - Dr. Louise Ferguson Pomologist, UC Davis NOW Control -Dr. Charles Burks Research Scientist, USDA Alternaria and Botryosphaeria Management -Dr. Themis Michailides Plant Pathologist, UC Davis 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Using RDI to Improve Shell Splitting -Dr. David Goldhamer UC Irrigation Specialist Biocontrol of NOW with Nematodes -Dr. Joel Siegel Research Scientist, USDA Smoke, Brush and Senate Bill 700 -Dr. Brent Holtz Farm Advisor, Madera County 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Pistachio Cultivar Evaluation -Craig Kallsen Farm Advisor, Kern County Management of NOW -Robert H. Beede Farm Advisor, Kings County Precision Horticulture -Dr. Patrick Brown Professor, UC Davis 12:30 p.m. Lunch 1:30 p.m. Status of Current Pesticide Registration Applications -Dr. Bob Klien Research Director, CPC For more information contact the: California Pistachio Commission Phone: (559) Fax: (559) cb@pistachios.org Lunch cost $12.00 Register and send payment to: California Pistachio Commission 1318 East Shaw Avenue, Suite 420 Fresno, CA Registration must be received by January 15. 2

3 TREE PLANTING TIPS Preplant Prepare planting site early enough to allow proper settling before planting. Do all leveling, ripping, subsoiling or backhoeing the summer before so winter rains can settle before planting. Make sure the soil surface at the planting site is as high or higher than surrounding soil. All plant vegetation should be removed or killed preceding the actual tree planting operation. Excessive vegetation that is buried can deplete nitrogen, cause planting problems and create toxic gas that will kill roots. Layout and stake field before starting to plant. Planting Plant when soil moisture is ideal. Don t plant in excessively wet soils and don t auger holes in wet soils. In wet soils, hand dug holes are better but are not good. Even cutting sides does not remove all the problems created in planting in wet holes. If the soil is too wet, trees will do better placed in cold storage. Wait until soil moisture is ideal before planting. Remember, new roots need oxygen to heal and callus. Extremely wet soil does not have much oxygen, therefore poor growth can be expected from trees planted in overly wet soil. Don t allow roots to dry when transporting, storing or planting. Roots should be covered and keep moist until planted. If trees are healed in before planting, select a site free of pest or disease problems ideally within the same field being planted. Dig or auger holes the day of planting. Do not glaze the sides or bottom of hole. At planting, cut any excessively long roots and any crossed or broken roots from the nursery tree, otherwise roots do not have to be pruned. Don t allow the roots to dry before planting. Roots should be treated for crown gall by spraying the roots with Agrobacterium radiobacter (Galltrol or Norbac). If trees are healed in and then planted they should be treated before healing in and then again at planting. Plant trees so that the crown will remain high. Usually the top root should be planted at ground level. Don t be afraid to mound up dirt to cover roots. Some holes will settle 3 inches, so allow for future settling when planting. Don t plant trees with the idea of pulling them up later. Roots can be damaged when trees are pulled up and usually it will never get done, so plant the tree right the first time. After settling, the new tree should never be deeper than it was planted in the nursery. Dirt should never cover the graft union. On heavy soil, make mounds 6 to 8 inches higher than surrounding ground and approximately 3 feet in diameter. Plant trees on top of the mound. The extra work required to irrigate the trees the first year will be more than compensated by better tree survival and growth. Hand place roots in hole so that roots are straight and pointed downward. Make sure the roots are not curved around hole or the ends of the root are not curved upward. 3

4 Back-fill dirt into hole placing friable loose, moist soil around roots. Press dirt firmly around roots making sure that no air pockets occur around the crown. When planting trees in the winter before tree growth starts, as long as soil is moist don t water after planting. If planting trees out of cold storage in late March, April or later, trees may need to be watered at planting. If trees require watering at planting, don t overwater. Two or three gallons is maximum. Don t saturate the hole or allow the soil to remain excessively wet. Cut almond and prune trees at about 36 inch height. On June bud trees, leave trunk with no side branches; on yearling trees, leave three stubs approximately 1 inch long (2 buds) in desired location. On walnuts cut off grafted trees to 4 buds above graft. Ungrafted trees should be cut off at approximately 12 to 16 inches. Paint the tree to reduce potential damage from sunburn or borers. White interior latex paint either straight or diluted 1:1 with water is satisfactory. Paint the tree to below ground level then apply the last shovels of dirt around the trunk. Tree protectors will protect against rabbits and may offer some protection from errant herbicide sprays. Post Planting Whether trees are planted in ideal moisture or are watered lightly at planting, don t rewater until after trees are growing well (about 6 inches new growth) and then only when the moisture has become somewhat depleted around the root area. The first few irrigations are the most critical to good tree growth. Irrigate too soon and the tree roots suffer and die from lack of oxygen and Phytophthora root rot; too late and tree growth ceases. Digging down around roots to check moisture is an excellent practice that cannot be overemphasized. Stake walnut trees with an 8 to 10 foot 2 inch treated stake or pole with the top 6 to 8 feet above ground on the windward side. Place stake 8 to 12 inches from trunk. When tying tree to stake tie loosely with l inch tying tape or tree rope. Don t tie tight, let the tree sway. Control weed growth around the tree after planting. If you use herbicides, make sure it is registered for use on young nonbearing trees, doesn t damage the tree, and is used correctly. Intercropping is not advisable but if it is financially required, remember that the trees are the main crop. Don t mismanage the trees or allow them to suffer. Don t select intercrops that will cause pest buildup (Verticillium, nematodes, etc.) or need to be dried out during the summer for harvest (hay, grain). Provide adequate irrigations to keep trees growing throughout the spring and summer. Never place nitrogen fertilizer in the planting hole at planting time. 4

5 Fertilize tree only after it is growing well and only use very small quantities (not over 1 ounce N per tree). Don t place the fertilizer next to the trunk but sprinkle it 18 away from the tree. Water the fertilizer adequately to distribute throughout the root zone. On sprinkler irrigated trees apply at least 2 inches of water following a fertilizer application. Frequent light applications of nitrogen is better than a single large amount. PLANT NEW TREES HIGH I keep stressing the need to plant trees correctly in orchards and have used several different methods to describe what I mean. Plant the top root above the ground surface. Then cover it with extra dirt. Dig the hole deep enough for most of the roots, then mound up dirt to cover the rest of the roots. Plant the tree so that the soil line where it was planted in the nursery is 4 to 6 inches above ground level. Allow for 3 to 6 inch settling of the planting hole! All of these statements have one basic concept. Make sure the tree crown is high-definitely higher than in the nursery row even after settling. While not all tree loss is caused by improper planting, the biggest single factor for your trees dying is trees settling too deep after planting and then water ponding around the crown during wet periods. Most of our soils in Yolo and Solano County are heavy with a high clay content. The soil has excellent water holding capacity. It also has slow water percolation; therefore, the soil remains saturated longer than on well drained sandy soils. The mound around the tree trunk allows excess surface moisture to drain away from the tree, thus reducing the length of time the crown is exposed to saturated conditions. This saturated condition can occur at planting time, when the trees are irrigated, or when a high rainfall winter and spring occurs. Some orchards survive for several years before a wet spring kills those trees that settled too deep. Plant the tree right the first time. Make sure the ground is in proper shape and the soil has good moisture. Then make sure the crown is high after planting. The only person that might be happy if you plant the tree too deep will be your nursery person. You will need to buy another tree when the first one dies! Do the job right the first time and avoid costly replanting and loss of production. Now, after making a strong case for planting the tree high, there is at least one exception. On Marianna 2624 plum rootstock, planting trees high causes them to rootsucker more than when planted deeper. Therefore, plant this rootstock the same depth as planted in the nursery. Plum rootstocks also can tolerate wetter conditions than most other rootstocks. Planting them at the same depth they grew in the nursery should not affect survival of trees grown on Marianna 2624 plum as long as the bud union remains above ground level. 5

6 Submitted by, Wilbur Reil To simplify information, when trade names have been used, no endorsement of products named is intended, nor criticism implied of products which are not mentioned The University of California prohibits discrimination against or harassment of any person employed by or seeking employment with the University on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or status as a covered veteran (covered veterans are special disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, Vietnam era veterans, or any other veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized). University policy is intended to be consistent with the provisions of applicable State and Federal laws. Inquires regarding the University s equal employment opportunity policies may be directed to the Affirmative Action/Staff Personnel Services Director, University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, 300 Lakeside Drive, 6 th Floor, Oakland, CA , (510) University of California and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Cooperative Extension Non Profit Org University of California Postage Paid 70 Cottonwood Street Permit #41 Woodland, CA December 11,