US: Better water wisdom to help control disease in almonds

Over the past eight years, four new problems have arisen as major challenges for some Sacramento Valley growers as they work to establish and manage their ‘Monterey’ almond trees. These four problems have not been studied in UCCE-replicated and -randomized field trials. Instead we are relying on the establishment of patterns from individual grower experiences in the Sacramento Valley as well as anecdotes from Australian almond production. Over the past eight years — with a growing list of ‘Monterey’ maladies — a single through line has become well ingrained: water. NOT TOO LITTLE WATER Many growers accuse the ‘Monterey’ variety of being a canary in the coal mine when it comes to water stress. One Glenn County grower who had a Ceres Imaging flight (remote sensing via airplane) over his orchard noted that the ‘Monterey’ rows showed up bright red, indicating water stress. As we head toward harvest, extreme water stress has well-known downsides: nut shrivel (reduced nut value), hull ...