In today’s Almond Matters, brought to you by Valent, orchards are past petal fall and growers have their sights set on pest control. Sporadic rain events as well as some colder temperatures have created concern for many growers heading into the next part of the season. Field Market Development Specialist with Valent USA, Todd Burkdoll said the next two to three weeks will be the likely timeframe that growers will want to get ahead of peach twig borer pressure.
“This is a good time to start thinking about controlling that pest with the first fungicide applications going out, you can put on a post petal fall application of fungicide for Alternaria, scab, and shothole,” said Burkdoll. “With that, you can get a twofer out of the deal because you can control peach twig borer at the same time. I like to go soft in the springtime right now, so you don’t disrupt things and DiPel works really, really well for that.”
As the temperatures begin to heat up, mites will become more of an issue growers will have top of mind. Burkdoll noted that softer materials can be advantageous from an integrated pest management perspective. Broad spectrum pyrethroids can be effective but can also have a negative impact on valuable predator populations. “So, I’m very pro- the least amount of disruption in the ecology of the orchard,” said Burkdoll.
Some orchards experienced varying levels of frost damage with low temperatures hitting much of the state a few weeks ago. The frost damage may have left some growers a bit unsure of what kind of action they will want to take the rest of the season. Burkdoll explained that even if the crop has been compromised with frost, growers will still want to protect what is there. “Just because there’s not going to be a crop there doesn’t mean you don’t have to take care of the trees and keep the pests at bay. Because if you let it go unchecked then you’ve got a bigger problem to deal with next year,” Burkdoll noted.
Listen to the report below.