In today’s Almond Matters, brought to you by Valent U.S.A., pest management in tree nuts has been particularly challenging this year. Field Market Development Specialist with Valent U.S.A., Todd Burkdoll said the rainy weather created several logistical problems. Wet orchard conditions prevented many growers from getting dormant applications out in a way they normally do.
“For whatever reason this one particular grower didn’t get it on. He had a little bit of scale last year starting to pop up and then it didn’t get addressed during the wintertime,” Burkdoll noted. “He asked about using Esteem and I said ‘you can, but you’re probably better off with Senstar’ because Senstar is a combination of pyriproxyfen, which is Esteem, and then spirotetramat. So, the combination of the two products in a single formulation is highly effective on scale in-season as well as other pests.”
The inability to take preventative action could make pest management programs more complicated this season. Burkdoll said that almond growers can have success with addressing scale with Senstar and it can be an effective tool for combatting pests in other tree nuts. “If you’ve got pistachios, there’s Gill’s mealybug. If it’s problematic, Senstar is really good there. I worked on data trials to support that registration. It had very, very good results across the board from Kern County up into Fresno County,” Burkdoll noted.
Coverage is going to be especially important when addressing different pests in tree nuts. Burkdoll recommends going with a lower volume of material and making applications at a slower pace. For Gill’s mealybug, application timing can also be especially important.
“Getting them as they’re moving out onto the bark when you can physically see them I think is the best timing. Because of the pyriproxyfen component being a contact material, you’ve got to get contact with the pest in order for it to work. The spirotetramat is systemic so you tackle them from both ends. From the feeding and from the contact with a spray application. So it’s a good mix,” said Burkdoll. “If I was growing pistachios, I would definitely be considering Senstar if I had Gill’s mealybugs in the mix. And then scale is a given.”
Listen to the report below.