Blue Diamond Almonds – Bloom Report for February 23, 2015

Northern Region – 

The northern region received a wide variety of weather over the weekend, ranging from foggy mornings to bright, full sun and strong, blustery winds. Morning low temperatures during the period were fairly consistent, ranging from the upper 40s to lower 50s. Meanwhile, daily maximums reached their greatest value on Friday afternoon after the widespread morning fog burned off, reaching into the low to mid 60s. Maximum temperatures then dropped back into the mid and upper 50s on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Greatest bee activity of the period was reported on Friday and Saturday, with five to seven hours of good activity reported in most regions. However, Sunday’s blustery winds, which approached 40 mph precluded much activity in the orchards, holding flight time to one to two hours of poor activity prior to the launch of the winds.

High winds on Sunday caused trees to shed petals at a quicker pace rapidly accelerating the second half of bloom. Sonora, Peerless, Monterey and all California type varieties have no viable flowers left available for pollination after the high winds blew them off, while less than one-third of their petals remain on the trees. Very few Nonpareil flowers remain available for pollination in the southwest part of the region and none remain in the northern area. The Williams area has close to one-third of its Carmel flowers available for pollination, while the Chico area has very few open flowers left. Butte and Padre bloom in the whole region is winding down. In the northern area there are less than one-quarter of flowers available for pollination, while in the southwest area there are just over one-third of the flowers available.

Though there are still a few viable flowers remaining for pollination most varieties have lost upwards of 70% of their petals due to the high winds.

Central Region – 

While the first 10 days of the 2015 bloom brought weather that was quite supportive for pollination, the past few days have been much more problematic. Foggy conditions lasted well into the day, transitioning into low overcast and finally, rain on Sunday, which became quite heavy along the east side of the region. Bee activity was reduced over the weekend and petals were scrubbed from the trees.

Morning low temperatures were reported in the mid- and upper 40s on each day during the period, with afternoon highs rising into the mid 60s on Friday, but only into the mid and upper 50s on Saturday under generally overcast skies. Sunday’s temperatures mirrored Saturday, as rain swept across the region. Sunday’s rain storm was particularly impressive. Growers in the Waterford area of Stanislaus County reported receiving a total of 1.8 inches, with 1.5 inches coming in a single hour during the morning. Conditions got drier further south in the region with the Hughson and Denair area reporting .5 inches and trace amounts being reported in southern Merced County.

Bee activity over the weekend was obviously impacted by the adverse conditions. While the best activity was reported on Friday, observers reported two to five hours of poor to fair activity each day, varying with the local conditions.

Stormy weather on Sunday accelerated the second half of bloom in the central region. The early blooming Sonora has lost nearly half of its petal and has few flowers available for pollination. The Nonpareil, Monterey, and California type pollinizers are all a day or two behind the Sonora and have close to one-quarter of their flowers available for pollination. The Carmel cultivar is a day behind the Nonpareil and is shedding its petals quickly. Peak numbers of flowers available for pollination were achieved in late blooming Butte plantings on Saturday with stormy weather on Sunday increasing the rate of petals shedding. The late blooming Padre is a day or two behind the Butte and will reach peak numbers of flowers available for pollination soon.

Rain in certain areas has further pushed back the need to irrigate. This will help growers in the region stretch their available water supply. The extra moisture is also helping cleanse the soil of any salt build up that may have occurred in years prior.

Southern Region –

Weather has been more problematic the last few days of bloom after 10 days of very supportive weather in the South San Joaquin Valley. Fog and overcast skies were the theme of a weekend capped off by some rain events that yielded .05 to .2 inches of water depending on the area. The sun was never out for more than three hours on any given day in the northern part of region and got progressively more overcast further south in the region.

Morning low temperatures were reported in the mid to upper 40s everyday in the period while highs rarely got out of the upper 50s. Stormy weather on Sunday knocked petals from the trees and kept bees in their hives most of the day. Bee activity for the weekend was minimal due to cooler temperatures and very little sunshine. With weather overcast nearly all day Friday bees barely put in one hour of poor activity with some parts of the region seeing none. Saturday and Sunday were slightly better with one to two hours of poor activity seen in most of the region. Kern County saw almost no activity the whole weekend, while further north in Chowchilla three good hours of activity were observed on Sunday.

We are now well on the backside of bloom in the southern region. Higher winds and some rain on Sunday have accelerated petal shedding by trees. The early blooming Sonora has lost almost all of its petals and has no flowers available for pollination. Weather has pushed Nonpareil to shed nearly half of its petals by the end of the weekend along with its California type pollinizers and Monterey. The Carmel cultivar is approximately a day or two behind shedding its petals. The late blooming Butte variety reached peak numbers of flowers available for pollination on Friday and has begun shedding petals at a quicker pace. The later blooming Padre is currently reaching its peak numbers of flowers available for pollination and is beginning to shed petals.

Observers noted that a high level of variation remains between plantings within the region. Areas with more available, higher quality water have had a stronger bloom with a better bud set than areas with less available, lower quality water.