Blue Diamond Almonds Bloom Report for February 12, 2015

Northern Region
A pattern of outstanding weather got even better in the Sacramento Valley with morning temperatures in the low 40’s quickly giving way to afternoon highs in the low 70’s. Low winds under clear skies made for another excellent day in the northern region. The beautiful weather spurred bud development and increased bee activity. The smell of pollen was evident in the orchards and observers noted that today had the best bee activity of the season, as orchards were humming with bees for almost 8 hours. Timing could not have been better as flowers are rapidly presenting for pollination.

Trees are rapidly approaching peak bloom in the northern region. Most of the early blooming Sonora variety are beginning to lose their petals and will likely hit peak bloom today. The Nonpareil cultivar is only about 3 days behind with flowers presenting for pollination at a rapid rate. California type varieties and Monterey are roughly a day ahead of Nonpareil which is leading to a nice overlap in bloom. The Carmel variety continues to lag about 2 days behind the Nonpareil with only about 15% of flowers presenting for pollination. The excellent weather has spurred on the late blooming Butte and Padre cultivars. Both varieties now have measurable flowers presenting for pollination with very few dormant buds remaining.

Fungicide treatments continue to protect flowers from disease. There are now plenty of flowers open to make an effective application. Meanwhile, storms from the past weekend have pushed off the need for irrigation in the northern region.

Central Region
Beautiful spring-like weather again graced the Northern San Joaquin Valley Thursday. Morning lows in the mid 40’s rapidly gave way to afternoon highs in the mid 70’s. The small traces of fog burned off early and gave way to a calm, clear, wonderful day. Conditions made for the best bee activity of the season as orchards were humming all day long as bees put in 8 hours of solid work. This weather is occurring at the perfect time as more and more flowers open each day and plantings start to approach their peak bloom.

Early blooming Sonora variety will likely be in peak bloom by the weekend with some advanced plantings already exhibiting peak flowers presenting for pollination. The Nonpareil cultivar is approximately 3 to 4 days behind Sonora with more flowers presenting for pollination each day. California type varieties and Monterey appear to be in virtual lock step with Nonpareil. The Carmel variety remains 2 to 3 days behind Nonpareil. The late blooming Butte variety is starting to show an occasional open flower as almost all of the Butte buds have broken dormancy. The Butte pollenizer, Padre, is beginning to progress more toward bloom with an occasional popcorn bud being observed. On the whole, more and more petal tips are being observed in Padre as buds are transitioning from the green tip stage to the pink bud stage.

With ideal weather conditions, pressure from disease remains low. As a result growers are pushing back fungicide treatment until the weekend to try and maximize the effectiveness and minimize the number of treatments needed.

Southern Region
Warmer temperatures and clearer skies finally reached the South San Joaquin Valley. After patches of morning fog burned off early temperatures in the low 40’s rose quickly to afternoon highs in the low to mid 70’s. Fog gave way to calm wind speeds under clear skies leading to the best day of bee activity so far this season. As more flowers begin to open, bees kept up the pace putting in 7 hours worth of work. Warmer weather provided a much needed jolt to the southern region that got buds moving and more flowers presenting for pollination.

As skies cleared and temperatures rose, buds began to advance at more normal pace. The early blooming Sonora variety has nearly a third of its flowers presenting for pollination. The Nonpareil cultivar is approximately 3 to 4 days behind. Overlap with the California type varieties and Monterey appears ideal at this point with flowers presenting for pollination in lock step at the same rate. The Carmel variety, as with the other regions, continues to lag 2 to 4 days behind the Nonpareil. The late blooming Butte and Padre cultivars remain relatively stagnant with no measurable flowers presenting for pollination and higher percentage of dormant buds than any other region.

A major observation made this year in the southern region has been a big variation in bud development between blocks making the overall development harder to gage. This is not entirely surprising given the extreme drought conditions faced in the region. Every orchard site has a different water situation and different levels of stress, leading to varied tree health and bloom timing.