IN YOUR ORCHARD
TIME TO CONSIDER Can you believe it’s already 2026? It feels like 2025 flew by, but now is the time to look ahead and prepare for the year to come. This winter has been a reminder of the past. At one point, I think we went over three weeks without seeing the sun. Rain has been present throughout the dormant season, but one thing we can almost be certain about is rain during bloom. Growers know what wet weather during bloom means for almond orchards: disease pressure . In this article, we’ll cover three key topics: 1. B loom-time diseases and prevention strategies
rot usually appears later in bloom when the fungus affects the dropping petals, jackets, or other flower parts and because of the moisture, they stick to the young almonds. It is most prominent in dense clusters of almonds because the falling plant material gets trapped in the cluster and can infect the whole cluster. Shot hole is another common springtime disease but has become less of an issue over the years. It is usually easy to discover as it develops small reddish spots on the leaves and typically has a dark spot in the center. These lesions can show up on other parts of the plant, but most people discover it on the leaves. Anthracnose is dependent on environmental conditions. Heavy moisture or rain along with warmer temperatures will lead to the development of the disease. Symptoms appear as blossom blight, fruit infections, and spur and limb dieback. Anthracnose is not a disease you want gaining a foothold in your orchard. It can have a multiple year effect because of the infection of spurs and limbs. Growers may have to prune out the infection in combination with a strong fungicide program to eradicate it. The emerging disease red leaf blotch poses a serious threat to almond orchards and can have multi-year impacts on yield and tree health. It follows a single infection cycle, with spores active around petal fall when young leaves are emerging. Rain during this period splashes spores onto leaves, initiating infection. Symptoms appear 35–40 days later as yellow spots that turn orange and then reddish-brown, eventually causing leaf curling and premature drop. This defoliation reduces photosynthesis and carbohydrate reserves, affecting both current and future crops. Effective management includes fungicide applications at petal fall and two and five weeks after if wet weather persists. Cultural practices like removing leaf litter during dormancy also help reduce inoculum. Spraying after symptoms appear is ineffective because infection occurs much earlier.
2. The critical role of bees during pollination 3. Budget planning for a successful season
Bloom-Time Diseases: What to Watch for in 2026 Being prepared for weather events is essential for effective fungicide applications. The usual suspects remain though. While brown rot does require moisture, it doesn’t need much. Brown rot can be present with little to no rain because there is moisture present in the flower itself and even the morning dew can be problematic. Jacket rot/Green fruit rot diseases, like many others, must have the right conditions to be present. Jacket
Figure 1: Butte/Padre Bloom by Mel Machado
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ALMOND FACTS
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