Growing the Valley

Phoebe talks with Dan Munk, the irrigation and cotton advisor for Fresno County. They discuss what to take into account when designing a system, soil texture, and common pitfalls in system design.

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https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Items.aspx?hierId=260400

Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

UC Davis Plant Science Professor Astrid Volder sits down with Phoebe and Luke to talk irrigation and fertilization implications of our improved understanding of tree crop root systems.

Bob Beede, Emeritus UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor from Kings County gives his take on upcoming orchard tasks, with an emphasis on walnut, pistachio and almond orchards in the San Joaquin Valley.

There’s a new hull rot organism in town. Well, it’s not quite new, but it’s been out of town for a while and it’s back. The pathogen is called Aspergillus niger, and we don’t know a lot about it. Mohammad Yaghmour is looking into it, and he chats with Phoebe about the little we know, as well as general best practices for preventing hull rot.

For more information on general hull rot, you can visit: https://www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/almond/Hull-Rot/

Mention of a pesticide or trade name is not a recommendation nor an endorsement, and not mentioning a pesticide or trade name is not a lack of endorsement.

We would like to thank the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for providing funding for the podcast. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Bob Van Steenwyk from UC Berkeley shares the basics of walnut husk fly management.

Mention of pesticides are solely to provide examples and do not constitute a recommendation. Always follow the pesticide label.

Thanks to the Pistachio Board of California and Almond Board of California for their generous financial support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Phoebe sits down with David Haviland, the entomology advisor for Kern County. They talk about spider mite control, why it’s harder to keep mite populations down in the San Joaquin Valley than the Sacramento one, how many sprays you should be doing in a year, and why spider mite populations have more to do with natural predators than pesticide use. Mention of a pesticide is not a written recommendation. Always check the label before you apply.

Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their contributions to this podcast. Music by Muriel Gordon.

The pressure chamber is the gold standard for measuring plant water status. Ken Shackel (UC Davis Plant Sciences) discusses why using the pressure chamber can hugely refine your irrigation management. Allan Fulton (UCCE Irrigation Advisor) tells us about research in walnut showing that delaying irrigation with the pressure chamber can save water and may improve root health without sacrificing yield.

Phoebe and Luke are back with almond, pistachio, walnut, and prune tasks for May. Luke also discusses possible freeze damage that is severely impacting some walnut orchards throughout much of the California growing region.

Evapotranspiration data is a cornerstone of California irrigation management. I sit down with Allan Fulton (UCCE Irrigation Advisor) to discuss how to find and utilize ET data.

Measuring soil moisture by hand with the “feel” method, or with modern senor technology can be a powerful irrigation management tool. I sit down with Allan Fulton (UCCE Irrigation Advisor) to discuss how to measure and interpret orchard soil moisture.

Thanks to the Pistachio Board of California and Almond Board of California for their generous financial support. Music by Muriel Gordon.