Wednesday, May 22, 2013

In cross hairs: Argentine Ant

Candycots are so sweet they easily attract sugar feeding ants. So what we are doing here is: spreading ant bait coated sugar on the orchard floor. These baits act very slow and it can take up to weeks to find out if this works. On a side note, I'd really like to find out any alternatives for coming years to keep the ants away from trees, not kill them with ant bait.


Friday, May 10, 2013

A couple of pictures for my father..

When my father last visited the orchard, he asked us why we don't grow some kind of crop in the middle between tree rows. I am sure he didn't imagine a full canopy of leaves and the limited sunlight that reaches the orchard floor. Here are a couple of pics from Carpenter that show how shady things get once the trees have leafed out.

Each almond tree is like a little factory that produces carbohydrates and protein using energy from the sun. When sunlight reaches the orchard floor, then the almond trees are not capturing all the light and cannot reach their full productive potential. 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Trees are not like bartenders.

They don't like to be tipped..

Here are some pics of tipping at Whitmore 3rd leaf orchard.

Yes. It hurts to cut away branches with nuts, but they are not too many. It is important to preserve the long term structure of the tree so they will be more productive in the future. Think disciplining the children so they grow into productive adults..

Q. So what exactly is Tipping?
A. As Joyce eloquently explained, "On young trees, it is sometimes necessary to lighten the load of nuts and growth by cutting back the tips of the limbs. This helps prevent limb breakage under its own weight. It also removes limbs that hang so low they would be hit by herbicides when weeds are sprayed."