Split Away from Diseases During Hull-Split
Proactively protect almond orchards against mid-season diseases.
In the heat of July, almond hulls begin to split open and it’s a prime time for disease to attack. Mid-season, pre-harvest diseases like hull rot can greatly harm your bottom line if left unchecked.
Hull rot is a general term for hull infection by one of several pathogens. Hull rot can be a huge pain in the middle of the season because infected nuts don’t shake off at harvest and require removal by winter sanitation to eliminate
Almonds are susceptible to hull rot fungi from the beginning of hull split until hulls dry – a period that can last from ten days to two months depending on fertilization and irrigation. The infection invades once hull split begins and produces a toxin that kills the spur and shoot attached to the fruit, reducing bearing surface of the tree.
The disease makes it difficult to remove the almond kernel during harvest allowing the infection to harbor in remaining nuts and spread from year-to-year.
Identify Hull Rot
- Check for a brown area on the outside of the hull and a tan fungal growth in the brown area on the inside or outside of the hull (this indicates Monilinia).
- Check for a powdery black fungal growth on the inside of the hull (this indicates Rhizopus).
Identification of the specific pathogen (Monilinia or Rhizopus) may help with management for the following growing season, but a proactive, preventative approach will be your best bet in safeguarding your yield.
Prevent Disease During Hull Split
Have the right tools handy can give your trees a boost of protection and a better chance at improving yield. Applying a robust fungicide like Quadris Top® can offer a broad-spectrum control of hull rot and other damaging diseases, and has been shown to provide preventive, systemic and curative control on a wide spectrum of diseases.
- Pre-harvest diseases like hull rot can strike in July and greatly harm your bottom line.
- Hull rot refers to a hull infection by one of several pathogens and can be identified by paying attention to fungal growth on the inside or outside of the hull.
- Quadris Top® fungicide can offer broad-spectrum control of hull rot and other almond diseases.
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