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Apricot
Year-Round IPM Program
(Reviewed 9/07, updated 9/07)
These practices are recommended for a monitoring-based IPM program that reduces water and air quality problems related to pesticide use. Links take you to information on how to monitor, forms to use, and management practices. Track your progress through the year with the annual checklist. This program covers the major pests of apricots; information on additional pests is included in the Apricot Pest Management Guideline.
Water quality becomes impaired when pesticides move off-site and into water. Air quality becomes impaired when volatile organic compounds move into the atmosphere. Each time a pesticide application is considered, review the Pesticide Application Checklist at the bottom of this page for information on how to minimize air and water quality problems.
Dormancy/Delayed-dormancy |
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Special issues of concern related to
water quality: pesticide applications, drift, and runoff. |
| What should you be doing during this period? |
| Remove and destroy all mummy fruit to reduce the amount
of brown
rot inoculum in the
orchard. |
| If shot hole disease is
a concern and the dormant season has been rainy, treat
according to the Apricot Pest Management Guidelines. |
If mites, scales, or aphids have been a problem in the
past:
- Examine several spurs randomly throughout the orchard
and map out areas of concern for monitoring at bloom.
- Apply an oil spray for European fruit lecanium, brown
mite, European red mite, or San Jose scale according to
the Apricot Pest Management Guidelines.
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Look for ground squirrels and voles in areas where they
are active.
- Manage according
to guidelines.
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| Treat peach
twig borer with an environmentally
sound material or delay treatment until bloom. |
Other
pests you may see:
- Peachtree borer
- Fruittree leafroller egg masses
- Western tussock moth
egg masses and pupal cases (in coastal orchards)
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Bloom |
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Special issues of concern related to water quality: pesticide
applications, drift, runoff. |
| What should you be doing during this period? |
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If peach twig borer was
not treated in the dormant season, apply a bloom-time treatment
according to the Apricot Pest Management Guidelines. |
Install pheromone
traps for peach twig borer in the
orchard no later than Mar. 15
in the San Joaquin Valley and Apr. 1 in the Sacramento
Valley.
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Check traps and keep records to determine timing of
an in-season treatment (sample degree-day
monitoring form .
- In orchards where mating disruptants are to be used,
place dispensers in orchard as soon as moths are caught
in traps.
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| Apply fungicide treatments, as needed
according to the Apricot Pest Management Guidelines for:
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Watch for these invertebrate
pests:
- Cankerworm
- Citrus cutworm
- Green fruitworm
- Fruittree leafroller
- Obliquebanded leafroller
- Western tussock moth larvae
- Katydids (from Madera south—on weed cover
or feeding on lower leaves in the crotch of the tree)
Manage according to Apricot Pest Management Guidelines. |
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Manage orchard floor vegetation.
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Other pests you may
see:
- Peachtree borer
- European red mite
- Bacterial canker
- Mealy plum aphid
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Fruit development
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Special issues of concern related to
water quality: pesticide and fertilizer applications,
drift, runoff due to irrigation or rain. Air
quality: volatile organic compounds (VOCs). |
| What should you be doing during this period? |
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Monitor for peach twig borer.
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Look for mealy plum aphids;
manage as needed according to the Apricot Pest Management Guideline. |
| In problem areas, set out pheromone
traps for obliquebanded leafroller during early fruit
set.
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| Apply fungicide treatment for powdery
mildew as needed according to Apricot Pest Management Guideline. |
Assess weeds to identify perennials and any species
that escaped earlier management efforts.
- Keep records of problem weed species (sample weed
survey form .
- Manage weeds in rows with pre- or postemergent herbicides
or with cultivation.
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Look for vertebrate pests,
especially where there is ground cover.
- Voles
- Pocket gophers
- Ground squirrels
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Watch for signs
of disease:
- Bacterial canker
- Eutypa dieback
- Phytophthora root and crown rot
- Ripe fruit rot
- Shot hole disease
Manage according to Apricot Pest Management Guideline. |
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Watch for invertebrate
pests:
- Cankerworms
- Earwigs
- European fruit lecanium
- Fruittree leafroller
- Green fruitworm
- Katydid (from Madera south)
- Obliquebanded leafroller
- Omnivorous leafroller
- Orange tortrix
- Redhumped caterpillar
- Tussock moth larvae
Manage according to Apricot Pest Management Guideline. |
| Watch the orchard for birds.
Manage according to Apricot Pest Management Guideline. |
Harvest |
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Special issues of concern related to
water and air quality: unknown. |
| What should you be doing during this period? |
| Examine harvested fruit to
assess the effectiveness of the current year's IPM program
and to determine the needs of next year's program.
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Postharvest |
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Special issues of concern related to water quality: pesticide
and fertilizer applications, drift, and runoff. |
| What should you be doing during this period? |
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Prune trees by Sept. 1 in coastal
areas and by Sept. 15 in the Sacramento and San Joaquin
valleys; remove
and destroy dead wood to reduce inoculum
levels for:
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If shot hole disease has
been a problem in the previous season, treat** the orchard
before rains begin, right after leaf fall if possible. |
Assess weeds to
identify any existing summer species, emerging winter species,
and perennial weeds that escaped the previous year’s
weed control program.
- Keep records of problem weeds (sample fall
weed survey form .
- Manage according
to Apricot Pest Management Guideline.
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| Take leaf samples in July for nutrient analysis and
fertilize orchard as necessary. |
Manage vegetation in tree middles:
- Let resident vegetation grow, consider
planting a cover crop, or clean cultivate.
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Other pests you may see:
- Armillaria root rot (oak root fungus)
- Crown gall
- Phytophthora root and crown rot
- Redhumped caterpillar
- Borers
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Pesticide application checklist |
When planning for possible pesticide applications in an IPM program, review and complete this checklist to consider practices that minimize environmental and efficacy problems.
- Choose a pesticide from the UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines for the target pest considering:
- Select an alternative chemical or nonchemical treatment when risk is high.
- Choose sprayers and application procedures that keep pesticides on target.
- Identify and take special care to protect sensitive areas (for example, waterways or riparian areas) surrounding your application site.
- Review and follow label for pesticide handling, storage, and disposal guidelines.
- Check and follow restricted entry intervals (REI) and preharvest intervals (PHI).
- After an application is made, record application date, product used, rate, and location of application. Follow up to confirm that treatment was effective.
- Consider water management practices that reduce pesticide movement off-site.
- Install an irrigation recirculation or storage and reuse system.
- Use drip rather than sprinkler or flood irrigation.
- Limit irrigation to amount required using soil moisture monitoring and evapotranspiration (ET).
- Consider vegetative filter strips or ditches.
- Redesign inlets into tailwater ditches to reduce erosion.
- Consider management practices that reduce air quality problems.
- When possible, choose pesticides that are not in emulsifiable concentrate (EC) form, which release volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs react with sunlight to form ozone, a major air pollutant.
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