Protecting Almonds From Bacterial Blast

Controlling bacterial blast in almonds. When almonds start blooming in a few months and If there is a frost event during bloom, there could be a high occurrence of a problem called bacterial blast in almonds.

Jim Adaskaveg is a professor in plant pathology at UC Riverside.

“In my research trials we basically heard that there was a frost event coming in the 10-day weather forecast. And so we went out to cultivars that were in bloom. And then we put on these treatments to lower the natural epiphytic population. Epiphytic means just growing on the surface of the plant. And so we put on kasugamycin, which is a bactericide,” noted Adaskaveg.

Kasugamycin is also under the trade name of Kasumin, which over the last few years has had a section 18 label. The industry looking for another one this spring.

“We were trying to reduce the population of bacteria. So, if there is a little bit of cold, these plants can tolerate it, but they're under stress, reducing the bacteria helps,” said Adaskaveg

“If it gets to cold, there's nothing you can do. If temperatures are down to 26 degrees there's nothing you can do. It's just too cold,” noted Adaskavege. “The plant can't protect itself with the sugars, lowering the freezing point inside the tissues. But when it's 30 or 31 degrees, this is the temperature that may cause injuries. However, if we take out that bacteria, then we can protect the trees.”