Dormancy to Delayed-Dormancy

Carry out dormant season sanitation activities:

• Prune trees. While pruning look for, and keep records of, Botryosphaeria cankers for management decisions later in the season:
• Remove and destroy, or disc under, mummy nuts to reduce navel orangeworm overwintering sites and inoculum sources of Botryosphaeria panicle and shoot blight. At a minimum, shake trees and remove mummy nuts from the berms.
• Destroy, or remove from the orchard floor, pruned wood and brush piles, to reduce overwintering sites for leaffooted plant bug and the incidence of Botrytis blossom and shoot blight and Botryosphaeria panicle and shoot blight.

Manage orchard floor weeds :

• Keep records (PDF) of weeds identified in the orchard, noting locations of problematic weeds.
• If using herbicides, before application:
  • Create a custom herbicide chart for winter weeds in your field.
  • Mechanically remove leaves and debris from the treatment area.
• Use drift-reducing spray nozzles where possible, and apply herbicides only when environmental conditions are favorable.
• Scout the field following treatment and control escaped weeds.

In early- to mid-January, examine one-year-old fruiting wood for live and parasitized soft scales, paying special attention to previously infested areas. Treat if needed in mid-February according to the Pistachio Pest Management Guidelines.

Consider performing a BUDMON test (detects bud colonization and infection) in February to mid-March to predict the risk of Botryosphaeria panicle and shoot blight at harvest.

Look for vertebrates and their damage and manage if needed:

• Ground squirrels
• Jackrabbits
• Meadow voles
• Pocket gophers