Almond
AdvancedOnce — a terminal harvestPlanted as grafted treePrunus dulcis
A long-lived tree for warm gardens with dry summers. Almonds bloom very early, so a late frost can take the crop, and most need a second variety nearby to set nuts. Expect several years before the first real harvest, then decades of nuts to shell, store, and share.
Before you plant
Hardy in zones 7a–9b
Needs 500–600 hours of winter chill below 45 °F (7 °C) to flower and fruit
A second variety is required — one plant alone sets no fruit. Plant another variety that blooms at the same time, close by. Most cultivars are self-incompatible and need a second variety with overlapping bloom planted nearby, plus bee activity to move the pollen. A single tree will usually set little or no crop however well it is grown. Self-fertile cultivars exist and are the right choice where there is only room for one tree.
First real crop after 4–6 years
Light
Full sun (6+ hours)Plant it in full sun all day; branches left in shade soon stop making nuts.
Water
High — needs a lot of waterWater deeply every week or two through summer so the whole root zone gets wet, and keep water off the trunk.
Soil & substrate
Any well-drained soilChoose deep soil that drains well; almond roots rot if they sit in wet ground.
Feeding
Moderate feederFeed in spring as the leaves open and again in early summer, then hold off so the tree isn't pushing soft new growth into autumn.
Training
PrunePrune while the tree is dormant to build three or four strong main branches, then cut as little as possible.
Harvest signs
Pick when nearly all the hulls have split open and the nuts shake loose easily; don't leave them hanging, where worms and rain can spoil them.
Life of the plant
Timing shifts with your frost dates — never fixed calendar days
1Seedlingfrom transplanting to 1460 days after
For the first few years the tree is building its frame rather than making nuts. Prune it in winter to three or four strong limbs and strip off any flowers it sets.
2Floweringfrom 35 days before last frost to 5 days before
Pink-white blossom opens before the leaves. This is the crop's most fragile moment: a frost now can take the whole year's nuts.
3Vegetative14–30 days after the previous stage
Leaves unfold and tiny green nuts appear. The young nuts are still easily hurt by a late frost.
4Fruiting30–45 days after the previous stage
The shell hardens and the kernel fills out inside. Keep the water steady through this stretch.
5Maturation90–110 days after the previous stage
Hulls start splitting open along the seam, beginning at the top of the tree on the sunniest side.
6Harvest window10–30 days after the previous stage
When nearly every hull has split, knock the nuts onto tarps, hull them, and dry them until the kernels snap.
7Post-harvest30–60 days after the previous stage
Once the nuts are off, keep watering and feeding for a while: the tree is setting next year's flowers now.
8Dormantfrom first frost to 150 days after
The tree drops its leaves and rests. Prune now while it is bare and the weather is dry, and count on a cold enough winter for it to flower.
Varieties
Generic
What to watch for
What each one looks like, so you know it when you see it
Brown rot blossom and twig blightFungal diseaseHigh susceptibility
Stages affected: Flowering
A fungus that infects open blossoms in wet weather then grows down the flower stalk into the twig to form a canker. Almond is among the most seriously affected hosts along with apricot peach and nectarine.
- Visual signs
- Blossoms brown and wither but stay attached to the twig instead of dropping · Sunken brown canker on the twig at the base of a dead flower cluster · Sticky brown to amber gum oozing from the base of dead flowers · Grey to tan velvety clumps of spores on dead blossoms or cankers in wet weather · Circular brown or tan spots on ripening nuts later in the season
- Damage pattern
- Follows rain fog or high humidity during bloom · Spreads from blossom into twig so dieback traces back to a flower cluster · Scattered clusters affected over several days rather than all at once
Hull rotFungal diseaseHigh susceptibility
Stages affected: Maturation
An almond-specific disease that infects the hull as it splits. The fungus produces a toxin that kills the spur and shoot behind the nut so damage shows as dead shoots rather than rotted fruit.
- Visual signs
- Leaves on individual shoots wither and die a few weeks before harvest while the rest of the tree looks fine · Dead leaves stay attached to the dead shoot · Brown areas on the splitting hull · Black whiskery fungal growth inside the hull (Rhizopus) or tan growth (Monilinia) · Affected nuts hang on and resist shaking
- Damage pattern
- Begins at hull split and runs until the hulls dry · Worse with excess nitrogen (leaf N above 2.6%) and with wet soil at hull split · Soft-shell varieties such as Nonpareil are the most susceptible
Phytophthora root and crown rotWater mould (oomycete)High susceptibility
Stages affected: Seedling · Vegetative
Soil-borne water moulds that rot the roots and crown of plants growing in soil that stays saturated: fruit and nut trees, strawberries (where one species causes red stele), raspberries, peppers and many ornamentals. They need free water to swim to the roots, so this is a drainage and watering disease above all. Once the crown is rotted there is no cure; everything is prevention.
- Visual signs
- Plants that stay small, wilt in the first warm days although the soil is wet, and yellow or redden early, often on one side first · On strawberries, roots with few side roots and a red core when split lengthways (red stele), or a brown, rotted crown when the plant is cut through · On trees, leaves undersized and dropping early, twigs dying back, and a brown or reddish stain or canker in the wood when the bark is cut away at the base of the trunk · Feeder roots dark brown and brittle on any host · Often follows a wet winter, a blocked drain, or a dripper placed against the stem or trunk
- Damage pattern
- Concentrated in low spots, heavy soil and anywhere water stands after rain; spreads downhill and along the row with drainage water · Worse where soil or mulch is piled against the stem or trunk · On strawberries shows in the first warm spell of spring on plants that looked fine in winter; on trees builds over a season or two · Susceptibility varies widely by variety and rootstock, which is the main lever where the disease is known
Peach twig borerPestMedium susceptibility
Stages affected: Vegetative · Fruiting · Maturation
A small moth whose larvae bore into shoot tips in spring and into nuts later in the season. It overwinters as a tiny larva in a cell under thin bark usually in a branch crotch.
- Visual signs
- Shoot tips wilt and die back 25 to 100 mm from the growing point (flagging or shoot strikes) · Mature larvae chocolate brown with alternating light and dark bands and a black head · Pale membranes visible between the body segments · A small chimney-shaped pile of reddish brown frass on the bark in autumn or winter marking the overwintering cell · Shallow grazed scars under the hull on developing nuts
- Damage pattern
- Spring damage is at shoot tips; summer damage is on nuts · Feeding scars open the way for decay fungi and for navel orangeworm
Web-spinning spider mitesPestMedium susceptibility
Stages affected: Vegetative · Fruiting
Mites under 1.3 mm that feed on the undersides of leaves and spin fine webbing. Populations explode in hot dusty dry conditions and after broad-spectrum sprays kill their predators.
- Visual signs
- Fine pale stippling on leaves seen best held up to the light · Fine silk webbing on leaf undersides and later on twigs and nuts · Leaves turning yellowish or bronzed then dropping in mid to late summer · Moving specks on the leaf underside visible with a hand lens
- Damage pattern
- Starts on the dusty side of the tree near paths and drives · Worst on water-stressed trees in hot weather · Late-summer leaf loss costs little this season but reduces next year crop
AntsPestMedium susceptibility
Stages affected: Harvest window
Ground-nesting ants that feed on nuts lying on the ground during drying. A harvest-window pest only but capable of hollowing many kernels in a few days.
- Visual signs
- Kernels hollowed or gnawed on nuts lying on the ground with no webbing · Ant trails running between nests and the drying nuts · Nest openings with loose soil in the ground under the canopy
- Damage pattern
- Only on nuts after knocking and never on nuts still hanging · Damage rises sharply with each extra day nuts stay on the ground
Shot hole (coryneum blight)Fungal diseaseMedium susceptibility
Stages affected: Vegetative · Flowering
A fungus that spots leaves buds twigs and nuts after wet weather. The spots on leaves drop out leaving the ragged holes that give it its name.
- Visual signs
- Purplish or reddish spots about 2.5 mm across with a light green or yellow margin on spring leaves · Spot centres turn brown and drop out leaving clean round holes · Tiny dark specks visible in the spots with a hand lens which is the deciding feature · Brown scabby lesions with dark purple margins on nuts mostly on the upper surface · Killed buds and small twig cankers · Premature leaf drop in a bad year
- Damage pattern
- Follows warm foggy or rainy winters and spring rain on young leaves · Needs 24 hours of continuous wetness to infect so overhead watering causes it on its own
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