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Almond Facts
JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2016
Whatever your production level is now, it can
be better!
– Bill Brush
When seeking higher production in your almond
orchard, there are some things you can change, and some
you cannot, says Bill Brush, grower and international
consultant on plant and soil health, so he advises focusing
on the things you can do to improve soil and plant health.
“Do that, and your production level will get better,” he
says. Brush spoke to a packed house at a cultural seminar
at the
Blue Diamond Growers
annual member meeting.
Soil health begins in the top twelve inches of the orchard
floor, Brush explains, “That’s where the action is – billions
of microbes per square inch at work creating nutrients
for the plant and beneficial organisms.” He recommends
adding nutrients that feed the microbes and improve the
soil chemistry to receive and retain water efficiently, be
balanced nutritionally, have good tilth and feed the plant.
He told of a grower who called him about his
underperforming new orchard. The grower had
backhoed the ground to plant the trees. The top soil
ended up in the bottom of the holes while the lifeless deep
soil ended up in the root zone. The trees were stunted.
Brush recommended calcium and “bugs in a jug” to boost
biological activity and bring life to the sterile soil. Very
soon the trees took off on a growth binge.
Healthy Soil
All crops need the right balance of nutrients for optimum
growth and production, and those nutrients need to
be replaced to maintain soil health, Brush advises. So,
how does one get healthy soil? First, understand your
soil’s limitations, he says. Is it sandy, heavy with clay
or something in between? Is it lacking in some critical
components? Measure the soil components and amend
accordingly. An individual soil sample is not very accurate,
he notes, considering a little bit of soil is taken from several
locations, is mixed together in the lab, and a small sample
of the sample is analyzed. The picture is not of the orchard
but of a microcosm of it. However, if sampling is done over
a number of years and an album of the results is kept, a
useful picture of trends is created that can guide decision
making, Brush explained.
The ideal soil contains 68 percent calcium, 12 percent
magnesium, 5 to 7 percent potassium, ½ to 1 percent
sodium, 3 to 5 percent other base components
(micronutrients) and 7 to 10 percent hydrogen. That combo
adds up to 6.5 pH, a value considered ideal.
Of course, the different needs of varying soil types can alter
the percentages. Sandy soil, he said, needs more magnesium
and less calcium to hold it together, while clay requires the
opposite – higher calcium and less magnesium.
Change What You Can
