This report covers conditions and observations made on Monday, February 22, 2016.

Taken in the Escalon area of San Joaquin County, today’s photos for the central region illustrate the jacket stage in the Sonora variety, followed by the petal fall and jacket stages in the Nonpareil and Carmel varieties.

Sunshine and warm weather is returning to the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Overnight temperatures in the low 40s gave way to daytime highs in the high 60s. Clouds were sparse and winds were relatively calm, making for very good flying conditions for bees most of the day.

Bloom is continuing to wind down in the central region with more petals shedding every hour. Sonora is almost out of viable flowers and over two-thirds of the flowers have lost all of their petals. Nonpareil, Monterey, and California-type pollinizers have just over one-quarter of their flowers presenting for pollination while most of the flowers are either shedding their petals or have lost them completely. Carmel remains a day behind Nonpareil. Butte and Padre are past their maximum number of flowers presenting for pollination and trending downward with close to one-third of their flowers losing petals.

Growers with access to water in the western part of the region are irrigating as necessary to deepen their moisture profile. Weed control continues in various forms as warmer temperatures and plentiful soil moisture stimulate weed growth.

By Brian Noeller