This report covers conditions and observations made Monday, March 2, 2015.

The photos accompanying today’s report for the central region show the final stages of bloom for the 2015 crop. The first photo, taken in eastern Stanislaus County, shows the greening and lack of petals in a row of Fritz trees, followed by a Butte and Padre orchard in the late stage of bloom in southwestern Stanislaus County, and the jacket split and nutlet development in the Avalon variety in the Tracy area.

Weather conditions varied throughout the region. A high temperature of 62 degrees, as well as a low of 44 degrees, were fairly consistent throughout. Wind speeds and precipitation levels, however, varied dramatically. As much as .2 inches of rain fell over parts of western San Joaquin County and the southeast end of Stanislaus County. Along with isolated thunderstorms, light hail was reported in these areas as well. Wind speeds averaged 5 to 8 miles per hour in most areas, with gusts reaching up to 17 miles per hour. Due to these conditions, bees were only able to put in 4 to 6 hours of fair activity.

In areas that received higher wind speeds and rain, petal fall was exaggerated in the Butte and Padre varieties. Observers have noted that while the Butte and Padre varieties appear to be hanging on to their petals, many of the flowers still in bloom no longer have viable pollen. This is a sign that we are at or near the end of bloom in the central region.

As bloom in the region winds down, growers are keeping their eye on the developing nutlets. As illustrated in the third photo in today’s report, the Nonpareil and it’s pollenizer varieties have begun breaking out of their jackets and the nutlets are beginning to swell. Also shown in the photo is the differentiation in the size of the nuts. As the crop develops, chances are that the larger nuts will be retained and smaller nuts, like the one in the photo, will be shed from the tree in the coming weeks.