- Author: Saoimanu Sope
Historically, date palms are grown along riverbeds or in areas with groundwater because they require an abundance of water to produce a good crop. Unlike lettuce or table grapes, date palms are deceptive in that they do not immediately wilt if underwatered. Eventually, however, the lack of water hurts yields and fruit quality.
The default for date growers is to apply excessive water, but doing so is neither economically nor environmentally sound. To help growers, Ali Montazar, UC Cooperative Extension irrigation and water management advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties, has developed knowledge that enables growers in the region to establish irrigation guidelines they can use with confidence.
“Water issues in California's desert are very different than in the Central Valley,” said Montazar. “There is no groundwater to recharge so growers in the desert only have the Colorado River.”
Since 2019, Montazar has been focused on irrigation management for date palms in the Coachella Valley, the largest producer of dates in the United States. Montazar's research identifies how much water is needed for the crop and the best water delivery method according to location, soil type and conditions, and date cultivars.
“Dates require a lot of heat and light, which is why they do well in the desert. But they also need a fair amount of irrigation,” said Robert Krueger, a U.S. Department of Agriculture horticulturist and Montazar's co-author of a paper on date palm irrigation management.
Much of what we know about date palm production comes from the Middle East, which has a climate similar to the low desert of California. “That information is from many, many years ago though,” explained Montazar, whose research shows that drip irrigation cannot be the only form of irrigation for date palms.
“Ali is the first to really look at micro-sprinklers and flood irrigation for date palms,” said Krueger, adding that the other advantage of Montazar's research is that it prepares growers for production during times of reduced water supply.
Albert Keck, president of Hadley Date Gardens, Inc. and chairman of the California Date Commission, described Montazar's research efforts as “subtle yet incredible and profound,” adding that his findings not only benefit other farmers but also cities relying on water from the Colorado River.
Keck, one of the largest date growers in California, is well aware of how disruptive, expensive and time-consuming irrigation for date palms can be. Montazar has enabled growers like Keck to irrigate less without sacrificing yield or quality.
“Ali might save us a tiny percentage of the amount of water we're using. It might be a 5 or 10% savings. It doesn't seem like much, but it's an incremental improvement in efficiency,” said Keck. “And if you add all of these improvements up, say, along the U.S. Southwest, then that has a pretty profound impact.”
Montazar recommends that date growers in his region use a combination of drip and two to three flood irrigation events to manage salinity levels derived from the Colorado River. “We cannot maintain salinity issues over time if we're only relying on drip irrigation in date palms,” explained Montazar.
Flood irrigation pushes the salts below the root zone, when they would otherwise build up within the root zone preventing efficient water uptake. It also aids in refilling soil profiles quickly and more effectively since drip has a lower capacity of delivering sufficient water.
“Growers know what they need to water their crop within a broader parameter. But Ali has narrowed that window and helped us become more precise with our irrigation,” Keck said. “There's still room for improvement but we're spending less money, wasting less time and using less water now, and we're still getting the same positive results.”
Currently,Montazar is collaborating with the California Date Commission on developing guidelines for best irrigation management practices in the desert for date palms, which should be available by the end of 2023. These guidelines are based on a four-year data set from six monitoring stations and extensive soil and plant samples from commercial fields located in theCoachella Valley, Imperial Valley and near Yuma, Arizona. Additionally, Montazar is working to quantify how water conservation impacts growers economically.
“Growers from United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia and Mexico have already reached out asking for this information,” Montazar said, while reflecting on a presentation he made to a group of international date growers in Mexico late last year.
To read the paper on date palm irrigation, published in MDPI's Water journal, visit: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/8/2253.
- Author: Michael Cahn
- Author: Ali Montazar
Bringing Irrigation and Nutrient Management Decision-Support Tool to the Field
Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2022
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: City of Coachella Corporate Yard, 53-462 Enterprise Way, Coachella, CA 92236
• Learn how to use CropManage to support irrigation and nutrient management decisions and record-keeping for your crops
• Learn about the latest updates to CropManage
CropManage is a free online decision-support tool for water and nutrient management of vegetables, berry, agronomic, and tree crops. Based on in-depth research and field studies conducted by the University of California Cooperative Extension, CropManage provides real-time recommendations for efficient and timely irrigation and fertilization applications while maintaining or improving overall yield.
At this free workshop, we will provide hands-on training so that you can learn to use the newest version of CropManage. Crops currently supported include many vegetables (carrots, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, tomato, etc.), berry crops (raspberry and strawberry), tree crops (almond, walnut, and pistachio), and agronomic crops (alfalfa and corn). CropManage is now also available in Spanish.
Who should participate? Growers, farm managers, other farm staff, crop advisors, consultants, and technical service providers are welcome. The workshop is for both new and current CropManage users.
What to bring? This is a participatory workshop. Please bring a tablet or laptop computer so that you can follow along and participate in the exercises. Each participant will need a user account for CropManage. Please set up a free user account at https://cropmanage.ucanr.edu/ before the workshop.
Registration: Please register at https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=36525 by February 7, 2022. Seats are limited to the first 25 registrants.
Agenda
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
8:00 – 8:20 Registration and computer set-up
8:20 – 8:40 Introduction
8:40 – 9:50 Getting started with CropManage
9:50 – 10:00 BREAK
10:00 – 11:00 Using CropManage for decision support and record-keeping
11:00 – 11:10 BREAK
11:10 – 11:40 Advanced features and interfacing sensors with CropManage
11:40 – 12:00 Discussion of new features and Q&A
For additional information on the workshop, please contact Dr. Ali Montazar at amontazar@ucanr.edu or (442) 265-7707.
PENDING CEU APPROVALS: CCA (2.5 hrs.)
NOTE: The following COVID-19 guidelines will be applied to this training workshop.
1. Wearing a face covering during the workshop is required.
2. Stay at home if you have COVID-19 symptoms, tested for positive, and/or close
contacts with or exposure to others who have been tested for COVID-19.
3. Face masks and sanitation items will be provided at the workshop
- Author: Janet Hartin
Do you have Spring Fever? If you have adequate space, why not leave a legacy to your children's children by planting a tree? When the right species is planted in the right location and receives the right care, landscape trees can be enjoyed for 100 years or more.
Urban trees cool and shade urban heat islands, absorb and store carbon, produce oxygen, filter pollutants from air and water, reduce soil and water erosion, reduce internal energy needs and related costs, provide habitat, and beautify neighborhoods. Sadly, the average lifespan of our landscape trees is less than 20-25% of their potential due to poor selection and care.
Selection and Care Tips:
Plant in Spring or Fall. Avoid planting landscape trees during the heat of the summer. (Deciduous bare-root fruit trees, on the other hand, should be planted during the winter when they are dormant.)
Choose recommended species for your climate zone. Select trees based on your Sunset climate zone (zone 13 for Coachella Valley) because they are more precise than USDA zones and include information related to high temperature adaptation s as well as low temperatures which is the basis of the USDA zones).
Choose recommended species for your microclimate (shade/sun, soil conditions,water requirement, available space, etc.).Two reliable search engines that allow users to search by multiple criteria (size, water needs, flower color, ecosystem functions, pest susceptibility, etc.) are: Urban Forest Ecosystem Institute : https://selectree.calpoly.edu; California Native Plant Society: https://calscape.org/search.php. 'Lush and Efficient' is also a very useful publication produced by the Coachella Valley Desert Water Agency. Download it here: http://www.cvwd.org/DocumentCenter/View/813/2006-Lush--Efficient-Revised-Edition-PDF?bidId=as is Water Use Classification of Landscape Species IV: http://ucanr.edu/sites/WUCOLS
Four species that we have recently identified in our research on heat and drought resistant trees that are highly recommended for the Coachella Valley are:Netleaf Hackberry (Celtis reticulata), ‘Maverick' Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), Pistacia ‘Red Push' (a hybrid between P. atlántica × P. integerrima) and Desert Willow ‘Bubba' (Chilopsis linearis)
Avoid circled, girdled roots. Remember to inspect the root system of container trees. Avoid specimens with severely circled and girdled roots. Root pruning will not solve the problem and the resulting tree is much more prone to failure later. This occurs because the upper portion of the tree continues to grow and expand while the root system lacks the breadth and architectural strength to support the tree. Many times a tree will look fine for several years and - seemingly - very suddenly, topple in winds that otherwise it could sustain with a more adequate root system. Only when the tree falls does the owner actually notice firsthand that the root system is the same size it was when the tree was planted years before!
Check drainage before you plant. Dig a hole where you are planning on planting the tree, fill it with water, and make sure it completely drains within 24-hours. If it doesn't drain, don't plant a tree there. In some cases, trees are carefully selected based on species and location only to perish ten or more years later due to poor drainage and water-logged soil. Trees often die in these situations due to a lack of aeration setting them up for disease-causing fungal pathogens. tree planting hole drainage test tree planting hole drainage test Planting the tree.
Dig a planting hole at least 2-1/2 times the width of the container (in clay or compacted soils make the hole at least 4-5 times wider) up to two inches shallower than the depth of the tree in the container to compensate for settling. Use a shovel or trowel to roughen the soil on the sides of the hole to encourage root growth into the native soil. Remove the tree from the container along with any loose soil that covers the lower part of the trunk. Carefully place the tree in the planting hole, keeping the trunk flare (the area where the trunk widens and connects with the roots) 1-2 inches above the existing grade. Gently fill the hole with the same soil that was removed. Do not add soil amendments or compost, another common cause of circled and kinked roots. Water the tree regularly until established (one or more seasons).
Water immediately after planting making sure to moisten the entire root system and a few inches below it. Many recently planted trees die due to the common misconception that they require little or no water if they are native or low water using species! Recently transplanted trees have a small volume of roots that dry out very quickly. Water trees separately from turf and surrounding higher-water using plants.
Water newly planted trees regularly through the first season. Trees in sandy soils require more frequent watering than do trees in heavier soils with appreciable clay content. Heavier soils absorb water slower but retain it longer and should be watered longer but less often. (After trees are fully established, irrigation frequency should be reduced but more water should be added during each irrigation.) Avoid staking trees unless necessary.
Stake trees only if they were staked at the nursery and/or if they are planted in a wind-prone area. Remember to loosen ties on nursery stock before they girdle the trunk. Gently secure any tree requiring staking with two opposing flexible ties on the lower half of the tree, allowing the tree to gently blow in the wind to encourage lower trunk strength. Avoids staking trees tightly, restricting flex. As the tree matures, remember to loosen ties with the goal of removing stakes entirely if the tree becomes self-supporting.
Pruning. Avoid heavy pruning at the time of planting. Remove only broken branches, crossed branches and suckers at the base of the tree. Don't top your trees! (More on this next month.)
Fertilizing. Most trees have received adequate nutrition in the nursery and do not need fertilizer at the time of planting.
Mulching. Apply a 2-4 inch layer of mulch three or more inches away from the tree trunk. Organic mulches such as woodchips and compost should be applied and maintained at a depth of 3-4 inches to prevent weed seeds from sprouting. Inorganic mulches (gravel, pebbles, etc.) should be maintained at 2-3 inches. In fire-prone areas, organic mulches near the urban/forest interface should be avoided. Remember to irrigate below the mulch.
For more information on tree planting and care and all other home gardening and landscape topics, contact the UCCE Riverside County Master Gardener helpline here in the Coachella Valley: anrmgindio@ucanr.edu
- Author: Ben Faber
2019 Date Palm Field Day
November 21, 2019
8:30 - 2:15 PM
Coachella Valley Agricultural Research Station
86501 72nd Ave, Thermal, CA 92274
Fee: $25, lunch included
Agenda
8:00am – Registration for CE units, coffee, pastries
8:30am- Welcome- Sonia Rios, UCCE Riverside
8:45am- Tom Perring, UC Riverside. Current status of Insect and Mite Pests of dates
9:15am- Tom Perring, UC Riverside. Part 1: What we know about puffy skin of medjool dates
9:30am- Robert Krueger, USDA/ARS. Part 2: What we know about puffy skin of medjool dates/Date research pollination update
9:45- Ali Montazar, UCCE. An update on the on-going irrigation management project in California date palm
10:15am-Break
10:35- Mark Hoddle, UCR. Updates on the South American Palm Weevil Invasion
11:35- MaryLou Polek, USDA/ARS. Update on Date Palm Activities at the Repository
12:05pm- Lunch- Sponsored by Corteva
1:15pm- Peggy Mauk, UC Riverside.
1:45 - Bob Mulherin, Riverside Agriculture Commission. Laws and Regulation Updates
2:15 – Wrap up
Space is Limited-Register online at:
http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=28232
*No Cash/Check payment will be excepted on site, day of
DPR/ISA Continuing Education Credits Upon Request
- Author: Sonia Rios
In the fall of 2016 growers in the Coachella desert have been experience very puzzling symptoms on their grapefruit trees. One incident, symptoms the tree had gumming oozing from the branches (Fig. 1). Usually if it were oozing from the stump it would be a root disease such as Phytophthora spp. After photos and branch samples were taken to the Plant Pathologist at University of California, Riverside, Dr. Akif Eskelan, results determined that the trees had branch canker and Hendersonula Disease.
Symptomology
Infection by Nattrassia mangiferae (Hendersonula toruloidea) causes bark cracking and peeling or dead bark that remains tightly attached to dead limbs. Black, sooty growth may develop beneath infected bark. Brownish moist areas appear on limbs during the first stages of disease, then the bark in these areas cracks or peels away revealing black masses of fungal spores (Fig 4.). In advance stages, the injured limbs may “bleed” profusely, oozing a sap like sticky
Management
Trees weakened by a disease, water stress, nutritional deficiencies, excessive pruning/mechanical damage create a are more susceptible. As many of these stressors can cause a tree to get sunburned and creates wounds that can serve as infection sites for this pathogen. Prevent sunburn by maintaining vigorous canopies through best management practices http://fruitandnuteducation.ucdavis.edu/generaltopics/ . Proper irrigation, fertilization, pruning, and pest control. Look for symptoms annually right after harvest while there are still healthy leaves on trees. Remove diseased limbs, cutting back to a lateral branch into healthy wood that shows no discoloration. Burn all infested wood, do not chip and use infected wood as mulch.
Additional Resources can be found at:
http://eskalenlab.ucr.edu/handouts/desertdieback.pdf