Calag Archive

In almost every plot studied, most citrus fruit was produced on the south half of the tree. The exceptions were the navel and Valencia groves at Woodlake, where most fruit was produced on the east half of the tree. Of the fourteen plots counted, six showed that the southwest quadrant had significantly more fruit. These results indicate that maximum production would be obtained from trees planted so that any crowding or shading does not affect the south canopy. In most areas, crowding of the southwest quarter of the trees should be avoided, if possible. To expose the section of the tree with the most fruit-bearing capabilities, trees should either be planted far enough apart so that there is no crowding and shading, or close-set rows should be planted in an east-west direction. Best plantings theoretically, would be in rows from northwest to southeast, with trees in each row offset from the adjoining row.

Greenhouse roses in California are typically planted in ground beds, but they also produce exceptionally well in five-gallon containers (see table 1). This type of culture appears to offer advantages that may prove commercially useful, including good production on poor growing sites; centralized soil preparation and planting operations; seasonal variations in spacing and/or cultivars; and the containment and possible recycling of run-off water. The use of individual plant containers also permits part of the crop to be rotated between high-cost greenhouse production areas and low-maintenance outdoor “plant renewal” sites. Production from “renewed” plants is greater than from continuously cropped plants.

It is now believed that a major reason for frequently observed decline in alfalfa seed yields after the first or second year has been the lack of sufficient subsoil moisture. In deep alluvial soils (for the first crop or two) the subsoil moisture present is generally a carryover from previous crops—if they were shallow rooted, or were irrigated late in the season. These test results show that 48 inches of irrigation water, applied to a dry soil, is sufficient moisture to insure production of a good alfalfa seed crop.

A recent experiment involved dipping Easter lily bulbs in fungicides after the lilies were brought into the packing house from the field, but before they were packed for shipping. The experiment demonstrated the usefulness of dipping bulbs in Benlate before packing, and substantiated a number of earlier experiments with chemicals for forcing Easter lilies and for controlling disease.

Potato growers in the southern San Joaquin Valley encounter wide variations every year in seed potato piece survival and plant stands of the summer planted (July and August) potato crop. Soil temperatures above 32°C (90°F) and air temperatures of 40°C (104°F) or higher are often present at planting time. The death of planted seed potato pieces may occur if soil temperatures above 32°C prevail for longer than a day. Both soil conditioning and seed potato handling were found to be critical factors in these studies of plant survival under high temperature conditions.

Of the 100,000 acres of prunes in California, approximately 95% are the French variety (Prunus domestica). This variety matures over a short period of time and must be harvested and dehydrated before quality and yield are reduced. This concentrated harvest season places an overload on harvesting and dehydrating equipment to process the fruit at optimum quality, especially in heavy crop years. One possibility for lengthening this harvest season is to advance fruit maturity in a portion of the orchard.