NOW Monitor
What Information NOW Monitor Can Provide
With a new tool such as NOW Monitor the question arises, “of what use can the pheromone monitoring lure be to me?” Following are several examples of where NOW Monitor can be of value:
1 - Early spring at the start of the NOW flight:
Winter sanitation is the key to good NOW control. It is essential to get the mummy nuts down from the tree, and destroyed, before the start of the NOW flight in the spring. With NOW it is important to start the season with an in-orchard population of NOW as low as possible.
NOW Monitor can provide the Pest Control Advisor (PCA) and grower with a quantifiable measurement of how good their winter sanitation was. Logic says the more NOW males that are caught in the traps in the months of March, April and May the more problems with NOW at harvest time.
Note that if the orchard had low NOW damage the previous year and the winter sanitation program was good the trap may catch few to zero NOW males in the spring.
Using NOW Monitor lures along with egg trap monitoring in April should provide the PCA and grower with more accurate timing and population dynamics informaiton of the NOW that either one alone.
2 - Going into Hull Split:
NOW Monitor can provide real time information about how the NOW flight is progressing. University research has shown hull split sprays to be about 50% effective. NOW Monitor should provide the PCA and grower with information on how to better time the hull split spray for NOW. Improving the efficacy of the hull split spray should reduce the amount of NOW infestation at harvest.
3 - After Hull Split and During Harvest:
Almonds have 2 to 3 varieties in one orchard. Harvest time is different for each variety. Harvest can be spread out for 6 to 8 weeks. Sometimes the later harvested varieties suffer more NOW damage. Monitoring of the NOW after the hull split spray can tell the PCA and grower the effectiveness of the hull split spray and the what the NOW population is during the prolonged harvest period.
Remember NOW can live on not just almond meats (the nuts) but also the hulls. The hulls in stick tight or mummy nuts are a source of infestation.
4 - Post Harvest:
The NOW population really builds post harvest on stick tight and mummy nuts left in the tree. NOW monitor can provide you with information about how serious your winter sanitation needs to be. Trap counts with NOW monitor at this time can also be compared to post winter sanitation counts the following spring.
5 - Pistachios - Hull Split Spray:
The NOW Monitor lure can give the PCA and grower a general idea about how much NOW is in the orchard and when to time a spray.
6 - Walnuts – Pre Etherel Spray:
Walnuts really become directly susceptible to NOW after husk split. Late season varieties are very susceptible to NOW damage. NOW Monitor lures can provide the PCA and grower with a general idea about how much NOW is in the orchard, when to time the spray given the trap capture and how soon to harvest after the Ethrel spray to avoid or minimize NOW damage.
As PCAs and growers use NOW Monitor, more ideas and techniques will be discovered on how to best use this monitoring tool. We welcome your comments on how to use NOW Monitor more effectively.