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California Ag Supply has almond, apple, cherry, olive, pistachio, plum and pluot pollen available. We can supply you with concentrated pollen (full strength), 1/2strength pollen or 1/4 strength at competitive prices.

California Ag Supply is using a innovative type of carrier called Sure Set. This carrier has a bee attractant and nutrients that are delivered to the flower by the bees.

Almond Pollen:

Reason to Use Pollen: Yield ! Yield ! And more yield ! Greater almond yield comes by setting more nuts. Almonds require cross pollination. In many years there is less nut set due to:

1 - The timing of pollinators being not synchronized

2 - Cooler weather resulting in less hours of flight time for the bees.

3 - Weaker bee hives due to the Varoa Mite.

To remain economically viable a grower needs to yield at least 2,500 lbs of nuts per acre. Some growers are yielding over 3,500 lbs. Use supplemental pollen to help you be in the higher yield bracket. After bloom time you cannot increase the current years yield.

We have the correct varieties of pollen available for your almond varieties at competitive prices. We can recommend a reliable and good aerial applicator for the southern San Joaquin Valley.

Apple Pollen:

Reason to Use Pollen: You get larger apples when you have a full compliment of seeds in the apple. You want to set as many seeds as you can in the King Bloom ! That is the key to profit in growing apples.

California Ag Supply has available apple pollen to pollinate the King Bloom !

Cherry Pollen:

Reason to Use Pollen: Yield ! Yield ! And more yield ! Cherries grown in the southern San Joaquin are worth a lot of money. With our warmer winters we have two areas of concern. One is the reported lower viability for the pollen of cherries grown in warmer climates. The other is the effect of warm winters on the timing of bud break of cross pollinating varieties. In some years our bloom is very erratic.

California Ag Supply has cherry pollen available. Use supplemental pollen to help you set more fruit on those early and high value varieties.

Olive Pollen:

Reason to Use Pollen: To insure a good fruit set in the “off” crop years.

We carry Sevillano olive pollen which is excellent for the Manzanillo variety. We also have the ability to apply it to your olive blocks. For information about this product and/or service please contact us.

Pistachio Pollen:

Reason to Use Pollen: Pistachio trees are dioecious. The male and female are different varieties and therefore on different trees. For the first few years of bearing the bloom of the male (Peters variety) will sometimes lag behind the female (Kerman variety). The result is fewer nuts on the tree. Use supplemental pollen to increase early yields.

California Ag Supply has pistachio (Peters variety ) pollen available as well as a application service. For information about this product and service please contact us.

See the Pistachio Pollen Newsletter for April, 2009

Plum Pollen:

Reason to Use Pollen: For some plum varieties the bees do not like to visit the flower. In this situation applying the pollen by ground or air will overcome the natural tendency of the bee to not call on the flower.

The other issue is one of bloom coordination of the pollinator trees or limbs and the main variety in the orchard. Supplemental pollen applied via the bees, hand applicator or ground application will help you set more fruit.

Note on some varieties there is an excess of set (with the resulting high costs of fruit thinning). Know your orchard and variety before using supplemental pollen.

Pluot Pollen:

Reason to Use Pollen: Pluots are the result of cross breeding of plums and apricots. Some of these varieties have a difficult time setting enough fruit. Use supplemental pollen to increase fruit set. We sell a mixture of plum and apricot for pluot pollination. Contact us about your needs for pluots.

The Carrier We Use:

We use Sure-Set carrier with the pollen. It has boric acid, calcium nitrate and fennel. The boric acid helps pollen tube growth. The nitrate is readily available source of nitrogen and the fennel is a bee attractant.

We have reduced our use of Lycopodium as a carrier. Lycopodium irritates the bees. Sure-Set flows in applicators just as well as Lycopodium but is not a irritant.

Pollen Application Tools:

We also sell the following tools to apply pollen with:

To order your pollen, hive inserts or applicators contact
California Ag Supply at the address below.