Spraying is costly and each in-season spray for N.O.W. only controls about half of the N.O.W. population in the orchard at the time of the spray. Try to achieve sanitation down to 1 or 2 mummies per tree. Obviously, the larger the cleaned area, the more effective sanitation will be. If you can get all your neighbors to clean up too, then the benefits to everyone will be even greater. Mummies are most easily removed after fog or rain has kept the trees dripping wet for several hours.
Gums soften and the added weight makes the almonds knock easier.
For those of you with new orchards or replants, removing cartons from around tree trunks is the most important thing you can do for a new tree this fall. If the bottom of the carton is pressed against the trunk by soil, crown rot can become a problem. As fall rains start and moisture accumulates, soil piled around the crown, thick weed growth, or cartons can get you into trouble. Preventing the conditions that favor the disease causing fungi is the best control for crown rot. The spray is effective at correcting zinc deficiency even if most of the leaves are gone.