What's eating my almond 'carmel'?

Almond 'Carmel' is a mid-season California variety widely used as a pollenizer. It faces the same core pest complex as other almonds — navel orangeworm at hull split, peach twig borer in shoots, and spider mites in summer heat. Its moderate hull-split timing means pest pressure is intermediate between 'Nonpareil' and 'Mission'.

Kernel destruction and webbing inside hulled nuts; 'Carmel' moderate hull-split timing means overlapping exposure with late Nonpareil NOW populations Sanitation of mummy nuts; pheromone trap monitoring; harvest at hull split; spinosad application at threshold

Shoot wilting from larval boring in spring; later-season nut entry leaving frass at stem Dormant oil + Bt spray; pheromone mating disruption; prune flagged shoots

Fine stippling and bronzing of leaves in summer; premature leaf drop reduces carbohydrate stores for next year's buds Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides that kill natural mite predators; horticultural oil or sulfur at threshold; maintain soil moisture to reduce tree stress