Petal fall through the first few weeks of nut development is a critical time for disease management. During this period, the almond fruit, newly emerged leaves, and senescing tissues are susceptible to many diseases. These include jacket rot, anthracnose, brown rot, leaf blight, shot-hole, scab, and with Mediterranean varieties, red blotch.

Almonds are susceptible to frost once they begin to flower. As a flower progresses through bloom (i.e. dormant > pink bud > full bloom > petal fall > small fruit), it becomes more susceptible to cold temperatures. Frost killed flowers/small fruits are easy to identify as the color of the tissue changes.

The period of bloom has become increasingly expensive. Pollination services, fungicides, application expenses have increased rapidly over the past few years and this has impacted orchard profitability.