Avocados are known to be finicky about their growing conditions. Yes sun but they get sunburnt. Yes water but not too much too often but also don’t let them dry out too much. Varietals that do well in the southern california coast regions often struggle 20 miles inland… etc etc.
I found 2 amazing sources for key information on avocado success, Ellen Baker and Freddie Munge, of https://www.epicenteravocados.com/ have an excellent description of how to get great avocados in the San Francisco Bay Area and NorCal in general, as well as sell great and some obscure varietals. And, Greg Alder of the Yard Posts, which very sadly is at the moment held hostage by cyber criminals, hopefully Greg gets Yard Posts up again soon.
So, once you have a varietal that does well in your climate / microclimate, you need to get it in the ground. Avos don’t do well in containers (Greg Alder has some tips to get them to not die in containers but you wont get much fruit that way). And Avocado trees had sopping wet feet, they need lots of drainage to prevent root rot (Phytophora spp).
They need to be planted on a mound made of sandy soil. Here’s pictures of the process:
Start by clearing the area, I lay down coffee bean bags that I get free from a local roaster to keep weeds/poison oak from taking advantage of the water and fertilizer soon to be soaking down
Now pile the soil, amended with gravel and sand, 35% sand/gravel is good, you may need more for heavy clay. It needs to feel nice and light and flow, and not claggy or thick. Pick out any root bits or other organics, the cados don’t like that stuff.
This is a Lamb Hass from Epicenter Avocados, it’s gotten a bit lopsided from a viscous deer attack last year.
Make sure the mound will extend above the soil level of the potted tree, then take the tree out of the pot (for smaller pots) or slide the pot in and slice it open with an razor blade (try to not hit the avo roots) and pull the pot pieces out. DO NOT BREAK APART THE ROOT BALL!!!! Avocados hate things bothering their roots.
Pile the mound up against the root ball, and have a stake in case you need to tie it in a big wind event, young avocados will break in half in strong winds. You can see my supervisor checking my work above.
Now cover the mound with woodchips, at least 3 inches up to 6″, leaving inches of space between the trunk and the woodchips, you dont want any wood decomposing microbes or fungi to have easy access to the trunk, they rot it. Hardwood chips are best but I often use redwood chips because I have sooooo much and the Cados don’t seem to mind. BUT don’t mix any woodchips or organic material of any kind into the mound soil, Ellen and Freddy and Greg all say it makes the avo roots freak out and maybe die? I’ll take their word for it, they are ultra experts.
Finally, whitewash all the branches with 50/50 latex paint/water
Done! Your avocado will thrive in this mound. Water often and lightly, avocados are unlike citrus and prefer somewhat even water, not soaked and not dried to a crisp. Full sun is good, mine are in 5-7 hrs of sun a day but they are getting nice afternoon sun and they seem happy.
Now just wait 5 years till the first harvest š
Leave a Reply