avocado leaves closing (forum)

kmann starts with ...
Hi, here is my wurtz avocado. It's im its second year amd growing well. I have 3of them. This one is the biggest but recently its leaves have curled up. Am I over watering? My soil is good alluvial soil. I use complete mineral fertilizer and home made compost. It has some avocados on it already. Thanks. Ben
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Time: 4th January 2015 8:20pm

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Markmelb says...
Looks normal to me - Wurtz especially has leaves like a Taco shell - helps them to avoid direct heat and light - when its really hot they may even turn upside down like mine did yesterday in near 40C temps.
Also give heaps of water if its hot too maybe 2 to 3 waters a day if necessary - Its a fairly common question - as you must remember Avos re a rainforest understory tree - why dont you get a Lamb Hass also - let me know what you think of the Wurtz when you get to taste :)

Time: 4th January 2015 8:33pm

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Waterfall says...
My wurtz looks the same, I think its just what happens when the spring growth hardens off.

Time: 4th January 2015 8:34pm

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kmann says...
Ahh awesome thanks for that. I was stressed!!! I am really surprised to have fruit already they have dropped alot when little but there are a few getting big
Is it normal to drop fruit or is there something I shpuld/could do..
Thanks

Time: 4th January 2015 8:40pm

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Markmelb says...
Normal again - what diam is trunk at base? (My Wurtz in 500mm pot 5cm diam and Lamb Hass in ground 4.5cm)My wurtz dropped all again but my Lamb Hass (also 2 years old) has 3 getting big quite fast - still not tasted a Wurtz or Ederanol or Pinkerton yet as big supply chains dont bring anything but Hass and the odd Reed to Melb

Time: 4th January 2015 9:03pm

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kmann says...
All were planted at the same time but the bigger one gets more morning sun. Cant wait to taste them hopefully they hang in there!!!
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Time: 4th January 2015 9:06pm

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kmann says...
How big will a lamb hass get? I have space issues! !!

Time: 4th January 2015 9:09pm

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Markmelb says...
Dont we all get space challenged unless we have a couple of perfect Hinterland Hectares - Lamb Hass is supposed to be semi dwarf but in my spot want to keep the ground one to 5mt max - Have a look at first episode of Costas Garden on SBS - Diggers is planting Wurtz there as a group Hedge - I will check it out in a couple years :)

Time: 5th January 2015 7:51am

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Waterfall says...
This is the growth I got on my wurtz this spring, actually this is the only growth I had since purchase almost a year ago. It seems like they do it all in one spurt, it literally doubled in size.
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Time: 5th January 2015 9:05am

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Linton says...
This is a dwarf wurtz I planted about 4 years ago. But every summer it gets burnt back to about half the size, even though it's mostly in shade.

Last Summer the top half of main trunk got burned and killed, so it was reduced to half the height again, but since the beginning of Spring new branches have bushed out from where it was burned down to......as you can see in the photo.

Some people told me to paint the trunk with white latex paint to prevent burning. Anyone tried that?
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Time: 5th January 2015 5:21pm

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Thithi says...
Last year my wurtz branches which were not covered by its leaves were burnt. This year none of my avocadoes were burnt in last week when it reached 40c except for the hass. I think the paint really work, but more importantly avocadoes should be well watered on the hot day. Btw, your trees look great. And are they in pots?

Time: 5th January 2015 5:52pm

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Linton says...
Hi Thithi

it is only the one tree and it is in the ground which is very dry as my sandy soil doesn't hold water. It did not burn the last few days when it was 40 deg but I did give it some water.

This dwarf wurtz is the only avo I have left now so I need to get another to pollinate it - believe Bacon is the best for this. But I was reluctant to get more since they tend to burn so badly and I can't water them effectively. But the white paint should help - yet to try it.

Time: 5th January 2015 6:17pm

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Thithi says...
My soil is clayey, but the previous owner put a layer 20cm thick of just sand and gravel about 50 cm deep then on top of that layer it mostly sandy soil, but I think it helps with the drainage

Time: 6th January 2015 3:47pm

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Thithi says...
Photos are taken today. Pic2 is what was dug up to replaced with better soil for bananas next to the wurtz. Pic1 are wurtz, i did not replaced the soil for wurtz, so only the top 30cm is good soil, underneath that is sand and gravel as seen in pic2. It grows very well this year, thanks to advises of markmelb on how to fertilise avocadoes.
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Time: 6th January 2015 4:10pm

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Waterfall says...
I thought wurtz was partially self fertile? either way my next door neighbour has an unknown seedling which flowered this year and there is a 15m tall avocado tree up the street from me.

Time: 6th January 2015 9:06pm

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kmann says...
I only have wurtzs x 3 and have avocados. I was told u dont need a pollinator for them and it seems correct so far. My trees are growing very fast I fertilize in the growing season each month with complete minerals rooster booster and home made compost. I planted them last august and the smallest is 8 feet tall. I protect them on hot days with shade cloth and have a wind break as well. Seems to be working well I have learned! !!

Time: 9th January 2015 11:50pm

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Thithi says...
Linton, I think wurtz don't need pollinator but if you want to be sure you could get a B type scion to graft on your existing wurtz. If you want I could send you a bacon scion. I am not exactly a fan of bacon fruit though because its skin is too thin. Alternatively, if you know what is your rootstock, it could be a B variety. Zutano is a B type. There a good chance that zutano is used as rootstock.

Time: 16th January 2015 1:12am

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Waterfall says...
My wurtz has just started a 2nd growth flush.

Time: 16th January 2015 8:36am

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Linton says...
Hi Thithi

It's good to know that the Wurtz may not need a pollinator.

Thanks for your offer for the Bacon cutting but I'm not so keen on it either and I have just got some other varieties which are supposed to be self pollinating so I think they should do.
Cheers!

Time: 16th January 2015 8:28pm

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Markmelb says...
I know of a mature lone and solitary Bacon (B variety) that about 25ft tall loaded with Avos - I think they taste good - it does take some skill and trial and error to know when to cut open as they stay green unlike Hass etc.
The main point of having an A and B is to increase your crop.

Time: 16th January 2015 10:40pm

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