Avocado woes... (forum)

Mike starts with ...
Hi everyone,

I have a rather sick avocado tree, which I'm not sure what to do with...

The tree is around 13 years old and was neglected for a number of years (no watering/fertiliser), particularly during hot weather. This was becuase we were building a new house on the block and were unable to maintain the tree. As a result, there are quite a few dead branches around the top of the tree. It did fruit very well at the start of 2006, but has seems to be a bit ill since then...

I put some general fruit-tree/vegetable fertiliser around the tree around August and have tried to keep water up to it.

This year it started sprouting new growth around late august and was looking like it would come good, however once the leaves were about 2/3 grown, they seem to be attacked by something (unseen) that leaves them quite holey!

Now (and I've seen this happen before with this tree) the edges of quite a few of the leaves are dying/turning brown.

Also, all of the flowers I can see appear to have died and dropped off.

I'm down in Melbourne, which I know is unusual for avocados to start with, but I'd like to try and save the tree and get it back to good health!

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!

Cheers,

Mike.
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Time: 17th November 2007 2:25pm

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About the Author Mike5
Melbourne
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Rod says...
Hi Mike

Avocado like very good drainage. I had a tree that started to look like yours when its roots hit clay. I soaked around the tree with clay breaker and added heaps of mulch and it came good again over the next couple of years...(and I claybreak and mulch every year now)..perhaps that is worth a try...the only time my leaves have browned around the edges though is when we got a dry hot wind...

Hope this helps

Rod.

Time: 21st November 2007 4:17pm

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About the Author Rod
Brisbane
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Mike says...
Hi Rob,

Thanks for the info. Yeah, my soil is clay about 50-60 cm below the surface. I think the drainage isn't too bad, since the tree is in a slightly raised, rear-corner of the garden. I'll have to give the clay-breaker a go (can it be used on turf? - my tree roots are half covered by lawn).

It's a pity, as a couple of years ago (just when we bought the old house) it had a huge crop of fruit...

Thanks again for your help!

Cheers,

Mike.

Time: 22nd November 2007 10:08am

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About the Author Mike5
Melbourne
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Julie says...
These are my friend's avocado leaves. I think they need manganese, but don't feel quite sure. The one with brown mottling is the back of a leaf. Does your book say anything amanda?

Edit. 'Allowed memory size exhausted' message came up again, but the allowed size is far more than the picture.

Any ideas anyone?

Time: 22nd June 2010 12:41am

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Original Post was last edited: 22nd June 2010 12:44am

About the Author Julie
Roleystone WA
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Mike says...
Hi all,

The tree has been pretty good - the summer just gone was fairly mild (temperature wise), so it didn't suffer from the heat as much as last year.

Of the thousands of flowers we had, only a single fruit grew - it's actually still on the tree now!

Also, since the weather cooled down (four or five weeks) the leaves have started to turn brown on the tips again.

Not sure if that's due to the weather, too much water or something else.

Mike.

Time: 22nd June 2010 2:22pm

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About the Author Mike5
Melbourne
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Brendan says...
Hi Mike,
If it were mine, I'd prune 1/3rd off the top, give it more gypsum and fertilizer. I'd apply mulch out to the dripline, but ~200 to 300mm away from the trunk.
You may need to spray for anthracnose too, to get more fruit.

Time: 23rd June 2010 9:46am

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About the Author Brendan
Mackay, Q
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Jason says...
I don't think root disease is a issue in Victoria because the temps are too cool to support it. At least that's my experience, growing them in soggy soil ontop of clay seems a non issue here. If you can mulch the tree heavily with small branches and leaves and general garden mess and keep fertilising it it should come good but I think it will take a few years to get back to full health

Time: 23rd June 2010 5:08pm

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About the Author Jason
Portland. Vic
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Julie says...
Sorry to try you patience folks! Trying to post pictures one more time. I updated my Easyshare, so this may work.

See email above re avocado leaves.

No, it didn't work. Back to the drawing board!



Time: 23rd June 2010 7:06pm

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Original Post was last edited: 23rd June 2010 7:09pm

About the Author Julie
Roleystone WA
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Mike says...
Hi guys,

Well, it's been a while, but finally, after almost a decade, we've got a decent crop of fruit on our long-suffering avocado tree.

The key (I think) was to keep possums out of the tree. Last year, ringtails got into the tree as the new shoots were showing and ate every single one of them. I thought the tree would die after such an onslaught, but amazingly, it came through and regenerated new leaves. No chance of any fruit though.

However, at the start of this season, just before the old leaves started to drop and the new shoots show through I possum-proofed the tree. I had to cut back a fair few branches back from the fence. I also put plastic sheets on the two trunks and possum-spikes along the top of the garden fence. That seemed to keep them out.

As a result, it flowered and fruited well. We now have a very hefty crop of (at best guess) around 300+ fruit.

I do have a question though: when can I start to harvest the fruit? They are a very good size at the moment, but still seem very hard to the touch. When is the best time to pick?

Cheers,

Mike.
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Time: 15th May 2017 4:53pm

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About the Author Mike
SPRINGVALE,3171,VIC
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Brendan says...
Avos are ready to pick when their skin lose their shine and turn dull. Also, the stem near the fruit changes colour :-)

Time: 17th May 2017 8:42am

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About the Author Brendan
Mackay, Q
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