Avocado woes... (forum)

Mike starts with ...
Hi All,

(Apologies in advance for the extremely long post!)

I have a 15 year old avocado tree (I think it's a grafted Bacon), about 5m tall, which has been in the wars over the past few years. Being down in Melbourne hasn't helped it much either! :-)

It's growing in the garden of an old house we bought and pulled down. We built a new house and over the year it was built, the tree received no water or care.

It lost most of its leaves and I thought it would die, but once we were in the house I did my best to care for it. Each year it has shed its old leaves and grow bigger and better ones.

Last year it even had some flowers, but they all bloomed, then fell off. This year it's had literally thousand of blossoms, but (even though they were visited by many flies, ants and bees) now these are also falling off. The flowers came out about 3 weeks ago, along with masses of new leaf growth.

Last summer the tree really suffered during the 40+ degree heatwave we had and copped bad sunburn on the upper branches, which resulted in about 40% of the leaves dying. The recent new growth (amazingly) is replacing almost all of the die-back - apart from some outer branches that are now completely dead.

I've fertilised it (about 4 times over the past year) with Seasol and also generic fruit-tree fertiliser. But I'm wondering is there anything else I can do to help the flowers hang on and improve the overall health of the tree?

I've included some pics (taken today) of the flowers and new growth - how does it look?

It's had plenty of fruit in the past (in 2006 when we bought the house it had a very good crop - but nothing since then...

Also, the leaves start out shiny and green, but always end up dried and brown around the edges - I've seen this on other avocado trees too...

I'm no gardening expert, but I love this tree and would like to give it the best care I can! :-)

Any and all comments and suggestions greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Mike.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

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Time: 6th November 2009 11:05pm

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Original Post was last edited: 6th November 2009 11:20pm

About the Author Mike
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Phil says...
Avocados do produce literally millions of flowers compared to the few fruit they bear, even in commercial plantations. You should get some fruit this year as it looks very healthy at the moment, especially after the wet spring you've had. Keep the water up to it over summer if you can, especially if it's going to be like 08/09, if no fruit then I'd probably give it a few handfuls of sulphate of potash in March or April next year before the cold weather sets in, around about Easter. Seems to give fruiting trees a boost for the following season.

Time: 7th November 2009 9:56am

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Murwillumbah
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Mike says...
Hi Phil,

Thanks for the reply! I'm glad you think the tree looks good! We have a had a very wet spring, which I think is part of the reason it's looking so good...

I'm keeping a close watch on the flowers... As I was out there this morning, any slight breeze sent a shower of them down onto my head! :-(

I'll do my best over the summer - water restrictions or not! I have a 3500 litre rainwater tank, which is full at the moment and I'll also do my rain-dance every chance I get :-)

Cheers,

Mike.



Time: 7th November 2009 10:28am

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About the Author Mike
Melbourne
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Phil says...
Yes what a bonus to have such an advanced tree on your block. I find suphate of potash helps initiate flowering and also encourage development/retention of fruit. But only before flowering of course, too late this season. Avocadoes come to a bit of a standstill in winter in Melbourne so best not to feed until soil warms up. I just moved up here from Woodend in Vic and they had a very short growing season indeed. I guess with your tree as there is no pollinator around you may get a smaller crop but should be enough for your household.

Time: 7th November 2009 11:08am

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