Why Mulch Saves Avocado Trees: Rebuilding Soil Duff After Wind and Storm Damage
When high winds tore across our hillside orchard during a recent tropical storm, the damage went beyond snapped twigs and scattered branches.…
Snapping Off Dead Branches Before They Bruise the Fruit
One of our regular weekly jobs on the grove is walking the trees and checking for dead branches — especially a big…
Monster Fuerte at the Top of the Tree: Pole-Picking the Biggest Avocados
Like a lot of fruit trees, avocados love to put their fruit at the very top, where the sun is. On our…
Avocado Pest Identification: How to Spot Thrips and Persea Mite Damage
Scouting young avocado trees for early pest damage is one of the most critical habits you can build whether you manage a…
Planting an Avocado Pit? Expect a 7-to-10-Year Wait for Fruit
Can you grow an avocado tree from the pit left over from your guacamole? Absolutely. The catch is time: it will probably…
Avocado Tree Stumping: How Severe Pruning Saved Our Grove Through the 2008 Water Cuts
Avocado tree stumping means cutting a tree down to a short trunk so it can regrow a whole new canopy, and it…
Don’t Rake the Duff: Four Reasons We Leave Avocado Leaves Where They Fall
If you have an avocado tree, you have leaves. Lots of them. Avocados shed all year, and the pile underneath builds into…
Avocado Tree Biology: How Roots, Pits, and Beneficial Insects Protect the Grove
An avocado grove protects itself in three main ways: shallow feeder roots that need moist, airy, covered soil; a seed that starts…
Cut, Don’t Yank: Picking Avocados With Pruners So They Last Longer
Never yank an avocado off the tree. Use pruners and cut it off instead. That one habit protects the tree, protects the…
How Tough Is an Avocado Tree? The Fuerte Kirk Climbed as a Kid
Avocado trees are tougher than they look. The best evidence we have is a Fuerte that Kirk used to climb when he…
From Brown Tips to a Green Flush: How Our Fuerte Tree Bounced Back
Can an avocado tree recover from brown leaf tips? Ours did. Earlier in the season, a lot of our leaves had crispy…
Are Dwarf Avocado Trees Real? Little Cado, Holiday and the Pruning Option
Yes, true dwarf avocado trees exist — but they are not what most people picture, and you probably do not need one.…
Persea Mites on Avocado Trees: What They Look Like and What We Released
The predatory mite we released for persea mite is Neoseiulus californicus, bought from Arbico Organics as controlled-release sachets. How to identify persea…
Alternate Bearing as Survival: Why a Fuerte Tree Floods the Forest With Fruit
Our favorite Fuerte tree is absolutely loaded this year. There is fruit just about everywhere you look. Next year, if she behaves…
Avocado Size Picking: How Commercial Growers Harvest Fruit for Maximum Yield
Commercial avocado growers size pick by sending a crew through the grove to take only the biggest fruit, starting with size 48…
