Cultural Management Library

While there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for irrigation management in California avocado groves, there are a series of principles that growers can follow to figure out the proper irrigation management for your grove. This article examines how much water an avocado tree needs, irrigation timing, soil moisture sensors, optimal irrigation system design and how to optimize irrigation in existing grove blocks.

 There is no single best way to prune avocados. However, there are at least three objectives to consider when pruning: .  maximizing fruiting potential, controlling tree size for ease of harvest and correcting tree structural issues. This piece outlines the specifics of pruning to meet these goals. 

This article provides an overview of the California Avocado Commission's high density grove trial that compared two pruning styles. The first style consisted of pruning the trees similar to a fat Christmas tree shape, with topping at seven feet. The second consisted of alternate-side pruning starting with the south-west side in the first year. The study considered labor costs, irrigation and yield

To help California avocado growers manage heat damage to trees, this article outlines what happens to a tree during a heatwave, heat-related damage and the various cultural management practices that can help with grove recovery.

The key to effectively and efficiently watering California avocado groves is to water according to need — and the key to that is to consistently track soil moisture data in order to become familiar with the wetting and drying cycles within a grove. Other critical factors are choosing the correct irrigation system for the unique soils and location of your grove as well as consulting with industry experts who can provide recommendations about the proper use of irrigation systems.

This article examines irregular yield patterns California avocado growers may experience on a year-to-year basis and the two-year alternate bearing cycle of avocado trees. Because avocado trees bear both fruit that is ready to be harvested during the current season and young fruit that will be ready for harvest the next season, growers must proactively balance the needs of both crops and ensure the tree has good exposure to light, adequate water and appropriate nutrition.

This article outlines the growth and production characteristics of avocado trees with a look at how the trees thrive in their natural habitat — the rainforest. To aid growers in developing effective cultural management practices, the article then expands upon the importance of avocado tree roots and where they exist within the soil, how to set up fruiting potential and how to counteract the trees’ tendency to alternate bearing with pruning, nutrient management, and optimal pollinization.

Pesticide resistance is an example of “survival of the fittest” — those pests that develop a resistance to a pesticide are better able to survive exposure. This article walks growers through how they can better manage pesticide resistance by, for example, not relying on a single pesticide mode-of-action, integrating cultural and biological controls as part of their pest management practices, using pesticides at label-recommended rates and never re-treating with the same pesticide if it fails the first time.

A small crop is often attributed to fruit set failure, but there are various factors that can contribute to erratic highs and lows of the alternate bearing pattern. This article examines the fruit set process and how temperatures, flowering wood, pollination and harvest timing can impact fruit set.

Avocado trees are active year-round, therefore winter is a great time to assess your grove, prepare for the spring bloom and examine how the fruit is sizing for the next season’s harvest. This article discusses freeze protection, fertilization, pruning, irrigation and salinity management tasks for the winter season.