Cultural Management Library
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What are the ideal and non-ideal grove conditions for avocado thrips? What types of damage can thrips cause?
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The major thrips pest attacking California avocados is the avocado thrips, Scirtothrips perseae Nakahara. Originally noticed in 1996, 99% of California avocado acreage is now infested to some degree with this pest.
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Avocado tree varieties vary in susceptibility to avocado lace bugs. Hass avocados (a Mexican-Guatemalan hybrid) can be severely damaged by lace bug outbreaks and West Indian x Guatemalan avocado hybrids appear to be particularly resistant to attack.
Adult avocado lace bugs are small-winged insects about 2 mm in length with black bodies, yellow legs and antennae. They live in colonies on the lower surfaces of leaves, often with adults, eggs and nymphs together.
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The measures recommended for the control of Phytophthora avocado trunk canker disease are similar to those described for Phytophthora root rot. In fruit, prevention of infection is challenging because it is likely caused by the splashing of Phytophthora spores from the soil surface to the fruit during rainy weather.
The primary means of managing avocado branch canker disease is applying chemical treatment to any open wounds to prevent Botryosphaeriaceae spores from entering and initiating infection.
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A California avocado tree canker that occurs on twigs, branches or trunks is caused by a complex of fungal pathogens which include many species in the Botryosphaeriaceae family. Canker pathogens can enter and initiate infection through wounds on the bark surface, such as pruning, frost damage and mechanical injury wounds.
Since no definitive measures have yet been found to control the disease, an integrated approach to managing the root rot disease has been found to be most effective. This approach includes root rot prevention, avocado grove cultural management practices and chemical treatment.
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Phytophthora cinnamomi, the causal agent of avocado phytophthora root rot, attacks the feeder roots, which can result in death of the avocado tree. Although the disease has been studied for more than 60 years, definitive control measures have not been found and losses continue to mount.
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Raffaela lauricola, the causal agent of laurel wilt disease (LWD) is a devastating pathogen that has the potential to greatly impact the California avocado industry. Laurel wilt is a vascular wilt disease that has led to substantial mortality on trees in the Lauraceae family since it was first found in the southeastern United States in 2004.