Avocado Cultivation Techniques: A Guide to Growing "Forest Butter" Well

Avocado, also known as alligator pear and butter fruit, is a fruit favored by fitness enthusiasts. It is rich in protein and fatty acids. Besides its low-fat, high-protein characteristics, the unique soft and creamy texture of avocado is one of the reasons it is so well loved. The market price of avocado is relatively high, making it a mid-to-high-end fruit, which means that growing avocados offers good economic returns. Below is an introduction to the cultivation techniques for the avocado, known as “forest butter”.

I. Growth Habits of Avocado

Avocado likes a growth environment with plenty of sunlight and long daylight hours, and prefers a warm, humid climate. Avocado is not cold-tolerant, though there are a few cold-tolerant varieties, such as the Mexican avocado, that can endure low temperatures of 0 degrees. Avocado plants have shallow root systems and fragile branches, are not resistant to strong winds, and strong winds can reduce avocado yields. Avocado is not tolerant of low temperatures, and prolonged low-temperature weather can cause avocado plants to wither and die.

Avocado has no particular requirements for soil conditions and has strong adaptability to soil. The world's largest avocado producer is California in the United States. In addition, avocados are grown in tropical and subtropical regions, and there is also small-scale cultivation in areas of China such as Guangdong and Hainan.

II. Avocado Cultivation Techniques

1. Planting

Avocado seedlings are planted at a spacing of 50 cm to 60 cm, and the row spacing for planting should be maintained at 5 m to 6 m. Grafted avocado seedlings take 3 to 4 years to flower and bear fruit, while avocado seedlings grown from seed take 4 to 6 years to flower and bear fruit.

2. Mulching

Avocado originally grows in the tropical rainforest environment of tropical regions, and high temperatures and high humidity can promote rapid avocado growth. Conversely, if the required temperature and humidity growing conditions are not met, avocado plants will grow slowly.

When growing avocados, be sure to grow more grass or plant green manure nearby in the early stage of seedling growth, and apply a large amount of mulch around the root system to maintain temperature. Simulate the tropical rainforest growing environment by mulching with multiple layers of organic matter. Mulching around the root system can also retain soil moisture in the root zone and keep the soil moist.

3. Fertilizing

Avocado likes fertilizer. Apply conventional nitrogen fertilizer at least 4 times a year. During the young fruit stage, adult fruit trees should be given 50 kg of organic fertilizer and 50 g of compound fertilizer per tree, and the amount of fertilizer applied to fruit trees after harvest should be doubled.

4. Drainage

Avocado is evergreen all year round and is very sensitive to the degree of soil dryness. The root-zone soil needs to be kept moist in all four seasons. Once water shortage causes the soil to dry out, avocado growth will weaken, leading to fruit drop and leaf drop. When growing avocados, maintaining soil moisture is crucial.

Irrigation should be just right. If it is too wet, the avocado root system will become damp, soft, and even rot. Therefore, special attention should be paid to drainage during the rainy season, especially in orchards on flat land.

The above is a brief introduction to avocado cultivation techniques. The best conditions for growing avocados are in tropical regions. Full attention should be paid to the soil moisture content: irrigate more when it is dry, and pay attention to drainage during the rainy season.