How to grow avocado? Latest cultivation techniques and methods tutorial

Avocado is a rare fruit in tropical regions, also known as oil pear, alligator pear, butter pear, butter fruit, etc. The fruit is a highly nutritious fruit, containing multiple vitamins, rich fats and proteins, and also high levels of sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc. Besides being eaten as fresh fruit, it can also be used in dishes and canned goods, and has high cultivation value. Let us take a look at avocado cultivation techniques together below!

Avocado Cultivation Conditions

Avocado prefers light and a warm, humid climate, and is not cold-tolerant. Only a few varieties can tolerate short-term low temperatures of 0 degrees. It is cultivated between 40°S and 40°N in the world. The suitable average annual temperature is 20-25°C. Cold resistance varies by variety (the Mexican race has relatively strong cold resistance, while the Guatemalan race and West Indian race have weaker cold resistance). Cold-resistant varieties can tolerate -6°C low temperatures, while varieties with low cold resistance dry up when encountering 0°C low temperatures. It requires annual rainfall above 1000 mm. The roots are shallow, the branches are fragile, and it cannot tolerate strong winds. Strong winds can cause reduced yield. It has strong adaptability to soil.

Avocado Propagation Methods

Avocado is mostly propagated by seed, and can also be propagated by grafting. When sowing, remove the seed coat and sprout the seeds in a sand bed. Choose a place with deep soil, good drainage, and wind protection for planting. A spacing of 5*(6-7) m between plants and rows is more suitable. Mixed planting of varieties can ensure pollination. For grafting, it is best to use container seedlings. Grafting can be done when the seedling diameter is 0.8-1 cm. Bud grafting or side grafting is mostly used. Seedlings can be planted out at 50-60 cm, with a planting spacing of 5-6 m between plants and rows. Grafted seedlings take 3-4 years to plant out, or seedling trees take 4-6 years to flower and bear fruit. Mature trees yield 25-50 kg per tree, with high-yielding trees producing 100-150 kg.

Avocado Fertilization Techniques

1. Routinely apply nitrogen fertilizer more than 4 times per year, usually by broadcasting or through the irrigation system. During the young fruit stage of adult trees, apply organic fertilizer at 50 kg per tree and compound fertilizer at 50 g, then apply again after harvest at double the amount.

2. Apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizers when leaf analysis indicates low phosphorus and potassium content. On some soil types, applying zinc-containing fertilizer or foliar spraying of zinc can be done. Spraying is most effective when new leaves unfold in spring. For crops growing on calcareous soil or soil with low oxygen content, the most effective method is to inject chelated iron solution into the root zone.

3. When nitrogen is present in certain soils and irrigation water, the amount of nitrogen used should be reduced. When few new leaves are seen growing on the tree and the leaf color is grayish-white or there is much fruit set, then more nitrogen fertilizer should be applied.

Avocado Pest and Disease Control

1. Anthracnose

[Damage] Anthracnose is an important disease of avocado. It mainly harms ripe fruit, and can also infect leaves, young branches, flowers, and young fruit, causing fruit drop and fruit rot, and shortening shelf life. Generally, disease occurs after the fruit ripens. Before the fruit ripens, lesions do not exceed 5 mm in diameter, are round, slightly sunken, and brown or black. When conditions are suitable, the lesions expand quickly, become obviously sunken, and radial cracking appears in the center of the lesions. Eventually the lesions merge, and pink conidial masses appear. As the fruit gradually ripens, the pathogen can invade the flesh, causing dark green dry rot.

[Control] Remove diseased branches in the orchard, prune diseased leaves, and eliminate sources of infection. After harvest, carry out low-temperature pretreatment and low-temperature storage as early as possible. Almost all avocado varieties are sensitive to this pathogen. The key to control is to minimize the occurrence of other fruit diseases (especially Cercospora spot) and avoid mechanical damage during fruit transport.

2. Scab

[Damage] Affected fruit initially develop slight round brown scab-like protrusions, which later turn brown to light purple. After the fruit ripens, the lesions unite, the centers become sunken, and the peel becomes rough. After this disease infects the fruit, it does not affect flavor quality, but appearance quality declines severely. In the young fruit stage, if cold, cloudy, and humid weather occurs, this disease is severe. It can also harm leaves. Affected leaves develop brown spots and become shrunken. The lesions further develop into a star shape with a hole in the center. Leaf damage often occurs at the top of the canopy, and the lesions are mostly within the leaf vein texture on the underside of the leaf. The lesions are small, discrete, discontinuous, and not easy to observe. Lesions on petioles and small branches are oval and easily confused with spots caused by scale insects.

[Control] Prune diseased branches to reduce pathogens, and spray Bordeaux mixture or other copper preparations.

3. Cercospora Spot

[Damage] It can harm leaves, stems, and fruit. When it infects fruit, it forms blight spots on the surface or causes cracking of the epidermis, and the cracks can lead to infection by anthracnose fungi. When infecting leaves, 2-5 mm blight spots first appear on the leaf surface. They are initially brown, then turn purple. The spots expand to both sides of the leaf, are irregular in shape, and in severe cases the blight spots merge to form larger blight spots.

[Control] Use chemical control, spraying copper preparations and pyrimethanil on branches and fruit.

4. Dothiorella Fruit Rot

[Damage] Symptoms of infected fruit before harvest are not obvious, and the lesions are small and shallow. Symptoms become obvious during the process of softening and ripening after harvest. In the early stage, small irregular brown to red lesions appear on the peel. Because the pathogen invades the vascular bundles, brown streaks can be seen in the flesh when the peel is removed. Subsequently, purple-brown irregular lesions appear at the stem end. As the fruit ripens after harvest, the epidermal lesions gradually lengthen, blacken, and become sunken. The brown peel is covered with a layer of gray-brown mycelium and spores, brown flesh and juice flow out, and an unpleasant odor is emitted.

[Control] Prune diseased and dead branch tips, remove dead wood and diseased fruit, choose clear weather for harvesting, strengthen tree nutrition, and reduce the occurrence of other diseases.

5. Stem End Rot

[Damage] The fruit stem is infected first, and slight withering appears around the fruit stem end. As the fruit ripens, the pathogen invades the fruit, and obvious black rot appears around the fruit stem, with a clear boundary between diseased and healthy parts. It gradually spreads to the entire fruit surface. The pathogen invades the flesh, causing tissue discoloration and degradation, and emitting an unpleasant odor, thereby reducing fruit quality.

[Control] The pathogen can survive on host diseased residues. Therefore, sources of infection should be removed in time, and accumulation of diseased residues in the orchard should be avoided. Watering at lower parts of the orchard can prevent the pathogen from moving to fruit higher up. Eliminating water stress can reduce infection. Covering the ground under the trees with plastic film or weeds can promote faster decomposition of diseased residues. In addition, do not harvest on rainy days.

6. Phytophthora Fruit Rot

[Damage] Phytophthora can cause fruit rot both before and after harvest, and can also cause stem cankers and rot. Infected fruit often develop black round lesions near the stem end, and the pathogen can invade the flesh.

[Control] Prune diseased dead branches and stems, clean the orchard, remove fallen fruit and diseased fruit, and prevent reinfection by the pathogen. Cover the ground under the plants with a thick mulch to inhibit the spread and damage of pathogens in the soil.

7. Sooty Mold

[Damage] The surfaces of fruit, leaves, and stems are covered with large amounts of black soot-like mycelium and spores, and grow on the honeydew secreted by soft scales and whiteflies.

[Control] The key lies in controlling pests and reducing honeydew production. A better method is to use natural enemies for biological control.