Avocado Cultivation Techniques and Field Management Key Points

Avocado is a rare fruit in tropical regions, also known as oil pear, alligator 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 a fresh fruit, it can also be used in dishes and canned goods. It has high cultivation value. Let us take a look at avocado cultivation techniques together below!

Avocado Cultivation Conditions

Avocado likes light and prefers a warm and humid climate. It 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 tolerance, while the Guatemalan and West Indian races have weaker cold tolerance). 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 of more than 1000 mm. The roots are shallow, the branches are fragile, and it cannot tolerate strong winds. Strong winds can lead to 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 germinate in a sand bed. Choose a place with deep soil, good drainage, and wind protection for planting. A spacing of 5*(6-7) m 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 thick. Bud grafting or side grafting is mostly used. Seedlings can be planted out at 50-60 cm. The planting spacing is 5-6 m. Grafted seedlings planted for 3-4 years or seedling trees for 4-6 years bloom and bear fruit. Mature trees yield 25-50 kg per tree, and high-yielding ones yield 100-150 kg.

Avocado Fertilization Techniques

1. Apply nitrogen fertilizer conventionally more than 4 times per year, usually by broadcasting or through the irrigation system. For mature trees during the young fruit stage, apply organic fertilizer at 50 kg per tree and compound fertilizer at 50 grams. Apply once more after harvest, with the amount doubled.

2. When leaf analysis indicates low phosphorus and potassium content, apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. On certain types of soil, zinc-containing fertilizers can be applied or zinc can be sprayed on the leaves. 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. If few new leaves are seen growing on the tree and the leaf color is grayish-white or there is a lot of fruit, then nitrogen fertilizer should be increased.

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, tender branches, flowers, and young fruit, causing fruit drop and fruit rot, and shortening shelf life. It generally occurs after the fruit ripens. Before the fruit ripens, the lesion diameter does not exceed 5 mm, is round, slightly sunken, and brown or black. When conditions are suitable, the lesions expand quickly, the sunken areas become obvious, and radial cracking appears in the center of the lesions. Eventually the lesions merge, and pink masses of conidia appear. As the fruit gradually ripens, the pathogen can invade the flesh, causing dark green dry rot.

[Control] Remove diseased branches from 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] On affected fruit, slight round brown scab-like protrusions appear initially, then turn brown to light purple. After the fruit ripens, the lesions join together, the center sinks, and the peel becomes rough. After this disease infects the fruit, it does not affect its flavor quality, but the appearance quality declines severely. During the young fruit stage, if there is cold, overcast, and humid weather, this disease occurs severely. It can also harm leaves. Affected leaves develop brown spots, the leaves shrink, and 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 veins on the underside of the leaves. The lesions are small, discrete, discontinuous, and not easy to observe. Lesions on petioles and twigs are oval and easily confused with spots caused by scale insects.

[Control] Prune diseased branches to reduce the pathogen, 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 blighted spots on the surface or causes the epidermis to crack, and the cracks can lead to infection by Colletotrichum. When it infects leaves, blighted spots of 2-5 mm first appear on the leaf surface, initially brown, then turning purple. The spots expand to both sides of the leaf, are irregular in shape, and in severe cases the blighted spots merge to form larger blighted areas.

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

4. Dothiorella Fruit Rot

[Damage] Symptoms on infected fruit before picking are not obvious. The lesions are small and shallow, and symptoms become obvious during the process of softening and ripening after harvest. Initially, small and irregular brown to red lesions appear on the peel. Because the pathogen invades the vascular bundles, peeling back the skin reveals brown streaks in the flesh, and subsequently purple-brown irregular lesions appear at the stem end. As the fruit ripens after harvest, the epidermal lesions gradually lengthen, blacken, and sink. The brown peel is covered with a layer of gray-brown mycelium and spores, and brown flesh and juice flow out, giving off an unpleasant odor.

[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. Slight withering appears around the stem end of the fruit. As the fruit ripens, the pathogen invades the fruit, and obvious black rot appears around the stem end, 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 giving off an unpleasant odor, thereby reducing fruit quality.

[Control] The pathogen can survive on host diseased residues. Therefore, sources of infection should be removed in a timely manner, 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 of the pathogen in the soil and its damage.

7. Sooty Mold

[Damage] The surface of fruit, leaves, and stems is covered with large amounts of black sooty-like mycelium and spores, which grow on the honeydew secreted by wax scales and whiteflies.

[Control] The key is to control insect pests and reduce honeydew production. A better method is to use natural enemies for biological control.

What Are the Effects and Functions of Avocado? Avocado Cultivation Techniques

[Common Questions]What are the effects and functions of avocado? How should it be grown?

[Expert Answer]Avocado, also known as alligator pear, oil pear, camphor pear, etc., has very high nutritional value and is rich in multiple vitamins, proteins, etc. It is a rare fruit and is highly favored by consumers, with a broad market and high cultivation benefits. The effects, functions, and cultivation techniques of avocado are introduced as follows:

Image: Avocado cultivation

I. Effects and Functions of Avocado

1. Antioxidant and anti-aging:Avocado is rich in glyceric acid, protein, and vitamins. It is moisturizing without being greasy and is a natural antioxidant and anti-aging agent. It can not only soften and moisturize the skin, but also tighten pores. A milky isolation layer can form on the skin surface, which can effectively resist sunlight and prevent tanning and sunburn. Avocado oil extracted from the kernel is rich in nutrients, containing abundant vitamin E, magnesium, linoleic acid, and essential fatty acids, which help strengthen cell membranes and delay the aging rate of epidermal cells.

2. Breast enhancement:The abundant unsaturated fatty acids in avocado can increase the elasticity of breast tissue. The vitamin A it contains can promote female hormone secretion, vitamin C can prevent breast deformation, and vitamin E helps breast development.

3. Protecting the liver:Research has found that avocado contains effective chemical components that may protect the liver. This discovery will help people invent new drugs for treating liver diseases.

4. Beauty:Avocado flesh has good compatibility with human skin and is very easily absorbed by the skin. It also has strong absorption of ultraviolet rays. In addition, it is rich in vitamin E and carotene, so it has good skin care, sunscreen, and health care effects.

5. Relieving diabetes symptoms:Avocado flesh has a very low sugar content, 1/5 of the sugar content of banana. It is a rare high-fat, low-sugar food for diabetic patients, and drinking water soaked with its peel has a relieving effect on diabetes.

6. Protecting uterine health:Avocado can protect women's uterus and cervical health. Women who eat one avocado per week can balance estrogen, reduce excess weight gained from childbirth, and prevent cervical cancer.

7. Baby complementary food:Avocado is one of the good complementary foods for babies.

Image: Avocado cultivation

II. Avocado Cultivation Techniques

Cultivation conditions:Avocado likes light and prefers a warm and humid climate. It 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 tolerance, while the Guatemalan and West Indian races have weaker cold tolerance). 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 of more than 1000 mm. The roots are shallow, the branches are fragile, and it cannot tolerate strong winds. Strong winds can lead to reduced yield. It has strong adaptability to soil.

Propagation methods:Avocado is mostly propagated by seed, and can also be propagated by grafting. When sowing, remove the seed coat and germinate in a sand bed. Choose a place with deep soil, good drainage, and wind protection for planting. A spacing of 5*(6-7) m 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 thick. Bud grafting or side grafting is mostly used. Seedlings can be planted out at 50-60 cm. The planting spacing is 5-6 m. Grafted seedlings planted for 3-4 years or seedling trees for 4-6 years bloom and bear fruit. Mature trees yield 25-50 kg per tree, and high-yielding ones yield 100-150 kg.

Planting: Plant out when seedlings are 50-60 cm apart. The planting spacing is 5-6 m. Grafted seedlings planted for 3-4 years or seedling trees for 4-6 years bloom and bear fruit.

Mulching: Avocado is a fruit tree that grows under tropical rainforest conditions and competes for sunlight. The high-temperature and high-humidity environment makes it grow quickly; if environmental conditions are not available, it grows slowly. Therefore, avocado cultivation abroad mostly emphasizes growing grass or green manure near the plants in the early stage, and applying large amounts of mulch near the rhizosphere. Mulching increases topsoil organic matter, forms a rainforest rhizosphere environment similar to the place of origin, stabilizes rhizosphere ecological conditions, and promotes the reproduction of microorganisms that can inhibit root rot activity. Therefore, from the young tree stage until the tree itself can form a mulch layer through fallen leaves and before root rot occurs, mulching the tree disk of young trees is especially important. Start mulching in winter, replenish the thickness in spring, and by summer a good mulch layer can be formed. Rhizosphere mulching can also reduce soil moisture evaporation, alleviate damage to avocado from dry heat, lower soil temperature in summer, raise soil temperature in winter, increase soil organic matter, reduce weeds, and prevent soil erosion on slopes. However, during the rainy season, prevent the mulched soil from becoming too wet.

Fertilization: (1) Apply nitrogen fertilizer conventionally more than 4 times per year, usually by broadcasting or through the irrigation system. For mature trees during the young fruit stage, apply organic fertilizer at 50 kg per tree and compound fertilizer at 50 grams. Apply once more after harvest, with the amount doubled; (2) When leaf analysis indicates low phosphorus and potassium content, apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. On certain types of soil, zinc-containing fertilizers can be applied or zinc can be sprayed on the leaves. 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. If few new leaves are seen growing on the tree and the leaf color is grayish-white or there is a lot of fruit, then nitrogen fertilizer should be increased.

Drainage: Avocado is evergreen year-round and needs to keep the rhizosphere soil moist throughout the year. It is very sensitive to soil drought. Once short of water, physiological functions are impeded, tree vigor weakens, causing leaf and fruit drop, and cold resistance in winter decreases. Therefore, proper irrigation is needed during drought. From fruit set to fruit maturity, maintaining soil moisture is crucial. If drought occurs in the first month after fruit set, young fruit drop severely. In Hainan Island, the dry and hot weather in April-May causes severe fruit drop in avocado. Therefore, if there are 10-20 consecutive clear days and the orchard soil begins to crack slightly, irrigation should be carried out in a timely manner; if rainfall is below transpiration and evaporation for a long time, supplementary irrigation should also be given. However, irrigation should be just right, both sufficient and never excessive. Generally, moistening the soil thoroughly is appropriate. If too wet, it will aggravate root rot and also reduce the soluble solids content of the fruit. It is best to use sprinkler irrigation or drip irrigation. Flood irrigation may cause root rot, while drip irrigation can save 50%-60% water. If the leaves begin to curl due to drought, canopy spraying can also be carried out. In the rainy season, pay attention to drainage, especially in flatland orchards.

Image: Avocado cultivation

Harvesting: The fruit harvesting season is generally from August to September. The traditional harvesting method is to directly knock them down with a long tree pole. Although this is easy, the fruit obtained in this way is very unfavorable for storage and will soon rot. In order to ensure quality, one must carefully climb up several meters high into the canopy, cut them one by one into a basket, and then slowly send them to the ground.

[Editor's Conclusion]Avocado is rich in nutritional value. Besides being eaten as a fresh fruit, it can also be used in dishes and canned goods, and it has high cultivation value. The above introduced the effects, functions, and cultivation techniques of avocado for everyone, and we hope it can be helpful to everyone!

Where Is Avocado Produced? Avocado's Growing Environment and Main Producing Areas

Avocado is an evergreen tree of the genus Persea in the family Lauraceae, also known as oil pear, alligator 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 a fresh fruit, it can also be used in dishes and canned goods. The kernel is used for food, medicine, and the cosmetics industry. Let us take a look at where avocado is produced below!

Where is avocado produced?

Avocado originated in Mexico and Central America, and was later widely planted in California, thus making California the world's largest avocado producing area. It is planted in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, but is most cultivated in the southern United States, Guatemala, Mexico, and Cuba, and has formed three major groups: the Mexican race, the Guatemalan race, and the West Indian race. In China, there is a small amount of cultivation in Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Guangxi, Taiwan, China, Yunnan, and Sichuan.

Avocado's Producing Area Environment

Avocado varieties differ greatly in temperature adaptability. The Mexican race has relatively strong cold tolerance, while the Guatemalan and West Indian races have weaker cold tolerance. Most of those introduced into China are the Mexican race, which originated in the tropical highlands. Avocado requires annual rainfall of more than 1000 mm. The roots are shallow, the branches are fragile, and it cannot tolerate strong winds. Strong winds can lead to reduced yield, and it has strong adaptability to soil.

Avocado's Cultivation Value

1. Economic value: Avocado trees bear fruit after 3-4 years of planting, and yield becomes relatively stable from the 6th year. The investment funds are relatively small, and the yield of avocado trees is very high, averaging 60-70 kg per tree, with some trees reaching 200 kg, giving it high economic value.

2. Health care effects: Avocado flesh has a very low sugar content, 1/5 of the sugar content of banana. It is a rare high-fat, low-sugar food for diabetic patients. Drinking water soaked with its peel has a relieving effect on diabetes.

3. Beauty effects: Avocado flesh has good compatibility with human skin and is very easily absorbed by the skin. It also has strong absorption of ultraviolet rays. In addition, it is rich in vitamin E and carotene, so it has good skin care, sunscreen, and health care effects. Countries such as the United States and Japan have widely used it in more than 240 kinds of cosmetics such as skin creams, facial cleansers, masks, shampoos, and sunscreens.