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Mike starts with ... Hi everyone, I have a rather sick avocado tree, which I'm not sure what to do with... The tree is around 13 years old and was neglected for a number of years (no watering/fertiliser), particularly during hot weather. This was becuase we were building a new house on the block and were unable to maintain the tree. As a result, there are quite a few dead branches around the top of the tree. It did fruit very well at the start of 2006, but has seems to be a bit ill since then... I put some general fruit-tree/vegetable fertiliser around the tree around August and have tried to keep water up to it. This year it started sprouting new growth around late august and was looking like it would come good, however once the leaves were about 2/3 grown, they seem to be attacked by something (unseen) that leaves them quite holey! Now (and I've seen this happen before with this tree) the edges of quite a few of the leaves are dying/turning brown. Also, all of the flowers I can see appear to have died and dropped off. I'm down in Melbourne, which I know is unusual for avocados to start with, but I'd like to try and save the tree and get it back to good health! Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated! Cheers, Mike.
| About the Author Mike5 Melbourne 17th November 2007 2:25pm #UserID: 435 Posts: 3 View All Mike5's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Rod says... Hi Mike Avocado like very good drainage. I had a tree that started to look like yours when its roots hit clay. I soaked around the tree with clay breaker and added heaps of mulch and it came good again over the next couple of years...(and I claybreak and mulch every year now)..perhaps that is worth a try...the only time my leaves have browned around the edges though is when we got a dry hot wind... Hope this helps Rod. | About the Author Rod Brisbane 21st November 2007 4:17pm #UserID: 451 Posts: 2 View All Rod's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Mike says... Hi Rob, Thanks for the info. Yeah, my soil is clay about 50-60 cm below the surface. I think the drainage isn't too bad, since the tree is in a slightly raised, rear-corner of the garden. I'll have to give the clay-breaker a go (can it be used on turf? - my tree roots are half covered by lawn). It's a pity, as a couple of years ago (just when we bought the old house) it had a huge crop of fruit... Thanks again for your help! Cheers, Mike. | About the Author Mike5 Melbourne 22nd November 2007 10:08am #UserID: 435 Posts: 3 View All Mike5's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Julie says... These are my friend's avocado leaves. I think they need manganese, but don't feel quite sure. The one with brown mottling is the back of a leaf. Does your book say anything amanda? Edit. 'Allowed memory size exhausted' message came up again, but the allowed size is far more than the picture. Any ideas anyone? | About the Author Julie Roleystone WA 22nd June 2010 12:41am #UserID: 154 Posts: 1842 View All Julie's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 22nd June 2010 12:44am | ||||||||||
Mike says... Hi all, The tree has been pretty good - the summer just gone was fairly mild (temperature wise), so it didn't suffer from the heat as much as last year. Of the thousands of flowers we had, only a single fruit grew - it's actually still on the tree now! Also, since the weather cooled down (four or five weeks) the leaves have started to turn brown on the tips again. Not sure if that's due to the weather, too much water or something else. Mike. | About the Author Mike5 Melbourne 22nd June 2010 2:22pm #UserID: 435 Posts: 3 View All Mike5's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Brendan Mackay, Q 23rd June 2010 9:46am #UserID: 1947 Posts: 1722 View All Brendan's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Jason says... I don't think root disease is a issue in Victoria because the temps are too cool to support it. At least that's my experience, growing them in soggy soil ontop of clay seems a non issue here. If you can mulch the tree heavily with small branches and leaves and general garden mess and keep fertilising it it should come good but I think it will take a few years to get back to full health | About the Author Jason Portland. Vic 23rd June 2010 5:08pm #UserID: 637 Posts: 1217 View All Jason's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Julie Roleystone WA 23rd June 2010 7:06pm #UserID: 154 Posts: 1842 View All Julie's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 23rd June 2010 7:09pm | ||||||||||
Mike says... Hi guys, Well, it's been a while, but finally, after almost a decade, we've got a decent crop of fruit on our long-suffering avocado tree. The key (I think) was to keep possums out of the tree. Last year, ringtails got into the tree as the new shoots were showing and ate every single one of them. I thought the tree would die after such an onslaught, but amazingly, it came through and regenerated new leaves. No chance of any fruit though. However, at the start of this season, just before the old leaves started to drop and the new shoots show through I possum-proofed the tree. I had to cut back a fair few branches back from the fence. I also put plastic sheets on the two trunks and possum-spikes along the top of the garden fence. That seemed to keep them out. As a result, it flowered and fruited well. We now have a very hefty crop of (at best guess) around 300+ fruit. I do have a question though: when can I start to harvest the fruit? They are a very good size at the moment, but still seem very hard to the touch. When is the best time to pick? Cheers, Mike.
| About the Author Mike SPRINGVALE,3171,VIC 15th May 2017 4:53pm #UserID: 2983 Posts: 5 View All Mike's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Brendan Mackay, Q 17th May 2017 8:42am #UserID: 1947 Posts: 1722 View All Brendan's Edible Fruit Trees |
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