The Tropical Fruit Forum

Plant an average mango tree at your place of work and plant OS where you live. At work your tree can be raided before the OS fruits are ripe

I took your advice and bought something called a Valencia Pride tree in a 7gal size from Wal-Mart this morning for $30, and I stuck it in the ground at work this afternoon.

What's curious is that I find no pictures of mature Orange Sherbet trees via google searches. Are these that recent of a hybrid that none have grown to full maturity yet?

We are in 10a as well, and we are having great success with our Oro Negro: highly recommended.

I should mention that I used native sandy/loamy soil that I dug out from planting four 25gal green buttonwood mixed with a large bag of topsoil and two medium bags of composted manure. There is no issue here with the soil draining; my only concern is keeping the infrequent flooding of brackish water away from the roots.

Your close to Bradenton so you probably just need to water daily with a lot of water around end of Jan or start of Feb. for 3 - 4 months & I bet it will bloom

Thanks for the tip. I do have a drip line that waters it 3 times a week, but next January I will bump it up to daily watering.

Thanks Mike--

Those do look interesting, and not all that pricey, actually.

I do have quite a bit of pressure-treated lumber, so I think I will go ahead and use it. Is 4' x 4' too small for an avocado tree? I find curiously little info on the internet about size recommendations pertaining to (avocado) trees in raised beds...

Hi, and thanks to both for your advice/confirmations. One thing that does make me nervous is that I am 2 blocks from the Gulf of Mexico here on a barrier island, and usually two times or so each summer, there is flooding during storms. I will be putting the Oro Negro in a raised bed, though the future does not bode well for living at sea level in Florida (not to get political).

One other concern. We planted a 15gal Day variety about 4 years ago. By the second year we had it it set fruit for the first time, and I am embarrassed to admit we were not aware that first-year avocado fruit should be pulled off so as not to inhibit growth of the young tree. There was an enormous yield (and very good flavor, I might add). The next year--last year--produced maybe 4 avocados. This year there was what appeared to be a large amount of avocados budding, but none did. Quite a bit of leaf/branch growth, but no avocados. Is this anything to be worried about, or will the tree be producing avocados in another year or two?

I did make the executive decision to go with the Oro Negro; hopefully I can keep it pruned to a manageable 15ft tall/10ft canopy.

Good afternoon:

We live on a barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Florida and as we have a planting area of @10-12ft in diameter available, we would like to plant a second avocado tree to compliment the Day variety that we already have on our property. A big issue is space: There simply isn't room for a tree that will develop into a 20ft canopy or will grow to be 30ft tall. My wife and I have tried the Oro Negro which tastes great, but not the Wurtz. The Oro Negro and the Wurtz are two trees that we have access to in 25gal containers.

From what I am seeing and hearing from growers, the Oro Negro will grow to be 30ft tall...in 25 or 30 years. I suppose it can also be pruned if it gets to be too big. What attracts us to the Wurtz is that it appears to be the only true "dwarf" avocado tree that will fit nicely into the limited space we have available.

Any thoughts, opinions, or experience that anyone may be able to share?

Also, how much of an impact does having an A-flower avocado tree (such as our Day) planted in relatively close proximity to a B-flower avocado tree in terms of yield?

Thank you.

We got @50 great avocados off this tree this summer amidst these black splotches as photographed. The tips of the two main branches are getting worse & worse. Anyone have experience with this problem?

Hello--

My Day Avocado tree was planted 2 1/2 years ago, and it had been doing very well up until it first started growing avocados in the early spring/late winter. Since then, the branches have been wilting and large black splotches have appeared. After propping the main branches with Y-shaped wood crutches, the main branches have returned to their "normal" shape, but the secondary branches are limp like wet spaghetti, and some of the main branch tips are turning black. I did spray liquid copper all over the tree about 2 months ago as my local nursery advised, but I see no change.

This particular avocado tree has 3 main branches...one is doing reasonably well, but the other two show blackness from their outer tips to about 2' or so in. The leaves look good, with minor yellowing toward the top of the tree.

I am suspecting too much water as the culprit, yet none of my other fruit trees, vegetables, or shrubs are having any problems. I should also mention that in this, the first year of harvest, the tree in question has yielded approximately 50 avocados. All advice welcomed!