Reviving an old Avocado Orchard

[nattyfroootz]

Howdy everyone,

I am going to be taking on the revival of about 30-40 Avocados that were planted in about 1978, but haven't been watered for 20 years until about 2 years ago.  Most of the trees are displaying some pretty gnarly trunk damage w/ bark peeling off and dead wood being apparent almost to the ground in most cases.  The current care taker has started irrigation 2 years ago but that is about all that's been done.

The trees are sprouting from cuts about 5 or 6 feet off the ground, and in some cases just coming up from the roots while a dead trunk stands above them. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best course of action?

I am considering stump cutting some immediately but wonder if I should wait until next spring when conditions are a little less extreme, (not very extreme, but 80* days and bright direct sun). After stump cutting I'll be grafting a bunch of new varieties on.  Currently they are all Bacon.  I'll be mulching heavily with wood chips, horse manure, and compost when they come into my posession.

[spaugh]

Why not remove the really bad ones and use new rootstock?  They will probably outperform the old trees in the long run. 

[nattyfroootz]

That is definitely a possibility.  I've got about 40 or so root stocks getting ready for grafting so I'll definitely be doing some replanting. I just wasn't sure how worth it it is to keep these or how vigorous the existing trees might be given their state of decline.

[ScottR]

I agree with Brad, in this case since tree's were treated so badly over many years would be hard to bring back unless trunk's were in good shape! Good luck

[nattyfroootz]

Cool, thanks for the advice guys! I'll probably end up just getting new avocados and grafting those out in the future on my current root stock.

Do you guys have any recommendations on places to check out? I'm going to be driving through SoCal next week.  I heard Atkins is a good spot, but definitely open to finding some other cool rare stuff that is not Avocados. 

[ScottR]

Hey Natty, one place you might want to contact down in Ventura area but inland a bit is ; https://brokawnursery.com/ for one variety which they have is Carmen Hass plus they have great rootstock you might have to commit to a certain # of tree's but worth calling for sure.

[Tropheus76]

You have the roots firmly in place and well established. Cut off what is dead and there should be a spurt of growth. My only experience is deer mauling my trees and it coming back much stronger than before but the same should apply. Hell, just try it on one for now and see what happens. If you get a good regimen of water and fertilizer you might be able to bring it back. Plus you can graft on new cultivars pretty easily on the new growth.