Avocado tree water requirements

[00christian00]

I often read comments online about how water hungry is Avocado cultivation.
Since I grow plants for hobby and I use a water well, I never paid attention to how much water I do use.
How water hungry are Avocado trees compared to other fruit trees?
What happen if you don't give it enough water? Will it not fruit at all or will the fruit be smaller or less tasty?

[ricshaw]

"Most of the avocado roots are in only the top six inches of soil and are under the canopy out to the drip line."

From:
https://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/sites/default/files/documents/Irrigating-Avocados-Fact-Sheet.pdf

[00christian00]

"Most of the avocado roots are in only the top six inches of soil and are under the canopy out to the drip line."

From:
https://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/sites/default/files/documents/Irrigating-Avocados-Fact-Sheet.pdf

I did know about that, but it doesn't answer my questions.
I did find some sources stating 5-20 gallons several times per week once adults, but there is a big difference between 5 and 20 plus "several" is even more generic.

[spaugh]

Mature trees can take  up to 400 gallons per week.

If you dont water them they wilt and the fruit falls off within a few days.  I have had my trees wilt and drop fruit after not watering for 4 or 5 days of really hot dry windy weather.

If you water after they wilt they do come back quickly.  If you continue to not water the leaves will die and the wood will turn black and tree will eventually die.  If you water just enough to keep the tree from wilting it will slow the trees growth and you will not get good fruit production.  They also get salt burn with insufficient watering schedule.  The pro avocado farmers will do excess irrigation periodically to leech the soil of salts.  They may even go so far as to use special devices that pull water from the soil so they can monitor the TDS and EC levels of the ground water in the rootzone.

This water requurement all depends on how hot it is, how windy it is, and how low the relative humidity in the air is.  Also the quality of the irrigation water.   When its hot, dry and windy the trees perspire a lot.  They do take more water than some plants and less than say a banana.  There is a lot of leaf material on avocados and a lot of fruit.  They need to metabolize a lot of sunshine and water to be productive.

[ricshaw]

"Most of the avocado roots are in only the top six inches of soil and are under the canopy out to the drip line."

From:
https://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/sites/default/files/documents/Irrigating-Avocados-Fact-Sheet.pdf

I did know about that, but it doesn't answer my questions.
I did find some sources stating 5-20 gallons several times per week once adults, but there is a big difference between 5 and 20 plus "several" is even more generic.

Did you bother to look at the link I provided above? HOW MUCH WATER TO USE:

[00christian00]

Mature trees can take  up to 400 gallons per week.

If you dont water them they wilt and the fruit falls off within a few days.  I have had my trees wilt and drop fruit after not watering for 4 or 5 days of really hot dry windy weather.

If you water after they wilt they do come back quickly.  If you continue to not water the leaves will die and the wood will turn black and tree will eventually die.  If you water just enough to keep the tree from wilting it will slow the trees growth and you will not get good fruit production.  They also get salt burn with insufficient watering schedule.  The pro avocado farmers will do excess irrigation periodically to leech the soil of salts.  They may even go so far as to use special devices that pull water from the soil so they can monitor the TDS and EC levels of the ground water in the rootzone.

This water requurement all depends on how hot it is, how windy it is, and how low the relative humidity in the air is.  Also the quality of the irrigation water.   When its hot, dry and windy the trees perspire a lot.  They do take more water than some plants and less than say a banana.  There is a lot of leaf material on avocados and a lot of fruit.  They need to metabolize a lot of sunshine and water to be productive.

Woa, that's a crazy amount of water. Hopefully it can be contained with a small canopy.

"Most of the avocado roots are in only the top six inches of soil and are under the canopy out to the drip line."

From:
https://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/sites/default/files/documents/Irrigating-Avocados-Fact-Sheet.pdf

I did know about that, but it doesn't answer my questions.
I did find some sources stating 5-20 gallons several times per week once adults, but there is a big difference between 5 and 20 plus "several" is even more generic.

Did you bother to look at the link I provided above? HOW MUCH WATER TO USE:

Sorry and thanks.
I tried to open it, but was on mobile before and it was taking a while to load, since you quoted that part I thought there wasn't what I was looking for and closed.

[roblack]

Well that does it, the Oro Negro is getting drenched even more; and I am already notorious for watering.

[pineislander]

I had several avocados which nearly died from drought. To help improve soil organic matter, reduce soil surface temp and evaporation I used cordwood covered with mulch.

[Greg A]

"How water hungry are Avocado trees compared to other fruit trees?"
In my yard, I've tried to get away with the least water possible, and I've noticed that deciduous fruit trees like apples and peaches need the least, citrus are intermediate, and avocados need the most.

"What happen if you don't give it enough water? Will it not fruit at all or will the fruit be smaller or less tasty?"
In the town where I grew up, I knew of a couple of avocado trees that were unirrigated. So they lived off of only rainfall, and this is in Southern California where it's dry all summer and only around 18 inches of rain fell there in the winter, on average.

The trees didn't look great. One had only a couple fruit each year and its leaves always looked very stressed in the fall. The other had a dozen or more fruit each year and looked better than some irrigated trees I've seen (maybe even some in my own yard!). But this tree was in a flat area in a vacant lot near a road and probably gathered a lot of extra rain through road runoff. It also had a deep, undisturbed, natural mulch.

So, the fruit were few on both trees, but I must say they always tasted very good.

[pineislander]

On a backyard scale if regulations permit diverting sink, shower and clothes washer gray water drains to irrigate an avocado tree might work well. You would have to regulate toxins you might put down the drains. 

[buddy roo]

I am on the opposite end of the watering  spectrum I believe most people water there fruit trees WAY TO MUCH , i normally only water my Avocado trees in the summer, an exception would be fall/winter if we are having bad Santa Ana winds. I really do not believe that i water my trees more than 5 or 6 times a year, yes my leaves are smaller and my fruit is a little smaller (still larger than you get in the store) i still get way more fruit than we can eat so have plenty to share with friends and neighbors . Way to many people listen to the old standards developed by the chemical co. and large age.  of how to feed/water a fruit tree, these guys use little bean counters who figure out that 4 1/2 cents of water plus 4 1/2 cents of fertilizer = 10 cents of fruit, QUANTITY NOT QUALITY is what counts for them, I think that most people know that if you get to much rain or you water to much that you wash out the flavor most fruit,so why not cut back and only water when your trees start to show sighs of stress then try watering with some  type of drip system in a way to encourage your roots to go deep.                                       just my 2 cents.      Patrick