Author Topic: Avocado thread  (Read 183004 times)

Fygee

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #325 on: June 11, 2018, 04:51:07 PM »
They're getting mostly shade with some brief late afternoon sun. The sun here is way too intense for avocado trees this young, so mostly shade is the only option until they get a couple years in to grow some protective bark, root out to take in more moisture, and leaf out to provide adequate trunk/branch protection. Stunted growth is expected and an acceptable sacrifice to keep them alive and the trunk unburnt. This is the method Don Olson from Shamus/Greenlife recommends, and others in Arizona have had success with it.

I'm going to carefully move them into large Rootbuilder sacks/pots once the current leaf nodes grow out, but they won't be going in the ground for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately I have a small yard and have to make do with the space I have, which means a lot of container growing. That and if they manage to survive a couple years (they're about nine months old since they were purchased), I want to make sure I can take them with me when I eventually move into a place with a bigger yard.

I also have some seed grown ones that I'm experimenting with by exposing them more to our sun, heat, and crap native soil. If they do well, then I'm going to attempt to graft scions and and see how they do.
Continuing my journey to disprove those who say "You can't grow that in the desert" since 2013.

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #326 on: June 11, 2018, 08:07:11 PM »
They're getting mostly shade with some brief late afternoon sun. The sun here is way too intense for avocado trees this young, so mostly shade is the only option until they get a couple years in to grow some protective bark, root out to take in more moisture, and leaf out to provide adequate trunk/branch protection. Stunted growth is expected and an acceptable sacrifice to keep them alive and the trunk unburnt. This is the method Don Olson from Shamus/Greenlife recommends, and others in Arizona have had success with it.

I'm going to carefully move them into large Rootbuilder sacks/pots once the current leaf nodes grow out, but they won't be going in the ground for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately I have a small yard and have to make do with the space I have, which means a lot of container growing. That and if they manage to survive a couple years (they're about nine months old since they were purchased), I want to make sure I can take them with me when I eventually move into a place with a bigger yard.

I also have some seed grown ones that I'm experimenting with by exposing them more to our sun, heat, and crap native soil. If they do well, then I'm going to attempt to graft scions and and see how they do.

Nice project, good luck with this.

CA Hockey

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #327 on: June 20, 2018, 12:35:18 AM »
Finally got around to taking photos of my Avos. It’s been a lot of hard work and patience to baby most of them and get them going.

Lots of photos so please bear with me as I figure out how to upload so many images...

There are a couple of repeats (noted) and photos of other trees I accidentally placed in and am not sure how to remove as it was very difficult to get these done. (sorry)

Pinkerton


choquette + rootstock adjacent


repeat picture of pinkerton


GEM


Nabal


Sharwil or JB (tag from epicenter lost, I don't share this budwood because I can't verify cultivar at this time)


Carmen (ebay -- because I don't necessarily trust the origin of this tree, I also don't share this budwood without at least warning the other party)


Bacon on Duke 7


party time


Bob


shindler


reed


choquette (a different tree)


Daily 11


repeat picture of party time


colleen davis


hellen


weird bug on mango. not sure if beneficial or harmful


reed on toro canyon


sharwil on dusa


rootstock with multiple grafts that failed during transplant period. only mantequilla graft still alive


fuerte


dead carmen hass obtained from bonita creek nursery, died during transplant when half of roots were sheared off by a shovel.


queen


GEM


multi-mulberry


Herd


White Pakistan mulberry


green gold


edranol


nimlioh


pinkerton # 2


Kahaluu


hass #1


Holiday


Oro Negro


Gwen graft somewhere there


Yamagata


Hass #2


Lamb hass


sir prize


sharwil #2, sickly


jan Boyce


Stewart


Koala


Sport


Linda


 Rootstock, several scattered around


multi graft, whitsell nowels daily 11 survived. Creamhart f1 and leavens hass still green


Ardith


Sally

« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 02:36:13 AM by CA Hockey »

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #328 on: June 20, 2018, 08:19:45 AM »
Wow, that's quite a collection, good luck with your projects.

Bug is a cicada.  "Cicada are known for drinking xylem from tree roots (as nymphs) and branches & twigs (as adults), however, when they are small they must rely on grasses, and possibly other small plants for nourishment."   IOW, kill it.  A good systemic soil drench or foliar spray would be imidacloprid.   Citrus growers and vineyards (that includes me) apply it to prevent such deadly diseases as Pierce's Disease, kill the HLB host, psyllid on citrus, etc.  It's labeled for everything consumable.  This is enough for the entire county for a year.  :D  https://www.amazon.com/contains-Imidacloprid-Termiticide-Insecticide-ingredient/dp/B011S22ANI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1529496506&sr=8-2&keywords=adonis+75&dpID=51GlGbmepHL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Based on your soil analysis I'd go with a slow release food, IF, you have rains or scattered irrigation to allow for the slow release of nutrients.  Otherwise this one can't be beat based on it's 5-1-3 NPK, a nice ratio of nitrate N to ammonical N, value, etc.  This 5-1-3 ratio would be excellent on citrus too if that applies.  https://www.amazon.com/77900-Performance-Fertilizer-25-5-15-25-Pound/dp/B008JSIKCU/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_1

IMO none of those trees are ready to harvest scions from.

All that matters now is roots and you've got a damn good start with such fine stock as Dusa.  I'd get a mulch on them too and if you didn't innoculate them when planting I'd drench them with a mychor endo like this one, available on Amazon.  NO high P foods especially when using a mychorrizial product! Contrary to label hype the last thing they need is a "root booster".  They need N, in small amounts.  VAM has the ability to extract P from the soil once the colony is established.



Good luck and thanks for sharing the pix!

« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 08:59:37 AM by Mark in Texas »

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #329 on: June 20, 2018, 08:22:30 AM »
Ardith


What's the white stuff around the Ardith?

ScottR

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #330 on: June 20, 2018, 10:59:36 AM »
Looks like perlite Mark, nice collection hope they all grow strong for you Hockey ;)

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #331 on: June 20, 2018, 12:13:49 PM »
White stuff is perlite.

Can you apply the myco through a fertigation system? I added some liquid myco as well as powdered killer myco(the shark brand) but have no issue doing it again with a recommended product.

As for imidacloprid, I’ve strongly  considered it but am worried about bees. Not too many blooms now to worry about so I’ll look into it. Next thing on the list besides the above is to white wash. I have used the surround wp product on a sprayer. I used it last year on everything and it worked really well, maybe too well on my mangoes because it seems the mangoes all slowed down in growth last year when I applied it. I don’t think they minded the 90s and 100s at all.

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #332 on: June 20, 2018, 12:45:12 PM »
That's quite a Ranch you've got there in the making.  Did you landscape all that yourself, or use a crew?  I foresee one day a hundred years hence folks will talk about he Hockey ranch that survived the great heat purges of the 2030's and there remains a vessel for the continuation of the Persea americana species.  With the surround product, did you find that it washed away after rain?  Did it clog up your sprayer at 4cups to a gallon (is that right?)?  Did it work to deter ants?

Thanks for all the great pics.  They will make a nice reference in the future.

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #333 on: June 20, 2018, 01:17:10 PM »
Thanks for the complement. We’d like it to be a fruit paradise. That’s just the avocado side. There’s a stone fruit segment, citrus area, fig area and mango area with a few other trees sprinkled in (jabos, cherimoya atemoya, tropical cherries) 😋

Landscaping was done by a crew but we helped design it. I tried to put Avos so that A and B flowering trees alternate adjacent to each other and that they flower at roughly the same times. Can’t help the alternate bearing but I wonder if grafting can break the alternat ebearing habit or if it is dictated by rootstock.

Surround wp clogged my auto sprayer and I had to wash it out. My hand sprayer worked well however and that’s how I covered everything. It kind of washes off in the rain but for the most part a thin layer stays on so o guess you could say it gets diluted in the rain. I think the official recommendation is to layer it on every few weeks. I was happy with 1-2 layers last year. I didn’t spray for bugs last year so I think it helped. This year I’m being attacked by bugs despite spraying neem rosemary and spinosad. I can’t keep up with the bugs. I may have to use the imidocloprid but I believe the surround will work. Will update.

spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #334 on: June 20, 2018, 03:47:44 PM »
Nice Khalid.  Whats next?

Brad Spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #335 on: June 20, 2018, 05:47:19 PM »
Hi Brad


1) Trouble shooting mangoes. Trying to get them to grow and fruit and survive between growing seasons. I will try at least for the next few years.

2) getting cacao growing in my greenhouse. My current setup is not ideal and it’s hard for me to figure out how best to set it up. I know you’ve warned me that my designated area is small ... but I don’t want to give up more space for it for only a few truly tropical trees.

3) getting the figs to grow. I have maybe 28 varieties that I rooted over the winter. I’ve lost 4-5 varieties during the transplanting process. Most are growing well now and have at least 4 inches of green growth. Some have more than 16 inches of growth. Certainly let some are better suited to the local environment here than others but I think I can get all of them to grow.

Once that happens, I have at least 1 variety that can sustain the fig wasp, and I have a couple other varieties that depend on the fig wasp for production. So either the wasp will be attracted to the host tree or I’ll have to request some fruit that have the wasp eggs and wasps to start a colony.


4) surviving hlb. I don’t think any of my trees are affected, and I’ve heard from some on this forum that foliar spraying can keep infected trees alive, but keeping them protected and alive is a big priority.

5) fruit harvesting and keeping critters away: right now the dog is locked up so that he doesn’t knock over a lot of the small plants. That means rabbits and other critters are having their way with the yard.  The dog did a great job protecting trees in the past.

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #336 on: June 21, 2018, 08:51:17 AM »
White stuff is perlite.

Can you apply the myco through a fertigation system? I added some liquid myco as well as powdered killer myco(the shark brand) but have no issue doing it again with a recommended product.

As for imidacloprid, I’ve strongly  considered it but am worried about bees. Not too many blooms now to worry about so I’ll look into it. Next thing on the list besides the above is to white wash. I have used the surround wp product on a sprayer. I used it last year on everything and it worked really well, maybe too well on my mangoes because it seems the mangoes all slowed down in growth last year when I applied it. I don’t think they minded the 90s and 100s at all.

Another myth that won't die.  Here's a study from your state that shows imidicloprid fed to bees in a solution has no effect on individuals or the colony.  Having said that we have millions of wild bees and I only soil drench when not in bloom.   I added 2 tsp. of Adonis 75 to a 30 gal. garbage of rain water, a little plant food, and drenched everything in the greenhouse about 2 weeks ago pumping from the can - mango, avocado, pineapple, avocado, citrus, annona, etc.

Pg. 52, Frank Byrne, ph.d., et al.
http://citrusresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/Winter2014.pdf

Surround is the lazy man's way to shade.  I finally bought some and solved my annual sunburn problem.  I had Reed and Gwen fruit and leaves being nailed every winter when the sun sank south which is exposed the un-acclimated material to UV and full sun thru a 4' high wall vent.  Just turned them black....



Have read from a reliable source that the Great White Shark brand of myco is snake oil.  We as consumers don't have a lab to test the products we buy so we really don't know.  I wouldn't use fertigation as most of these products have adjuncts that might clog up your system.   One is humates which doesn't dissolve in water, at least not the one used in VAM. So I apply by hand using a watering can and agitate frequently.  Best applied as a settling drench just before or during your final backfill of soil into the hole.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 08:55:11 AM by Mark in Texas »

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #337 on: June 21, 2018, 09:06:36 AM »
Hi Brad

1) Trouble shooting mangoes. Trying to get them to grow and fruit and survive between growing seasons. I will try at least for the next few years.

Something's not right with your treatment of them.   Given the right conditions mangos should grow fast.   What food are they getting, what's the NPK?  IMO juvenile mangos need plenty of N, not K as pushed by mango growers in Florida.  I have fruited trees the following year they were grafted and that was by using only a slow release 18-4-9 food with micros called Polyon, a very high quality 12 mo. food used by golf course managers, nurserymen.  Everything in my greenhouse gets the same food.  It not only feeds them a little at a time but it sure cuts down on man hours.
 


BTW Khaled, is your soil clay based, heavy?

BTW, it's obvious you've spent a lot of time and money on this project.  I trust you based your decisions and choices using the results of a water and soil analysis?  Also, doing a leaf tissue analysis when in doubt can save you some heartache, time, and money.

In a previous post I said citrus prefers a 3-1-2 and recommended the Peters food, 25-5-15.  Actually it's a NPK of 5-1-3 which is the actual ratio processed by citrus via leaf/petiole tissue analysis.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 09:15:34 AM by Mark in Texas »

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #338 on: June 21, 2018, 10:10:55 AM »
Mangos are for sure a challenge here.  The climate is marginal for them in Southern CA. 
Brad Spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #339 on: June 23, 2018, 07:21:37 PM »
Mark, heres the mazzei injector hooked up.  Works awesome!  Super happy with that.  Thank you very much for donating it to me.  I threw 5lbs of fertilizer at my trees on that station today over the course of a 45min watering.  I think theres about 50 trees on that station.  They were needing some fertilizer and more water.  My son thinks the injector is cool too btw. 



Brad Spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #340 on: June 24, 2018, 01:44:12 AM »
Hah! That's a nice clear photo of your set up Brad!
I've been reading Behl's injector system in his recent injector thread and contemplating to get one myself. Been leaning to get Mazzei too; looks simpler, straight forward, no moving part, no electricity/battery and the price is down to earth! (The fact that Mark and Brandon's input there also help to sway me as well).

Also, I like your set up of vertical placing of the Mazzei, in parallel to water supply but still under full control with 2 ball valves and 2 unions joints on each end of it.

My challenge is to choose the right model for what I need, -lots of models to choose from-...,
so as to provide about 5 G bucket mixed fertilizer,  -just like yours- but I want it to last for about a month  before I need to do another mixing. So, the suction rate need to be relatively small; wondering can this be controlled with another inline valve in that fertillizer intake tubing?

Glad to see that you like the system, and thanks for posting it Brad!
Sam

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #341 on: June 24, 2018, 07:53:16 AM »
Mark, heres the mazzei injector hooked up.  Works awesome!  Super happy with that.  Thank you very much for donating it to me.  I threw 5lbs of fertilizer at my trees on that station today over the course of a 45min watering.  I think theres about 50 trees on that station.  They were needing some fertilizer and more water.  My son thinks the injector is cool too btw. 



Nice job!  Son is gonna make a good farm hand.    Very happy to donate it to such a noble cause.  If you ever need to clean out the whole system 78% sulfuric acid can be diluted in a 5 gal. bucket and syphoned down line.  I buy the 5 gal. box at an auto parts store, and yes, it's pure.

If that's a cellulose filter I'd shit can it in favor of a Amiad with a S/S internal filter column, one after the well head and one after the Mazzei.  Just my dos centavos amigo......

I have the ones shown in the top row, middle.  Nothing to replace, you just clean the screens in a bucket of water.  Valve lets you open it up and blow it out.

https://www.dripworks.com/catalogsearch/result?q=amiad+filters

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #342 on: June 24, 2018, 07:58:58 AM »
My challenge is to choose the right model for what I need, -lots of models to choose from-...,

Yep, you do have to choose the one that will work for your gpm rate.  I gave Brad the big one based on his total output when considering a particular zone.

Quote
so as to provide about 5 G bucket mixed fertilizer,  -just like yours- but I want it to last for about a month  before I need to do another mixing. So, the suction rate need to be relatively small; wondering can this be controlled with another inline valve in that fertillizer intake tubing?

You control the rate of suction two ways - with the bypass valve - open and no suction; closing down in increments - suction.  The small valve that fits on the suction tube at the start of the suction tube can also be used to control the uptake.   Looks like Brad has it closed down about a 1/3.

You're not building a piano,  ;D only injecting fertilizer into the system until the bucket is empty and then some.  After the bucket runs dry you open up the valve and let the lines purge of all the goodies until clear at the end of the line.
« Last Edit: June 24, 2018, 08:01:04 AM by Mark in Texas »

spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #343 on: June 24, 2018, 10:14:02 AM »
I have a SS filter on the well head too.  The big blue filter gets me down to 5 microns.  Unfortunately we have an iron and manganese bacteria in our water that turns into particulate downstream from the water tank.  I already have it filtered at the tank and can get rid of this one.  Its an old leftover from before I put the whole property filter at the boost pump a year ago. 

Samu, it all comes down to your pipe size and flow rate.  What size pipe do you have and how much water are you running through it in a minute?  How many minutes you run per month? 

If you look close, theres a black valve you fine tune the flow rate with on the inlet tube on the mazzei.
« Last Edit: June 24, 2018, 10:20:35 AM by spaugh »
Brad Spaugh

Mark in Texas

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #344 on: June 24, 2018, 04:53:44 PM »
Filters - sounds good.  I quickly got rid of the one on the house in favor of Amiad.

If you look close, theres a black valve you fine tune the flow rate with on the inlet tube on the mazzei.

Yep, one of the two ways of adjusting the suction flow.

It's been one month since I grafted the avocado scions.   Here's 2 Lamb Hass, 2 Sharwil growing really well now and one Pinkerton just beginning to push.  Again, muchas grass.



Stewart on top of a Bacon seedling.  Will remove the Bacon shoots soon.
 


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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #345 on: June 24, 2018, 05:46:21 PM »
Nice grafting Mark.  You will be eating home grown cados in no time.  Probably get some stewarts Fall of 2019

Im liking the lamb hass, those are in season now and they are great.  Im going to plant more of those.
« Last Edit: June 24, 2018, 05:52:11 PM by spaugh »
Brad Spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #346 on: June 25, 2018, 02:51:17 AM »
Hi Mark

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

I had a soils report done for engineering but not a soil analysis (unless it's in there somewhere). However, I did have a handful of nurserymen out here including one very prominent local guru who promotes specific soil types and he declared my soil 'good soil' but compacted in areas. There is some clay but it is not considered a clay soil... somewhere between loam and clay I figure.

However, the mangos died while in pots with various fast draining mixes and coco noir. I thought about sending a sample in to one of the ag extensions but never got around to it The death rate slowed down dramatically around the time of planting... although I have lost a couple of large branches on some trees but I think the process had already been in play. I've included a picture of one such tree where a lower branch is alive but higher main branch is dead. I've pruned most of the dead wood but didn't get around to this one yet.

I just threw some nutricote 100 and micromax around all the trees minus stone fruit yesterday (ran out). I figure a slow release would do them good, although I couldn't find the 360 year round version. I think I used polyon last year (green beads?). Maybe I'll just switch to that.

As for fertigation, I have the same system as Behl. I like it so far, but the main drawback is that I can't quite tell when it's empty. It doesn't really empty of concentrated fertilizer. It just slowly gets diluted with incoming water, which displaces a small percentage of the concentrate into the water line. I guess mine is supposed to empty every 10,000 gallons or so (my calculations may be off... I've got to sit down and think about it) and its hard for me to tell how many gallons are being used per day for landscaping. I can check to see if the liquid leaving the tank is colored or not but this doesn't seem like an accurate way of measuring. In any case, it's been over a month so I think it's time to at least check it.

I'll look into the water soluble fertilizer you recommended. I had thrown in grow-more 16-16-16 (or maybe all 20s -- I can't remember) in addition to Dr earth nitro 7-0-2 I think and fulvic acid.


Hi Brad

1) Trouble shooting mangoes. Trying to get them to grow and fruit and survive between growing seasons. I will try at least for the next few years.

Something's not right with your treatment of them.   Given the right conditions mangos should grow fast.   What food are they getting, what's the NPK?  IMO juvenile mangos need plenty of N, not K as pushed by mango growers in Florida.  I have fruited trees the following year they were grafted and that was by using only a slow release 18-4-9 food with micros called Polyon, a very high quality 12 mo. food used by golf course managers, nurserymen.  Everything in my greenhouse gets the same food.  It not only feeds them a little at a time but it sure cuts down on man hours.
 


BTW Khaled, is your soil clay based, heavy?

BTW, it's obvious you've spent a lot of time and money on this project.  I trust you based your decisions and choices using the results of a water and soil analysis?  Also, doing a leaf tissue analysis when in doubt can save you some heartache, time, and money.

In a previous post I said citrus prefers a 3-1-2 and recommended the Peters food, 25-5-15.  Actually it's a NPK of 5-1-3 which is the actual ratio processed by citrus via leaf/petiole tissue analysis.

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #347 on: June 25, 2018, 02:54:30 AM »
Nice looking grafts. One question though -- why graft way down low rather than allowing the rootstock to send a central leader and graft off of that? I have a couple of large multi- avos done in the second manner but only did that out of convenience. Is there an advantage to doing it the way you did it? I'd be worried about the balance of the tree if certain varieties grew very large or bulky.

-K


Filters - sounds good.  I quickly got rid of the one on the house in favor of Amiad.

If you look close, theres a black valve you fine tune the flow rate with on the inlet tube on the mazzei.

Yep, one of the two ways of adjusting the suction flow.

It's been one month since I grafted the avocado scions.   Here's 2 Lamb Hass, 2 Sharwil growing really well now and one Pinkerton just beginning to push.  Again, muchas grass.



Stewart on top of a Bacon seedling.  Will remove the Bacon shoots soon.
 


spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #348 on: June 25, 2018, 10:39:52 AM »
Hey Khalid, you can install a water meter after the injector if you need to know how much water you are using.  I have one installed on mine just so I can see how many gallons and at what flow rate is going to my avocados.  Its there in the photo above the blue bucket.  Its a blue water meter. 

You can watch it spin and set a stop watch to figure out your flow rate.  And it logs how many gallons you use.  Its not that useful for me now I know what my sprinklers put out but helped figuring out how long to water before I knew what the flow rate was.  Blindly watering without an idea how much you are using isn't a good idea if you have a lot of trees.  Better to get it in the ballpark.  In your setup you could use the meter on an ongoing basis for when to refill the fertilizer.

I would suggest you not fertilize every watering.  Youcan get fertilizer buildup and burn the plants.  And too much fertilizer and soft growth encourages the bugs to attack them.  Its a good idea to water with plain water several times to flush the ground out after fertilizing.  It also gives the trees a chance to harden off the new flushes. 
Brad Spaugh

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Re: Avocado thread
« Reply #349 on: June 25, 2018, 10:49:47 AM »
Nice looking grafts. One question though -- why graft way down low rather than allowing the rootstock to send a central leader and graft off of that? I have a couple of large multi- avos done in the second manner but only did that out of convenience. Is there an advantage to doing it the way you did it? I'd be worried about the balance of the tree if certain varieties grew very large or bulky.

-K

Cause it's all I have to work with after the January freeze and I'm not about to wait.  It's late enough. I do my best grafting in early March.    Except for Reed and Gwen, these trees froze to the ground.  18F will do it.  Why the Reed made it thru is anyone's guess and yes it IS pure Reed. Got the scion from U.C.R.   My only choice was to take a chance on grafting to young, green shoots that pushed from the rootstock which is Waldin on this one.  It worked.

I have grafted to a few seedlings of Fantastic, Sir Prize, Reed and Oro Negro but they're not doing well. 

Yes, the less vigorous Pinkerton will play second fiddle to the other varieties.  I have only Pinkerton on another tree, two grafts.

Be careful with those salts Kahled.  Less is more such that a slow release encapsulated food is a safe bet.  Probably preaching to the choir but avocados hate high salts, unless the rootstock is Waldin and it can almost take salt water. 

I hope so Brad.  The thought of having to wait 2 years for avocados sucks.  At least I didn't lose everything.  You think that's bad, here's my Frankencitrus.  I have about 20 grafts of Cara Cara red navel, Hamlin, and Marrs orange on it plus limequat and Persian lime on a key lime tree with a 6" trunk.   Here's some recent t-buds of Marrs, a very sweet low acid orange some of you guys call "Texas Sweet".  The clothespins cinch down the flaps perfectly - one above and one below the bud.  I'll remove them at about 2 weeks.