Avocado mulching

[Legolas]

Hey all,

it's my first post i hope all are well in here

i need some info about avocado mulching as we do not do it in our country (Lebanon-Mid East) but i was reading a lot on how useful it can be.

i have planted about 200 trees and attached is a sample picture , as you will see no mulching at all ! will this effect its growth ?

any info is really appreciated

cheers

https://ibb.co/iaFr95

[Mark in Texas]

Welcome to the forum!

Avocado trees must be mulched. They have a very shallow root system such that you should  see some fine white roots right under the mulch and in the top 2 cm. of the soil. I use pine needles and their own leaves.

[spaugh]

They will grow without mulch but you will be dealing with weeds and potentially root rot.  The mulch keeps temperatures down on the roots, feeds soil, holds moisture, and inhibits root rot.

That said, I have seen plenty of 20 or 30ft tall trees doing just fine planted right in a lawn with zero mulch. 

If you do apply mulch you will want to put 10 - 15 cm thick 2 meters in diameter circle around the tree.  And do that until the tree is a few years old and they can then self mulch. When you trim and shape the tree, chop that up and leave it on the root zone.

[Lory]

Yes mulching mulching mulching!
It's a key factor in succesfully growing avocado together with a good deainage.
Among all the stuff you can use for mulching the best one according to my experience are dry avocado leaves, the one you will find under the trees.
Don't trash or burn them.
I usually spread under the tree cnopy and i put some stones so that they will not be removed by the wind or by passing chickens :-)
it works great, after a couple of months you can observe thousand of feeding rootlets growing just under the leaves and the tree gets much healthier

[Mark in Texas]

Had to laugh........I was reading a pro avocado growing guide that was condemning owner neat niks who rake and bag avocado leaves from under and around the tree.  Author finished with a stern "PUT THEM BACK!"

[Lory]

HAHA