I finally moved my Ring battery-powered camera and caught the pesky critters that suddenly found a taste for my papayas.
https://ring.com/share/6533049396460174427
Now I just need to find a way to deal with them.
They don't seem to like the Rat X bait and have shied away from the Rat Zappers so I'm trying the old tried and true Victor snap traps.

Finally I got a Hass avocado tree to find a sweet spot in my backyard and set fruit, but it's difficult finding information on just how long it will be before the fruit is ready for harvest.  The fruit is walnut to golf ball size right now and I'm guessing it won't be ready until the end of the year.
Any information about the length of time between flowering and harvest for this variety would be appreciated.

Last year I finally cut down a Carrotwood tree in my backyard that was a constant source of leaf and other litter.  Then the only other trees shading my yard, which were in my neighbor's yards were toppled by the wind storms in February.  Now it gets pretty hot in the yard even with my shade canopies.
The one bit of good news is that I've finally got a Hass avocado tree that is flourishing in the spot where the Carrotwood tree used to be and it's now grown to over 7 feet tall.
My dilemma is whether or not to start trimming it to a manageable size for fruit harvesting or let it go to 15+ feet for use as a shade tree?

The number of squirrels attacking my backyard plants (fruit) had dropped dramatically, but there were still a few left and they were causing problems.
Last week a remarkable thing happened when one of the rabbits that regularly munches on my backyard grass to exception to a visiting squirrel and chased him out of the yard.  This is now a regular occurrence and we couldn't be happier.  Today, two rabbits teamed up to chase the squirrel.  Long overdue.  I'm trying to get a video of the action.

Early Monday morning (3:00 AM) an unusual (for San Diego) wind storm picked up and tossed two 8' X 20' shade structures off my patio and down my back slope.  In the process the tops of several of my papaya plants were ripped off and I lost a lot of large fruit that hadn't started to ripen yet.
Two other shade structures survived because they were tied down to anchors in the ground and not just attached to concrete blocks.
Amazingly the shade structures survived and are still usable, but the papaya plants are in bad shape.
Is it possible the the plants with the sheared off tops will survive?
Any comments will be appreciated.

I think I found a solution to the problem of trying to grow potted avocados and papayas in my south facing and windy backyard.
I know most folks have been saying that the plants should have full sun, however, I purchased some 8' X 20' shade structures with 50% shade cloth and the plants are doing much better.
Early morning and late afternoon sun can still hit most plants directly, but the intense midday sun gets filtered through the shade cloth.
Since we're under water use restrictions here in San Diego I'm adding a third shade structure for some in ground plantings and shifting more of my backyard away from grass and into mulched planting areas.
Of course, they just announced that we're mostly likely in for a very strong El Nino this winter so everything could possibly just blow away. 

I was thinking of using shade cloth has a wind barrier in my back yard to protect some of my younger mangoes, papayas and avocados.  I was guessing that a 40% sun screen cloth with grommets would work to eliminate the dry winds that blow my plants around.  Anyone have any experience blocking the wind with shade cloth/fabric?

They are closing the golf course behind my house so I need to act rather quickly to clear some old headaches from my backyard before they put up fencing that will make it harder to access.
I'm having a gnarly old eucalyptus on my back slope and a troublesome carrot wood tree removed from my backyard and now need a replacement shade tree to provide some protection for my tropical plants.
My San Diego (zone 10) backyard is south facing (full sun) and a bit windy.
I'm trying to find a relatively fast growing shade tree that won't be too messy and can tolerate the windy conditions.
The tree will be used to protect my papayas, young mango trees, and young avocado trees from getting blasted by the full afternoon sun.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Next month I may become an outlaw because if I see one of my plants in need of water I'm not going to worry about day and time restrictions on water use set up by some bureaucrats who are still approving massive residential and commercial real estate developments within this City.
I have my own conservation measures in place which allow for greater flexibility in dealing with the water needs of my plants while still greatly reducing my water usage.

http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/drought/prohibitions.shtml
Water Only 3 Assigned Days A Week
Water no more than 3 days per week on the following assigned days, which are determined by your address or type of dwelling:
Residences with odd-numbered addresses (301 Drought Drive): Water ONLY on Sundays, Tuesdays & Thursdays.
Residences with even-numbered addresses (500 Conservation Circle): Water ONLY on Saturdays, Mondays  & Wednesdays.
Apartments, condominiums and businesses: Water ONLY on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays.

Water at the Right Times
November 1 to May 31, water between 4 pm-10 am for ONLY 7 MINUTES when using a standard sprinkler system.
June 1 to October 31, water between 6 pm-10 am for ONLY 10 MINUTES when using a standard sprinkler system.

For the first time since moving into our house in 1997 I haven't seen a ground squirrel in almost a month.
I can only hope this continues.
I don't know whether I should be thanking that big hawk that was hanging around all summer or the little dogs on either side of our yard.
I got about 20 squirrels with the Rat Zapper this spring and actually bought another one to protect the papayas and peaches.  Then they were gone.
I'm still in shock.
We have never been without ground squirrels attacking our plants, digging in all our patio pots, stealing our oranges, ravaging our tomatoes and tunneling into our back slope.
I feel blessed, but I'm totally perplexed.

I finally disassembled (cut up) and threw away the small (6'x6'x6') plastic greenhouse I purchased 2 years ago.
It was OK for the first year, but I realized that I had become a slave to the thing with constant opening and closing of flaps to control the temperature/humidity and it was too expensive to heat in the winter while being next to impossible to cool in the summer.
I finally realized that my small plants would do just as well in protected areas of my backyard and that I could start seedlings enclosed in inexpensive plastic containers from Home Depot.
I realize that I also displaced a lot of fruit flies, ants, spiders and beetles, but it had to be done.

It's only been a month or so since I trimmed off all the old flower stalks from my Keitt mango after all the small fruit had dropped off.
It sat there doing nothing for weeks before pushing some new growth and now appears to be flowering again.
Is it just toying with me?

I've been looking for some kind of hose filter to control (if possible) the salts and other harmful things that are in the San Diego water.
I don't drink the stuff and I'm guessing my plants aren't too happy with it either.
Most of the filters I've seen look like rip offs and others seem grossly expensive.
Has anybody had success filtering their outdoor water?