The Reed avocado thread

[Mark in Texas]

Once the tree sets fruit it will slow way down. 

My reeds set pretty much every flower.  They drop most but still hold 2-3X more than they can.  I go in around July or august and do some thinning. When they are young they will drop the fruits early(this time next year) if you dont thin down to the proper fruit load.

Man, that is just crazy.  Here's some great advice regarding thinning and the ones to choose and the ones to let stay.  Agree with this?

No question, avos shed a lot of fruit, especially those fruitlets set late in the bloom period, when competition for energy and water arises between developing fruitlets and new shoot growth. Bigger, older, earlier-set fruit have an advantage. With an avocado, it’s last hired, first fired. If the late-set fruit is all self pollinated because the pollen partner is done blooming, that fruit will drop at a much higher rate than the more established (and possibly cross-pollinated) fruit. It will drop not because it is self-pollinated, but because it’s smaller, and the tree has less invested in it. If this fact is overlooked, then analyzing the dropped fruit for paternity would skew your impression of the need for cross-pollination.

Newer, more nuanced DNA research has shown no correlation between cross-pollination and yield.

http://www.epicenteravocados.com/faq/

[spaugh]

I just let it drop what it wants then come in mid to late summer and remove more when they are like golf ball size.  At that point the tree has already ditched the losers.  Right now when they are pea sized, I might go shake the tree a little and speed things up and knock half of them off.  What I dont want is the tree to put a ton of energy into fruit thats not going to be there for the long haul.   

[Mark in Texas]

I just let it drop what it wants then come in mid to late summer and remove more when they are like golf ball size. ......

What I dont want is the tree to put a ton of energy into fruit thats not going to be there for the long haul.   

I'm surprised you let them get up to golf ball size.  Peach growers and that includes me thin their trees up to 40% when the fruit is pea size. 

Fruit on the left is from a peach growing friend.  Betcha can't guess who grew the wimp on the right.    Same variety.

[spaugh]

You can shake the tree and make it drop a lot of fruit but its still too much to thin by hand at pea size.  Look how many fruit there are.  Thats just a tiny branch.  Easier to just wait a couple months and let the tree do its own thinning and then decide if it needs more.  By the time they are golf balls, the tree will have already shed 99% of the fruit.

[Seanny]

My tree

[Mark in Texas]

Yep, that would be a PITA.  Friend has some cheap labor which helps. 

Nice profile on that Reed Seanny.

[spaugh]

My tree




Thats a perfect looking tree. 

[Mark in Texas]

....and this is not.   

One 10' long trunk out of 3 larger ones started tanking over the last 2 days.  It started right after I drenched it with a lot of rainwater.   If the flowers don't make am thinking about taking it down to a stub.  Will tie it up to the rafters for now.  It's about 1.5" thick and healthy with some woodiness going on.

Thoughts?



Pinkerton grafts/branches in the separate bed on the right, one cleft and one side veneer.

[Seanny]

One strategy is to reduce height by 1 node per year.
If you cut 4' off today, next year you cut 1 node down from today's cut.

I'm going a different route.
I'll put shade cloth on an umbrella. Tie umbrella to leader.
I'll remove new leaves on any branches that grow straight up. Then cut it off in Winter.
Hope to maintain my Reed at 7.5'

[Mark in Texas]

I took 5' off and braced the remaining 7' with a board under a branch running to the ground.  It'll branch like crazy below that cut.

[spaugh]

Heres some pics of a couple baby trees I planted these 1.5 years ago.  They are already 6-8ft tall. If I had to redo it, I would have trained all my reed trees on a 10ft T post. 

[z_willus_d]

If you want to slow down your Reed by defoliating it which deprives it of food and it's getting you what you want, OK.  My Reed is also very vigorous but I control that with pruning, an application or two of Bonzi, a plant growth regulator, which if done during mid bloom increases fruit set and size according to field studies.  A tree without fruit will be vigorous with more vegetation.

My Reed is now in mid bloom and 2 months late.  At least the bees and other pollinators finally found it.  We had a helluva flush of wildflowers in Texas this spring which I think side tracked pollinators.  I also think my two applications of potassium sulphate and Solubor helped initiate the blooming response earlier this year.  Here it is last month.  It has hit the top of the greenhouse roof since then and is wider.  3 leaders/trunks, about 3" in girth, after freezing back to a stub Jan. 2018.

Hi Mark, I'm curious where you source your "Bonzi" (is it Paclobutrazol)?  I looked for some a while back for my side-yard project, but I couldn't find an accessible source for a suburban consumer.

[Mark in Texas]

Hi Mark, I'm curious where you source your "Bonzi" (is it Paclobutrazol)?  I looked for some a while back for my side-yard project, but I couldn't find an accessible source for a suburban consumer.

I don't remember where I got it, probably ebay.  I've seen it under the PGR category at ag vendor sites.  Google is your friend.  There's quite a few field studies out there on its application.  http://www.avocadosource.com/WAC2/WAC2_p227.pdf

It really helps to shorten leggy mangos too.

This one is really packed with some good info for you commercial growers.  http://ir4.rutgers.edu/FoodUse/PerfData/3280.pdf

[boxturtle]

Heres some pics of a couple baby trees I planted these 1.5 years ago.  They are already 6-8ft tall. If I had to redo it, I would have trained all my reed trees on a 10ft T post. 

Hey Brad have you prune any of your reed? are you planning to? mine is like yours tall and slender.  At least I was able to take off the crunches this year.   My neighbor gave me a couple today.  I was surprised are they really ready? anybody in so cal have same experience?  My neighbors tree is like 15years old tho.

[spaugh]

Reeds aren't in season until at least April or May and are best after June.  Unless they have been on the tree 20 months instead of 8?  Either way the season seems really opposite of normal.

I'm a big fan of reed avocados but really the tree isn't that great.  It has medium vigor and sets a lot of fruit for its size.  Then it can tend to be weak and top heavy and not very tolerant of wind.  And they don't take very well to pruning.  You end up with a tree that gets sun burnt.

I haven't topped my newer reeds because of this and they are leaning over because of the strong wind here.  I'm going to planting another acre of avocados and because of the issues mentioned will not be planting any more reeds.

If you want to manage your trees height you could try what Seanny posted above just remove leaves on the leader. 

[boxturtle]

Reeds aren't in season until at least April or May and are best after June.  Unless they have been on the tree 20 months instead of 8?  Either way the season seems really opposite of normal.

I'm a big fan of reed avocados but really the tree isn't that great.  It has medium vigor and sets a lot of fruit for its size.  Then it can tend to be weak and top heavy and not very tolerant of wind.  And they don't take very well to pruning.  You end up with a tree that gets sun burnt.

I haven't topped my newer reeds because of this and they are leaning over because of the strong wind here.  I'm going to planting another acre of avocados and because of the issues mentioned will not be planting any more reeds.

If you want to manage your trees height you could try what Seanny posted above just remove leaves on the leader.

Yeah Mark warned me about topping it so i havent.  I took off  the stake end of summer and it's doing well even with all the crazy high winds we been getting.  I definitely will hit up Seanny lol looks like he lives in my hood. :p

[Mark in Texas]

These posts show how much your "terroir", location, temps can influence vigor.   My Reed is extremely vigorous requiring at least 2 haircuts annually to keep it 12-14'.  It's very woody and tough too.   Probably seen this before but here it is 7 months after being frozen to the ground.  Needless to say I'm heavy on the N. 

Crazy but 2 months ahead of schedule a mango and Pinkerton are showing flower buds.

[boxturtle]

These posts show how much your "terroir", location, temps can influence vigor.   My Reed is extremely vigorous requiring at least 2 haircuts annually to keep it 12-14'.  It's very woody and tough too.   Probably seen this before but here it is 7 months after being frozen to the ground.  Needless to say I'm heavy on the N. 

Crazy but 2 months ahead of schedule a mango and Pinkerton are showing flower buds.

Happy Holiday Mark! dang jelly how your trees always look so good   any suggestion on prunning and getting my reed to widen out?  so i  tip the side branches?

[spaugh]

Mark, hope you get a lot of reeds set this year.  A few avocado trees are starting to bloom here as well.  Seems like the Mexican types will be first to bloom.  Was over at GregA's last week and his reed was loaded with year old fruit!  I got maybe 20 of them on my trees and am hoping my biggest reed will set a bunch this year.  It took last year off.  Santa ana winds almost took it out a few months ago.  Now it's got a couple T posts and rope holding it upright.

[Mark in Texas]

Happy Holiday Mark! dang jelly how your trees always look so good   any suggestion on prunning and getting my reed to widen out?  so i  tip the side branches?

Right back atcha, happy new year. 

If you want your tree to widen out play with the auxins, the growth hormones and apical dominance.  Meaning, top which should redistribute the apical dominance to those areas below and behind the cuts and hopefully for you to the side branches. 

Here's yesterday's shot.  Next treatment is to hit it with Bonzi, boron and a food prill.



Here's the stump from the Jan. 2018 die back. I retained 3 trunks and they are about 2" or so diameter now.



For some strange reason the Pinkerton and GEM never shut down for the winter.  Daily lows are in the 30's frequently.  Low was 36F this morn, 39F now.  This monitor sits at the 2nd floor level and miraculously goes thru so walls, over a aluminum building to a wireless transmitter 500' away.

1st row is outside ambient air.  2nd row is greenhouse temp now 38F, outside RH and Dew Point.  Alarm is set at 34F for the greenhouse.

[Mark in Texas]

Mark, hope you get a lot of reeds set this year.  A few avocado trees are starting to bloom here as well.  Seems like the Mexican types will be first to bloom.  Was over at GregA's last week and his reed was loaded with year old fruit!  I got maybe 20 of them on my trees and am hoping my biggest reed will set a bunch this year.  It took last year off.  Santa ana winds almost took it out a few months ago.  Now it's got a couple T posts and rope holding it upright.

Sounds like a winner.  Santa Anna winds must be nasty.  Damn glad I'm not in Australia.  I feel so sorry for the orchards, people and 1,000's of wildlife. 

[stephen]

I hope it's okay for me to add to this older thread. I read on here that avocados should be self-thinning. But these fruitlets don't seem to be falling. Should I go ahead and remove some of fruit? If so, how many should I leave on each branch?

By the way, this is on a Reed branch that I grafted onto my Sir Prize avocado tree. Sir Prize didn't have much fruit set, but the Reed branch has a ton! Makes me wish I just had a pure Reed tree instead.

[Seanny]

I let Reed self thinning to slow down the growth.
My friend's tree has less fruits so the fruits are huge, 50% bigger than mines.
Trade off.

[spaugh]

That will drop fruits still but you can help it and shake it or pick off the small ones.  Its probably only going to keep a couple on each branch anyway. 

[funlul]

I let my avos thin themselves.

When is everyone picking the reeds? I was told to wait until end of June, but have started seeing mature size fruits on the ground with sunburn.