Help with Oro Negro

[DAC]

Gang I’m looking for help with my Oro Negro Avocado tree. I live in the Florida Keys - I planted this tree almost 2 years ago. First summer was tough on it - lost all of its leaves. I increased watering and got some leaves back on the tree but it’s not doing much, leaves are not dark green, not growing much. It has the signs of being overwatered (from what I gather from things I’ve read). I’m thinking about moving it from the raised bed with purchased soil and planting it it the native soil here. I’m worried about the high tides and the salt water table though so thinking a raised bed may be a better option but with different soil than it is in now - I’m thinking a sand, Perlite and peat moss mix may be better? Anyone out there that knows our soil or has any advice? It seems that other avocados I see planted in the ground do better down here - even with little to no watering?? Any help appreciated.

[JR561]

Is the tree in full sun?

[DAC]

Yes full sun pretty much all day. It gets shade very late in the afternoon but full sun almost all day.

[pineislander]

They have a very fine surface feeder root system which needs improved soil, mulch.

[johnb51]

It might be the variety.  You might have better luck with a different variety.  I have 2 varieties planted side-by-side at the beginning of this year.  One has thrived and grown profusely.  The other has done absolutely nothing after sending out new leaves last spring.  It seems that one tree likes the specific conditions of the location (full sun/very hot/no breeze), and the other doesn't.  Not everyone has had good luck with Oro Negro.  My tree grew for a while, but then stopped, and only produced fruit one year, and they weren't all edible.  A friend planted Oro Negro ten years ago.  It grew very slowly and didn't set any fruit until this year but only a very few.

[DAC]

Thank you for the replies. We chose the Oro negro for the late fruiting. Are there other varieties that anyone can recommend that may not be as fussy and fruit later? I definitely notice a difference in my tree and some others - my neighbor planted one last year and it has a lot of new growth right now - mine hasn’t done anything since spring!

[johnb51]

The one that has thrived for me is Monroe, and Day is the one that is struggling.

[FruitGrower]

Gang I’m looking for help with my Oro Negro Avocado tree. I live in the Florida Keys - I planted this tree almost 2 years ago. First summer was tough on it - lost all of its leaves. I increased watering and got some leaves back on the tree but it’s not doing much, leaves are not dark green, not growing much. It has the signs of being overwatered (from what I gather from things I’ve read). I’m thinking about moving it from the raised bed with purchased soil and planting it it the native soil here. I’m worried about the high tides and the salt water table though so thinking a raised bed may be a better option but with different soil than it is in now - I’m thinking a sand, Perlite and peat moss mix may be better? Anyone out there that knows our soil or has any advice? It seems that other avocados I see planted in the ground do better down here - even with little to no watering?? Any help appreciated.

Pictures of the tree and your soil would help. What key are you in? I wouldn't remove it from a raised planter. If your soil anything like the "soil" I had in Key Largo, then its basically limestone rock and I would want as high a planter as I could get. What's the planter filled with now? They like well-draining soil. I would do something like the 5-1-1 citrus mix which is loose and well draining. As for variety, I also recommend Monroe, very similar to Oro Negro in taste but a much better producer.

[Gulfgardener]

Dang, it sounds exactly like mine. I planted it last year and it was green and healthy with lots of leaves. Spring came and most turned yellow then dropped. I thought it was cold or nutrients. Nope. I think it might have been a fungus. It's in sandy loam and mulched. I treated with a soil drench using Garden Phos. It stopped dropping leaves but has yet to push out new ones. Please make sure to protect the trunk and branches from sunburn by using a whitewash. Diluted latex paint or IV Organics (pricey) works. I might plant a monroe instead.

[DAC]

[FruitGrower]

Your soil is much better than what I had in Key Largo.  What have you been fertilizing with and how often?

[DAC]

Mine does get full direct sun almost all day. I live on Little Torch - same story here - rock just under the surface. I posted some pictures that will hopefully help- not in order but - one when planted, a current one to show the lime green/yellow tinted leaves, a picture of that section of the bed and one that hopefully shows the soil. I’m not a soil expert by any means - this was a nursery bought bulk mix they call it “gold dust”. It had more wood chips in when installed - it seems to have a decent amount of sand and seems to dry out fairly quickly - but I may have a distorted sense of what is quick. It bares mentioning that I did water this bed everyday through the summer. I leave for a couple of months and have to set the watering and hope for the best. I have sense scaled watering back to 2/3 times per week and I turn it off when we get substantial rain. I water for 20 minutes at a time - equivalent of about 1/3 inch of rain - according to the calculations I found online anyway. I have a drip system and have the ability to water the equivalent of 1 inch of water per hr.
Sounding like a Monroe would be a good choice - I hate to put another tree into a bad situation and it’s hard for me to give up on plants sometimes. To the point of craziness sometimes!! But ultimately I would like a healthy tree that will produce - my wife and daughter love avocados. Maybe I could dig out around the roof ball and add a better draining soil - sand, peat, perlite?? I could add a section to this bed just for the avocado?? What do you all think?

[DAC]

I fertilize my beds with a osmocote 14.14.14 - I try to do it 3 times per year. I have very recently started putting a little organic citrus tone around the avocado- once per month only applied twice so far.

[FruitGrower]

Mine does get full direct sun almost all day. I live on Little Torch - same story here - rock just under the surface. I posted some pictures that will hopefully help- not in order but - one when planted, a current one to show the lime green/yellow tinted leaves, a picture of that section of the bed and one that hopefully shows the soil. I’m not a soil expert by any means - this was a nursery bought bulk mix they call it “gold dust”. It had more wood chips in when installed - it seems to have a decent amount of sand and seems to dry out fairly quickly - but I may have a distorted sense of what is quick. It bares mentioning that I did water this bed everyday through the summer. I leave for a couple of months and have to set the watering and hope for the best. I have sense scaled watering back to 2/3 times per week and I turn it off when we get substantial rain. I water for 20 minutes at a time - equivalent of about 1/3 inch of rain - according to the calculations I found online anyway. I have a drip system and have the ability to water the equivalent of 1 inch of water per hr.
Sounding like a Monroe would be a good choice - I hate to put another tree into a bad situation and it’s hard for me to give up on plants sometimes. To the point of craziness sometimes!! But ultimately I would like a healthy tree that will produce - my wife and daughter love avocados. Maybe I could dig out around the roof ball and add a better draining soil - sand, peat, perlite?? I could add a section to this bed just for the avocado?? What do you all think?

Your mix looks good, I wouldn’t change it. I too don’t like to give up on plants but I’ve found sometimes it’s just the best route. I had a languishing Lemon Merengue mango that hardly grew for 2 years despite trying everything. When I took it out the roots had hardly grown and I was able to just pull it out of the ground.  I replaced with a ValCarrie and the difference was night and day. If I were to suggest one thing before replacing, it would be to do several applications of a chelated micronutrient package. I use microplex (https://www.millerchemical.com/products/micronutrients/microplex/) from Diamond R and it works wonders. My understanding is that our high ph soil makes it difficult for plants to absorb some nutrients and chelation helps with absorption. There’s some good old threads about this with Cookie Monster and/ or Har discussing this.

[DAC]

Thank you for the advice and confirming the soil mix looks ok. I will try that for sure and look at getting a Monroe. Last nights weather may have decided some things for me anyway! It got a little windier than anticipated- we’ll see when the sun comes up!

[yoski]

Interesting, I have about 40 fruit trees in my backyard (Mangos, Avocados, Lychees. Longan, Sapodilla, etc.). All are doing fine except the Oro Negro. Even replaced the tree with another Oro Negro, still not thriving.

[fruitmonger]

We chose the Oro negro for the late fruiting. Are there other varieties that anyone can recommend that may not be as fussy and fruit later?

Monroe, Choquette, Hall, Waldin

The Waldin has a really big seed but the flesh is very tasty

[roblack]

ON grows strong, flowers, and fruits well here, growing on limestone. Partially shaded. Started as a 1 gallon just a few years ago.

Had one for breakfast this morning. It had fallen early (about 2 weeks ago) and was completely green. It blackened up and ripened, and was surprisingly good. Good sized fruit, like 4 Hass fruits. Silky smooth and oily. Flavor was mild, but when properly ripened they are very good. Best cado I've had in several months. Watching the last few like a hawk.

Its looking kind of misshapen, as am in the process of trimming it to make light for other plants. There are a few fruit still on it, the only problem I have with ON is the critters attacking fruits before ripening. Covering them has helped so far.

[Avofan]

The soil mix looks like it has good drainage.
That means you can fertilize a lot without having salts accumulate in the root zone.
The one that’s yellow, I would try fish fertilizer 5-1-1. They can turn emerald green before it’s too much nitrogen.
I have a lot of young trees in here in containers. Some just seem to perform badly and you don’t know what’s going on - I can speculate that it’s a root problem because most are thriving under my soil and fertilizer mix. Maybe you can pull up or wiggle the tree to see if it’s roots are actually spreading out or if there’s a stuck rootball

[DAC]

I dug around the rootball today to check things out. There are some roots reaching out from the original root ball. Soil was actually pretty dry and we have had some decent rain. I removed some of the soil out from the root ball and mixed some coco choir with sand and filled in what I dug out. I will try some fish fertilizer for sure. Next move is to take it out of this bed and move it - try to get it in our native soil maybe?? I also think I’m going to try a Monroe!