The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: Heather Florida on July 18, 2022, 02:07:25 PM
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Hello Everyone,
I am new to this forum and have just begun planting fruit trees in my yard. I purchased this day avocado tree and before I could put it in the ground, the branches and trunk started turning blackish. I was told to water every day at dusk or dawn (it is in a pot with holes in the bottom). Did I over water? Does it have a fungus? Is this normal looking? Will it bounce back? Should I still plant it? I am a total newbie so any information or advice is appreciated.
Thank you,
Heather
(https://i.postimg.cc/BjdXcYHL/v7s8d-B5-OSb-OPx8l-K0-OKpnw.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/BjdXcYHL)
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It does sound like you're overwatering. Just water when the pot is light.
The rest doesn't seem out of place for high humidity area? I think you're fine.
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The black part doesn't look bad. Can you show us the whole tree?
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I think the black part is normal (sooty mold?) which everyone has. My avocado tree looks like that too and it's healthy.
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Be careful putting a nursery grown avocado out into full sun. Some nurseries keep trees under shade cloth and are very diligent about watering. Acclimate the tree to part sun then full sun over the course of two weeks. Be sure to plant on a mound if there is even a slight chance of water pooling during storms, avocado cannot stand waterlogging, it will drown. Be sure to strip a 3-6 ft ring of grass before plantiong, then mulch heavily. You avocado will not thrive planted into grass without mulch. The mulch needs to be 6 inches to 1 ft deep, just keep away from the actual trunk. Using the mulch will avoid string trimmer damage by keeping grass away from the tree. Do not use stone edging it is not good. As the tree grows, increase the diameter of mulch maintaining the mulch outside of the drip line.
All the above is detailed here:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG213
Detailed mulch instructions, explains why we mulch avocado, it has a special root system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYYZuNjnvbk&t
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Pineislander, do you say not to use stone edging because it will obstruct the roots? Also, what store-bought mulch would you use? I think you grow/use a chop-n-drop, just curious what you would recommend buying for avocado mulching.
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The black part doesn't look bad. Can you show us the whole tree?
Here is a picture of the entire tree. :)
(https://i.postimg.cc/N59sx2p0/a-Vj2l-S0p-Sd-OHRC6-W0-Vj-Uww.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/N59sx2p0)
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It does sound like you're overwatering. Just water when the pot is light.
The rest doesn't seem out of place for high humidity area? I think you're fine.
Thank you!
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I think the black part is normal (sooty mold?) which everyone has. My avocado tree looks like that too and it's healthy.
Thank you!
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Looks totally fine. I would suggest removing the fruits so the tree can focus on getting bigger. A common mistake I made earlier in fruit collecting was not plugging the tree in the ground soon after it getting used to my area. Big trees like avo want to be in the ground. Put it in ground ASAP if that's your plan.
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Be careful putting a nursery grown avocado out into full sun. Some nurseries keep trees under shade cloth and are very diligent about watering. Acclimate the tree to part sun then full sun over the course of two weeks. Be sure to plant on a mound if there is even a slight chance of water pooling during storms, avocado cannot stand waterlogging, it will drown. Be sure to strip a 3-6 ft ring of grass before plantiong, then mulch heavily. You avocado will not thrive planted into grass without mulch. The mulch needs to be 6 inches to 1 ft deep, just keep away from the actual trunk. Using the mulch will avoid string trimmer damage by keeping grass away from the tree. Do not use stone edging it is not good. As the tree grows, increase the diameter of mulch maintaining the mulch outside of the drip line.
All the above is detailed here:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG213
Detailed mulch instructions, explains why we mulch avocado, it has a special root system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYYZuNjnvbk&t
Thank you so much for all of the info. We tore up all the grass and we got a ton of fresh mulch from healthy trees from a local arborist. I didn't know I had to go that deep with the mulch so I am going to add more. We did try to plant them a little higher than ground level. I didn't know to give the trees partial shade in the beginning. I just looked up sun requirements and put them in full sun, partial shade, etc... Most of the plants that I put in the ground are not looking so great, like my Jamaican Cherry and my Thai Dwarf Mulberry. This might not have been the best time to plant in South Florida, I was just so excited to get started, I really didn't think about that part.
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Looks totally fine. I would suggest removing the fruits so the tree can focus on getting bigger. A common mistake I made earlier in fruit collecting was not plugging the tree in the ground soon after it getting used to my area. Big trees like avo want to be in the ground. Put it in ground ASAP if that's your plan.
Sounds good. I will remove the fruit and put it in the ground tonight. I wasn't sure with the black on the branches if I should plant it. What is the correct way to remove the fruit if it is not ready to fall off? How far up the stem should I cut? Thank you for your help.
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Yes, remove the fruit. Snip them off. The tree looks fine. I planted a Day tree in January. The first thing I did was remove all the blossoms, and there were lots of them. I planted in full, very hot sun. The tree has had no growth flushes since the first one in spring. I don't think it likes such hot sun. My Monroe tree, on the other hand, loves the sun and is growing like a weed. Day seems to be a little fussy about growing conditions. At my last house I planted a Day tree in a windy spot, and it didn't like that either, and eventually went into decline. If it doesn't adapt, I may have to replace it. On the plus side, once Day is established, I've seen that it's a heavy producer. I know that Wurtz isn't fussy and also produces well.