Avocado: cultivation

October 13, 2016

The avocado plant is of tropical origin, but its cultivation is also widespread in some areas of the Mediterranean basin, especially in Spain and Israel. A limited presence is also recorded in Portugal, Greece and Corsica as well as Southern Italy (including Calabria, where we grow our organic avocados ).
The avocado is a fast-growing plant, in fact, it begins producing at around three years of age, reaching the full production stage as early as the seventh year.

avocado cultivation

Avocado: cultivation

Avocado: climate for growing

The cultivation of avocado , despite being a plant of tropical origin, adapts to a wide variety of climate types, from the Mediterranean to the subtropical. However, it is a plant sensitive to low temperatures: in fact, temperatures below zero for even limited periods of time can cause damage. A light frost can cause damage only to the leaves, while more prolonged frosts can compromise production and cause damage to the branches, flowers and fruits, also causing the death of the younger plants.
For avocado plants in windy areas, it is important to protect the plants with windbreaks.

Avocado: soil

Avocado cultivation can be done on many types of soil. However, it is preferable to have a soil with loose soil and without water stagnation, in order to avoid root asphyxia and favor the development of fungal diseases. It is preferable that the soil pH is neutral.

Avocado: rootstock

Depending on the soil and climate characteristics, the choice of the right avocado rootstock (Duke 7, Toro Canyon, etc.) is of fundamental importance as it can significantly influence the success of the plant.

Avocado Plant: Cultivation

The distances between avocado plants vary depending on the characteristics of the soil and the type of cultivation adopted. Generally, low density 7x7 m (about 200 plants/ha) and medium density 6x5 m (about 400 plants/ha) are adopted, and recently high density 2.5x2.5 m (about 1000 plants/ha) and (in Chile) very high density systems, up to 2500 plants per hectare, are being tested. Furthermore, for better use of the surface area during the first processing period and to achieve higher yields per hectare, in some countries the use of dynamic 4x4 systems is gaining ground, which with subsequent uprooting present a 8x8 system.

The avocado plantation , in general, must not be monovarietal, but cultivars of groups A (e.g. Hass variety) and groups B (e.g. Bacon variety) must be introduced at the same time to encourage pollination. However, it has been found that, in the countries of the Mediterranean area, the mechanism that prevents pollination between plants of the same floral group works less rigidly, so much so that cases of plants that self-pollinate can be encountered. However, it has been found that Bacon (belonging to group B) inserted in a small percentage (about 5%) increases the productivity of Hass and other varieties of group A.

Avocado pruning

The avocado does not need much pruning and in the first years of life it is left to grow freely, intervening only in the following years with the aim of resizing the plant and reducing the productive alternation.

Avocado: water and irrigation

As for the amount of water needed, we can refer to the needs of a citrus grove, with an estimated need of between 6,000 and 10,000 cubic meters per year. However, it must be taken into account that avocados are more sensitive to water quality and, therefore, chloride concentrations of 110 ppm and 350 ppm should not be exceeded depending on whether it is a sensitive or tolerant rootstock, respectively.

Avocado: fertilization

The fertilization plan for avocados is not very different from that for citrus fruits, however, lower doses of nitrogen must be used, corresponding to about 150 kg in a soil with good fertility; phosphorus and potassium, on the other hand, must be supplied according to the availability of the soil.