Avocado grower, don't be greedy: remove fruit

[@t.mfeeler1373]

Thanks for that horizontal branch pruning tip, I’m trying to keep my two trees compact due to a small backyard. Hopefully one day I’ll have a problem like you had on your Reed.

[@elmaestrokgb]

Problems I hope one day to have. Thanks for the advice as always! Really appreciate your taking the time to explain and show how you decide which fruit to remove.

[@Sam-mc2dk]

Man it hurts to remove fruit but it hurts more to lose a branch with many more fruit. Great work Greg! I love seeing how your trees have grown through the years. Your Reed has really spread wide. Beautiful looking tree.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Thanks, Sam! I used to have another tree next to it, but ever since I cut it down I've allowed the Reed to get wider. Why not, right?

[@Mrbfgray]

I make NO apologies for ethical greed, OH wait, off topic. (I'll watch the vid now. 😀 ) Was going to mention eliminating fruit farthest out, most leverage, as a key criteria. Excellent advice about small ones too.

[@chrisinsley5880]

Greg, I appreciate your "Yard Posts"..... so informative! Count me as a newbie to avocado growing. I have one tree in ground which is around 17-18 feet and it was here when we moved in. I now know it's a Mexicola Grande variety only because of so much information posted by yourself and others that gave me the clues I needed to figure that out. My wife and I moved into our house and property in El Dorado Hills two years ago this month. In our first spring our tree produced about 100 tiny fruitlets but they all fell off by early June. This last year was similar but 3 fruits stuck and fully matured into very definite Mexicola Grande avocados and we just harvested them. They were delicious! I have 7 other smaller trees (other varieties) in 15 Gallon buckets or 24 inch boxes that we will end up planting assuming they become worthy specimens as they grow. I think we are doing it right based on all the knowledge we have learned but time will tell. Thank-you for all the great information which has been extremely helpful. We are in a much more marginal avocado climate than you are and I think but it's possible to pull it off up here as well although probably not as consistently! It's categorized as 9B climate zone here (it gets too hot and too cold every year) but that just means you have to have more tricks to overcome this climate to have success! Cheers....Chris!.........Thank-you Greg!

[@gregalderdotcom]

I like your attitude, Chris. I've seen a few big avocado trees in the Sacramento area; once they get up to size they get a lot tougher. It's the first few years that you'll have to do the most work protecting them. Maybe since you're off the valley floor you'll have an easier time in winter. Best of luck!

[@frankyancy1347]

Fully agree, staking fails all too often, thx for the reminder, just thined our 4 year old Reed.

[@Mrbfgray]

For what its worth from amateur-- 2 yrs ago both my young (say 6 yr old, under 3" trunks) Wurtz and Reed, prominent front yard elements, were looking top heavy, knew I should trim but hesitated, didn't want to "hurt" them, lol. Well next came heavy rains, loading up the ultra dense foliage, and high winds, woke to Reed laying on the ground, my front yard 'proud focal point' to be, broken off 18" above ground. No fruit but gotta trim my biggest 8 avos around now, too big and tall for their trunks. I thought it would regrow with a vengeance, and it did but only *below the darn graft!* (NOTE to self, get out again and trim remaining Wurtz) 2 yrs and nothing but sucker ring around ex-Reed.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Sad story. I empathize. I've lost limbs or trees and had to learn lessons the hard way too.

[@ocnealocneal6549]

@@gregalderdotcom Ditto 😢. The old school of hard knocks.

[@iwill1704]

Thanks for always making such great videos for us avocado peeps~

[@SVmathfarmer]

Very timely video Greg! Recently finished sawing off quite a few lateral branches off a bunch of Reeds as well as culling lots of fruit.

[@gregalderdotcom]

You know what's best, Pat. Your trees get tons of fruitset AND your place is exposed to high winds from winter storms. Just in time, right? You're getting storm winds today it looks like.

[@RareAvoTrees]

Good thinning ideas

[@wynn_explorations2543]

I wish i had 30 on my Reed to take off 😂😂😂

[@davidpacheco4155]

your right rather have a few then none

[@growyourownavocados]

Good problems!

[@831AVO]

Thanks for sharing your valuable insight I went with the highly precocious GWEN and GEM this information will be really useful when fruitsets. Also any info on the GREENGOLD variety like a tree profile I got mine from Epicenter Avocados and was warned that it was a wimpy tree so put a tomato cage over it . Thanks for sharing always 👍

[@gregalderdotcom]

I'll try to get a Greengold profile done eventually, but it might be a while or it might be very short because I only have it on a multi-graft tree and I have no plans to grow a full tree, and I don't know many others with full, mature trees. I agree with Epicenter that it's on the wimpy side. It has a floppy branch structure that I don't appreciate. Also, its fruit is good, but I like its mother Sharwil better.

[@craig7083]

My grandmother had peach trees that would be loaded with fruit and the branches would sag. As the trees were only about 10 feet tall and we would prop up the branches with wooden trusses. Thanks for the video.

[@josephkaman19]

Great quality video and content very interesting. its a nice problem to have with 30 extra AVO’s. Good eating. Besides Redd, what other varieties are being harvested now (Nov-mid Dec)?. Thank you. Joe Oside

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Joe, I wasn't harvesting those Reeds, just culling them. They won't be ready until next summer. Only varieties ready now are Mexicola Grande, maybe Mayo, early Bacons, Carmen off-bloom, Stewart and Puebla soon, and soon there will be early Fuertes. But really, right now is the Fall Gap in avocados around here. There's nothing great to harvest until the first Fuertes are ready.

[@EdSuastegui]

I have a squirrel challenge in my area, so they do most of the culling. BTW, any suggestions on how to keep squirrels away from avocados?

[@upeonyambo4645]

Kudos Mr Greg! Which variety of this avocado tree?

[@UberGastronomer]

Suffering from success lol

[@raulcasas4548]

What are your thoughts on this being another El Niño year? Do you think Phytophthora citrophthora will cause issues for home growers?

[@gregalderdotcom]

I don't put stock in El Nino. Some El Nino years are wet for Southern California but others are dry. It doesn't reliably indicate anything about our rainfall, from the records I've seen. (Incidentally, last year was La Nina and it was one of the wettest in a century.) I don't want to be pessimistic, but this winter doesn't look like it's going to be a wet one to me -- but I don't know anything. That's just my feeling. I hope I'm wrong! Phytophthora-associated diseases are always a threat for trees planted in unsuitable soil conditions or watered incorrectly, unfortunately.

[@kylediffusion9879]

Do u sell scions? I would buy different varieties from your website

[@gregalderdotcom]

I don't, but I'll consider it going forward.