Cold damage on avocado trees

[@JessicaShebby]

Thank you for posting this video! We're in La Mesa, and I couldn't figure what happened to my poor little Avocado trees a couple weeks back. Such an informative video. Thanks again!

[@zengrow3098]

I grew up in San Carlos :) Went to school and worked in LA for the past 30 years and now I'm back in North County. Good to get out of LA for sure :D

[@martintopp1399]

HI there from NZ. Great Video! Very Helpful! I am looking at trying to grow Avocados with winters that can still get to -5C. I have found the same as you. Frost cloths don't work anywhere near as good as they are advertised. I tried putting one of those cheap blue tarpaulins over some of my Fig trees last winter and all the growing points were protected right through the winter.

[@canecorso8251]

Bacon seems to have better frost tolerance for me here in NZ. I also foliar spray with silica.

[@meplus2296]

Thank you for posting. My almost 2 year old tree was damaged by 20- 25 degree weather for 2 nights last month. I only had a sheet to cover it. The seed happens to have 2 shoots growing out of it. One survived OK but on the other the leaves are dead, but the stems that hold the leaves are still green. Should I just cut off the dead leaves and leave the "trunk " or just cut off the whole damaged shoot. It is about 40 inches high from the top of the soil. It is in a grow bag container.

[@TropicalGardenGuy]

Wow, I’m in Modesto, my lowest temp this year was in first week of feb... I had a low of 33f, not even my un protected mango was damaged

[@susangranger7570]

Hi Greg, Thank you for you information on growing avocados in cold climates. I live in the high country in Australia and have just planted my first tree. Not sure what variety it is, but I have protected it around the sides and on top with shade cloth. We can get down to -7 here, which is close to 19 Degrees where you are, so pretty cold. After reading your information and watching the video, I will cover my little tree each night with a board :) Most of the time we tend to get -2 during winter. Thanks again, I found your information very clear and easy to understand. Regards Susan

[@zengrow3098]

25!!! I think we had low 30's as our coldest here in the North County. Looks like I made a video on Feb 3rd about cold protecting my tree and yeah we had a low of 33. Then again I'm up high on a hill so the cold runs down the slopes to the street below.

[@indigovoyager8757]

I live in Fallbrook and it was about 25F in my yard during this cold spell. Most of the trees I have are older fuerte trees. Mostly ok but many of the early season flowers and some of the leaf buds froze off. There are partially frozen leaves all over the hass. The trees in a higher air drained spot didn't get as much damage as the ones on a lower spot.

[@philpico7698]

Im in Moreno Valley Near UCR it got into the 20's a couple nights. I covered my young trees with plastic sheeting and added christmas lights. The Gem definitely got some damage on top. My Sharwil got hardly any damage, My Reed also got some damage but not as bad as the Gem and Fuerte seedling was untouched. Nice place you have glad to see your tree setup

[@frankyancy1347]

Sorry to see, it's hard enough to raise avocados without this. Here in Lakeside we escaped the worst of the frost, just down to 32. I thought Sharwil was somewhat frost sensitive, but yours look pretty good compared to the GEMs. THX for the update.

[@gregalderdotcom]

True, Frank. All of my Sharwils showed themselves to be pretty tough in terms of foliage.

[@AJTheGraftMan]

Fuerte took it like a champ. Sorry to see the GEM suffer

[@JohnSmith-df5kp]

Not sure if you know this, but, supposedly its 2 to 3 degrees cooler in the moon's lights than if you were to stand the shade of the moon light. There have been a few amateur experiments backing up these statements, so it would make sense why the umbrellas work. Thanks for all the information you've provided in your video and website. I was very hesitant about trying to plant another avocado since I failed twice before. But all your info has given me confidence to try it out at least one more time.

[@williambutler4976]

Good morning Greg , I live in Visalia and we had 28 F at the beginning of February. Like you I had a young Reed and Holiday that I planted in sand back in October and I covered them with agribon 50 . When I saw 28F predicted I put a second piece of frost cloth over them. When the temperature reached 28 it remained at that low for a couple of hours before the rising sun warmed it up enough to get them out of the danger zone. I was nervous to look at them expecting to see damage but to my surprise they both looked fine. I did have damage to a young Zutano out by my fence that had a single piece wrapped around it and held together with clothes pins.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi William, Glad you were able to double up on most of your trees. I should have doubled up on all my young ones, but I got caught without enough materials on hand. Lesson learned the hard way.

[@williambutler4976]

@@gregalderdotcom I'm not sure if it was the doubling of the row cover or the fact that we were at 28F VS your 25 F . But either way my young trees came through unscathed except for a young Zutano out by the back fence. It took a hit but I think it will recover.

[@williambutler4976]

Greg I’m surprised your Nabal came through so well. I was always under the impression that they were very tender.

[@gregalderdotcom]

I was surprised too. I don't know how to explain it, but there it is.

[@mauermeit-2565]

Well who would’ve guessed it Fuerte IS Fuerte!!!!

[@EddieMunozep]

At my house in vista it got done to 30.6 for around 5 hours according to my ambient ws-2902a weather station. All banana plants in the open field had their leaves burnt. Two mango trees had leaf damage and my Reed avocado had leaf damage. These trees were in.15 gallon pots. A hass tree in the ground (10 years old) showed no damage. Two banana trees by the house had no damage.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Eddie, Thanks for the report. That's the same weather station I have, by the way.

[@EddieMunozep]

@@gregalderdotcom cool

[@EddieMunozep]

My station is KCAVISTA111

[@EddieMunozep]

@@gregalderdotcom well 2 of my mango trees didn't look too bad at 1st but by the end of February thr top branches started to die back. They were in 5 gallon pots.

[@joegonzalez7725]

When do you start pruning the dead branches of the trees?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Once you see new growth and can tell how far back the damage really goes on each branch. But you also might want to leave some dead branches for a while because they protect lower branches from sunburn temporarily. The pruning approach is similar to that of heat damage in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4HVhayFZa5og9U

[@joegonzalez7725]

@@gregalderdotcom thank you for responding promptly, we just had temperatures dropping down to the high 20s here in South Texas. Hoping my hass avocado trees make it , I've seen some damage on upper branches and was about to start pruning . Luckily I saw your videos and decided to see what you went through . Thanks again for making these videos , very informative and I'm happy you are sharing your experience ! God Bless and thank you!

[@gregalderdotcom]

You're very welcome. Sorry to hear about the cold in your area. Hope your trees come through okay. I'm going to make a follow-up video to this cold damage one showing how the same trees look after one year, and why -- if I get the time soon!

[@irakli7827]

Greg, what do you think about frost protection overhead sprinklers ? does it really works for short periods of frosts ? and one more question, what about mango cultivation in your area?

[@gregalderdotcom]

That's a good question. I know it is done and I've been told it is effective if you do it right. I've now got some overheard sprinklers on some trees that I'm going to test out this winter. If I see interesting results, I'll post about them. Mangos grow in my neighborhood, but they do better in other parts of Southern California that experience less cold on winter nights. You might like to check out this post I wrote: gregalder.com/yardposts/california-grown-mangos/

[@josehernandez9486]

Great information! Have you any firsthand information on the Duke avocado variety? I was able to obtain scion material and it looks like I may have numerous successfully grafted trees available.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Sorry, Jose. I have zero firsthand experience with Duke. I only know what you probably also already know, which is that it is reputed to handle cold well for an avocado. Hope your grafts all take!

[@williambutler4976]

Jose Duke is a old variety dating back to 1912 if I remember correctly. It is a thin green skinned fruit that is usually ready around september here in Visalia. My wife's uncle has a tree in his back yard . It is very cold hardy, similar to mexicola in hardiness.

[@josehernandez9486]

Hi William how would you rate the quality of the Duke avocado? I have one that I’ve promised a brother who also lives in Visalia. He is also planting Jim Bacon, Pinkerton, Mexicola Grande, and Reed varieties at his place in Visalia. In trying to figure out what varieties do best with the heat and cold we looked at information Greg provided. Any feedback and/or suggestions are much appreciated.

[@williambutler4976]

Hi Jose sorry for taking so long to answer your question, I literally just saw your message right now. The Duke is a good tasting variety. I would put it in the same category as mexicola . Green skin , the seed rattles inside the cavity. It is very thin skinned making it hard to scoop. I have never tried peeling it , that might be a option. It is not in the same category as Reed, sharwil, hass, ect but if you need a cold hardy good tasting and early ripening variety then the Duke is a good candidate for the Central Valley.

[@christianhernandez7007]

What city are you in? I’m in Perris CA near lake Mathews riverside Area and it got cold but only to mid 30’s

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Christian, I'm in Ramona. From the weather data I saw, we were unlucky this year and got colder than anyone else around during that event. Your area got colder than us during that New Year's Freeze in 2015 though, you might remember. There was snow on avocado groves in Temecula and De Luz.

[@benzworks8453]

How cold did it get over there to cause this.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Gio, 25 degrees F. But it was only one night at that low. The preceding and succeeding nights were 31, 33, and 34.

[@williambutler4976]

Greg I'm surprised that your Nabal didn't suffer more damage. Did you cover it with frost cloth ? I just ordered a young Nabal and was under the impression that they are very tender ?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Yes, I covered that Nabal with a single Agribon 50. It showed itself to be not much more tender than the trees near it, in terms of foliage damage.

[@williambutler4976]

@@gregalderdotcom I was asking about the Nabal's hardiness because I just purchased a very small liner tree from Gary at laguna hills nursery and thought that I remembered them being hardy to around 30 F ? I know that it will need protection here in Visalia and am planning to provide that . I remember Nabal as being a very delicious fruit and in my opinion worth the effort to try growing here.

[@EhsanFarsy]

Was the lamb hass also affected by the cold snap? Best regards

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Ehsan, Yes, Lamb was affected but now it has been five weeks after the cold night so I can say that the Lamb has shown itself to be surprisingly tough. As of now, the Reed has dropped 110 avocados over the past five weeks while the adjacent Lamb has dropped a single fruit. I have to qualify that by noting that the Reed had more than double the crop compared to the Lamb going into the cold night though. The Lamb is carrying about 50 avocados now while the Reed is still holding about 70. Also important is that the Reed was about 30 percent bigger than the Lamb. Anyway, bottom line: Lamb took the cold very well. I'm impressed with its toughness. Some leaves and twigs were burned, but almost every piece of fruit has held.

[@EhsanFarsy]

@@gregalderdotcom Thanks! What about alternate?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Alternate bearing of Lamb? It does alternate more than Reed in my experience.

[@arielcortez7393]

I have a small avocado seedling ( about 10 inches tall )... I put a bunch of my oak tree leaves around it and it seems to be doing ok, our temperature has been down to 25 degrees and 30s .... I'm in Arlington TX I also have a 5 year avocado tree that I grafted in the ground and its also doing well with a lot of flowers but I have no pollinators... what can I do ?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Ariel, Feed the bees! Grow the flowers and the pollinators will arrive. I've been experiencing and experimenting with this for the past handful of years, and it's true. Really, all you have to do is plant the right flowering plants and the pollinators arrive. Check out my video from a few years ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmeZdaeOnrJ0pLc

[@arielcortez7393]

@@gregalderdotcom thank you for taking time out of your day to reply

[@Toomuchbullshitt]

Did they survive the polar vortex in February?

[@prateser]

what is the altitude of your garden from sea level?

[@gregalderdotcom]

1,450 feet

[@prateser]

@@gregalderdotcom it is more likely to see such cold damages at 1450ft. avocado is usually advised to be grown below 1300ft. temperature should not go below 32F. but I also admit that the size of your avocados looks pretty good.

[@nitni0002]

Interesting. GEM's original marketing pushed that it was more cold tolerant than Hass. 🤷‍♂️

[@gregalderdotcom]

I've heard people with more experience than me with GEM trees growing alongside other varieties say that GEM has shown slightly more cold and heat tolerance than Hass, but slightly is the key word -- not to mention that they have not done any rigorous studies on the subject as yet; these are just anecdotal observations, similar to my little video here. My take as of my experience in my own yard up to today: GEM hasn't shown significantly more heat or cold tolerance than Hass, and my trees have experienced lows of 25 and highs of 118.

[@nitni0002]

@@gregalderdotcom bummer. Guess we'll have to protect our younger trees during cold spells regardless of variety. Do you know where to order/buy avocado rootstocks? Interested in toro canyon or dusa, but I can't find anywhere that sells to home growers.

[@josehernandez9486]

I am interested in obtaining clinal rootstock as well. Maybe we can combine our orders if there is a minimum required once we find a source. I’ve been grafting onto Mexican seedling rootstock but I sure would like to try double grafting with clonal rootstock.