Planting Young Mexicola Grande Avocado Tree on a Mound | Strategies for Heavy Clay Soil

Have clay soil? Avocado trees tend to have difficulty growing in heavy clay soils due to their unique need for high oxygen levels and susceptibility to root rot. Planting on a mound can significantly help the health and growth of many fruit trees, especially avocado plants, by providing better drainage. Arizona is not the only area in the US with heavy clay. Avocado farms in California face the same issue and practice planting on a mound.
In this detailed video, I explain the issues with clay soil, the benefits of planting higher off the ground, the items I use to build the mound (peat moss, sand / decomposed granite, and volcanic rock) as well as important additives like gypsum and mycorrhiza. I demonstrate planting a young Mexicola Grande avocado plant I recently received from Four Winds Growers in California.
Four Winds Growers
www.fourwindsg...
Amendments
peat - 1/3
www.lowes.com/...
decomposed granite - 1/3
www.homedepot....
all-purpose sand (an alternative to decomposed granite)
www.lowes.com/...
Perlite ( type of volcanic rock) - 1/3
www.amazon.com...
Gypsum granules - www.amazon.com...
Mycorrhizal Inoculant - www.amazon.com...

[@helnbak08]

The best avocado plantng tutorial i have ever seen. I am in a similar environment in Western Australia. Much gratitude and blessings.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks so much!

[@yorkieandi]

Very well illustrated tutorial on how to plant a fruit tree in clay soil. In the past, I have used mixed potting soil, along with the native soil in the planting hole, which has ended up stunting the growth of the tree. One of the very few videos on You-Tube that correctly instructs a gardener on how to plant fruit trees in less than ideal soil.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

I appreciate the kind words!

[@franciscorico6592]

You’re going to love this avocado 🥑🤤🤤 everyone in Mexico and especially in my home state of Michoacan the mexicola grande avocado is like striking gold because of the rich flavor that it has lol you can just pick it off the tree and eat it. Very delicious and nutritious.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks so much! It looks like a wonderful variety. I hear it is very hardy too.

[@AngelicaGarden]

Awesome video, thank you!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[@artgarcia2340]

Nice job!I did the same thing a few years back with my avocado tree. Only difference is that i put in a homemade gopher cage, made from 1/2” stainless steel wire mesh. It went in 36” deep by the width of the circular retaining wall. I made a post about it in one of the avocado groups in Facebook

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! How's your avocado tree doing with that setup? A gopher cage is definitely smart if you have that issue. Fortunately, that's one pest I don't have to deal with

[@artgarcia2340]

@@EnlightenmentGarden so far so good. The real testament will be a few years from now

[@ArizonaFruitTrees]

I have some 8 to 10 foot trees in pots in native clay soil. With avacados on them. In clay soil you just water less often. They like a humid microclimate because their stems and leaves can take in water. So i find its more in the microclimate than the actual soil. Healthy plants will have healthy roots can can drink extra water. As they die back in our summers, the roots die back also because trees equalize themselves. I believe humidity is the biggest factor on people losing avacados here, high UV second, unhealthy tree to start being third

[@Bob-w2b8j]

This is how many places in Florida have to plant as well, in our soil which is basically beach sand. Otherwise the tree won't establish well, due to the water table often being so close to the surface, or as in Miami-Dade where there is simply very little soil before you hit bedrock

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Interesting! I have observed a lot of mound-type planting in FL but figured it was to help keep the trees from drowning when it floods from rain and also to add organics. I did not realize you had bedrock. FL growing definitely has its challenges too!

[@kilgroee]

Always get a lot of good info watching your videos, I really enjoyed this one as I'am planting two new trees in my yard and will pass on your knowledge in my planting....you always seem to have a encyclopedia of knowledge about gardening....do you do a lot of reading, or are you just naturally smart?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thank you for the kind words! I’m always striving to learn more and feel the more I learn, the more I don’t know. Books have value, but I’ve learned the most from failure, watching others who succeed, taking note of what they do, and trying it myself. Happy growing!

[@ChristopherDillman]

4:08 - You've validated other counsel I have received on my fuerte planting. I'm lacking native soil in the hole I dug up (formerly a struggling hass tree that had way too much amended soil..), so going to backfill it with dg, and try 50/50 with dg + sand then the amendments (Gary's top pot, some gypsum in hole, horticultural carbon). Will try the mound on this slope I have, but can't be too high. Any other considerations? Appreciate your video. 18:42 - And curious - I thought one needs to keep mulch at least 6 inches from trunk?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Glad the video was helpful. Sounds like a good plan! Your avocado should do well with that set up. I don't advise piling wood chips on the root crown/against the trunk; however, I've heard avocados love a deep mulch of leaves like in their native climate and mine seem to love a good 10". My climate is so dry that a deep mulch of leaves does not cause any concern of disease and appears to benefit the plant.

[@cs7717]

What's sunlight conditions did you plant it in?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Full afternoon shade after 11 am in the summer. The planting is on the East side of my property; I have large canopy trees on all sides to protect from the afternoon sun. This variety is said to handle tough conditions better than others but would not suggest exposure to afternoon sun in and around the Phoenix AZ climate or something similar.

[@cs7717]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Super good to know, thank you. I am in the Sonoran Desert, so following how you do things works well for me, too.

[@0anant0]

Very informative video. Since you have a persimmon tree very close by, don't you think it will tower over the avocado in a few years?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! Given how dense I plant, I will have to keep the whole area pruned up to some level. I may have overplanted and will have to remove trees in a few years if they begin over-crowding each other. I'll have to make those decisions on a case-by-case basis like by productivity and how much I like the fruit.

[@0anant0]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Yes. I like how you have planted your mangoes so densely.

[@RyansBackyardNursery]

Excellent tutorial! Self Sufficient Me on YT also has some good videos on planting avocados on mounds in clay soil. He recommends 36" mounds I believe. Why did you add the perlite though? People often add perlite to potting mix to increase aeration and decrease weight of the potting soil because moving heavy plants kinda sucks but since your planting in ground you may not heave needed to add the perlite? The sand should have plenty of aeration. Be sure to show updates on this!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! I feel sand is best for drainage but perlite is a bit better for aeration as it holds more air in its structure/more porosity. It may be overkill. I did nearly the same recipe for my grafted Bacon avocado that's been in the ground for 2 years and it's doing great. I'll definitely do updates.

[@thegr8stm8]

Gr8 video Wish we could convince nurseries to use similar soils. Gary M. has been advocating for years as has CRFG… looking forward to your mango tastings … 🍻

[@vegardno]

How did you water it in? It didn't look like you watered it before putting the tree in or even after putting the mulch. BTW, I also used bamboo leaves as mulch for avocado 😀

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

I used a hose with a nozzle on the shower setting to water the mulch and the media for about 5 minutes. I did not show that part in the video. I like to hand water the first 2 weeks of new planting and then hook a new line into my irrigation to automate that chore.

[@vegardno]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Awesome, also thanks for the video!! I'm going to have to do this myself soon, I thought I might get away without building a structure around the mound but I guess not...

[@gbucks5117]

I never knew growing avocado so complicated, I live in asia just throw the seed it will grow fine

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

When you have good native soil, it's not complicated. In my climate, we face many challenges with our extreme weather and poor soil/drainage.

[@-ssch]

Sapote, avocado and mango they are planted too close may be less than 3 ft. Is it okay if we plant that close ? Thx

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Dense planting is how I can get trees to live at all in the desert; it increases humidity and allows them to tolerate non-ideal conditions. They will not grow to their full potential in my climate. Such close proximity would be ill-advised in a more tropical or ideal growing climate as they would fight each other for space. The sapodilla is a Silas Wood that will always remain very compact. I do plan to prune the nearby persimmon and fig tree each year. If things get overcrowded, I can always cut a tree down. I error on the side of planting too much because I can always take something out but I can't easily fill in an empty space if something does not make it.

[@-ssch]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Thx. I do live in Mesa. It’s a good tip on humidity.

[@AngelicaGarden]

Very informative video! Thank you!! 😊

[@mlopez49er]

How is your tree doing so far with winter? Ive got 4 Avocado trees in pots and plan on planting 2 in March and keeping the other 2 in pots for another year and im planning on almost using the same technique you use

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

It's looking very healthy so far with new growth and even appears it is going to try to flower. It's been quite a warm season but usually January and February bring some frost where I am located. Even with frost, MG is said to be very hardy. I'll do an update next season!

[@mlopez49er]

@EnlightenmentGarden thank you very much😊 ive been doing so much research and literally seen every video on KZbin about Avocados and yours is one of my favorites and like I said I plan on copying alot of how you planted yours

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@mlopez49er You are welcome! I'm glad the video was helpful. I wish I had known more about growing avocados when I started my garden. Gary's Best Gardening really changed my ideology. Better late than never.

[@Malachi162]

Do you do consultations? Im in chandler az I would love your insight!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Unfortunately, I do not have time for consultation as I work full-time as a programmer. I do try to answer questions here. I have over 200 videos on my channel so there may be a chance some of those will help but feel free to post garden questions as they come up and I will do my best to answer

[@Malachi162]

@@EnlightenmentGarden you are awesome thank you!

[@Malachi162]

How much do you plan on watering this guy? Also is it good to duplicate this for planting mangos?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Right now with the heat, I shower the newly planted avocado plant by hand with a hose for a few minutes daily. I'll continue that until our high temps consistently drop below 90 and then drop to watering every other day and then in the 70s maybe every 3-4 days and so on. In winter 1-2 times a week is all that is needed. Mangos are far more tolerant of clay soil; a full mound like this is not necessary for them. Planting several inches above grade is beneficial like shown with the Lemon Meringue mango. I just posted a 2-year update on an experiment I did planting mango seedlings in the ground and vs in containers. Please check it out if you can.

[@Malachi162]

@@EnlightenmentGarden thanks I’ll check it out! My avocado tree that I’ll be planting next week when this 110 weather does away is about 6 feet tall it’s a Aravaipa. I got a 5 foot furte avocado. From Jungle nurseries last week a lot of his leaves are burnt from summer. I got that one for 25 bucks. I couldn’t say no, it may be ugly but the fact that he survived this summer i think is a good sign. I’ll be planting both of them. Would you adjust the water you told me because mine are bigger or just keep it the same? Lastlyi dont have much shade in my backyard, but I’m building a 12 foot high post that has about 90% shade cloth protector from Home Depot. Will that be good enough? Either that or if you know of a better shade cloth link from Amazon I’ll just buy it and put it over it but it will definitely be about 11 foot high after I bury the 12 foot post.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@Malachi162 Your shade plan is solid. No; I would not change the watering schedule too much based on your description. Just keep a watch on the plants and the soil and ensure the mulch and rootball are moist and all should be good.

[@Malachi162]

@@EnlightenmentGarden thanks so Much I really appreciate you!

[@jacobhamblin1911]

Is this consistent with your understanding of peat moss? Gary says it turns to black sludge after a year 😮 kzbin.infoh3dxDbM6qi4?t=1826s

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

In that context, he was talking about adding peat moss alone to native clay and saying those two alone won't help aeration and do to lack of oxygen will turn to sludge. I agree with that. Peat moss alone is great for retention of water but you also need sand,/decomposed granite for drainage and perlite or pumice for aeration. I too would never recommend mixing only peat with heavy clay as that won't fix the issues with clay, Drainage/oxygen is needed and peat does not really help there. Now if we are talking peat alone in containers, it will not turn to sludge but I still would add something for aeration like pumice/perlite for the healthiest roots.

[@TheDiversifiedFarmer]

Lost my Lula because of clay. 7 years old, just made it's first crop of 50 🥑 and it died afterwards

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Sorry to hear this. Perhaps try again with a mound

[@gabrielleyva6969]

Probably a waste of time and money. But extreme bragging rights if successful. Avocado's are not meant to grow in the low desert with 100 days near or above 110. Good Luck

[@drillsergeant623]

Why plant from seed, not gonna be true to type.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Yes; non-grafted seedlings can take a long time to fruit and are not true to type. That's why I selected this grafted Mexicola Grande plant (rootstock is a Mexican seedling according to the grower) to grow as it will be true to type and can fruit within a couple of years. Then again there is nothing wrong with planting an avocado seed or seedling and grafting on known varieties oneself later once the tree gets rooted into soil and established

[@drillsergeant623]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Kind of pointless to wait 8 years for it to fruit, especially not knowing how the fruit is going to taste. Cuz it’s not going to be a Mexicola Grande.

[@backyardaddiction]

The tree in the video is grafted. You see the seed, but that's from the rootstock with the desired cultivar on top.

[@drillsergeant623]

@@backyardaddiction So you’re calling tho owner of that tree, a liar?

[@backyardaddiction]

​@@drillsergeant623she says it's grafted at 39 seconds in the video.