Training young avocado trees

[@MegaBuyer]

Great video when you run at 1.5 speed. I like that he has so many varieties of avocado. I am more than a little jealous of how well his trees are doing. :)

[@jenniferburch987]

SO interesting! I’m a northerner (Vermonter) moving to northern Mexico soon. Dreaming of growing a few avocado, olive, fig and mango trees. Enjoy your quiet, calm tone and delivery style. Thank you for your guidance!

[@MetalBum]

Wow congrats. How has it been growing those fruit trees?? 😊😊

[@ChiledeGarcia]

I got the avocado fever/bug just about a couple weeks ago. Your videos and website are and have been very informative. Thank you much and keep them coming. I rent in Orange County and my wife and I are currently in escrow for a home in Riverside. It’s in La Sierra Heights area. The heat is going to be a big issue. But feeling more comfortable with your information.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Daniel, Congratulations on your house. It's true that the Riverside heat is a challenge for avocados, but lots of people have managed to grow great trees there in spite of it. Best of luck!

[@lettyfranco528]

I'm in Ontario and planted one a year ago. Crossing my fingers that it doesn't burn with the sun this year. It's a Fuerte 15 gal tree

[@e.e.w.2637]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@raider1978raider]

Awesome video! 90% of all avocado tree I see are all unbalanced and not trimmed properly! Thank You

[@VivianneHoang]

so weird, in VN we just let it grow and it'd become a big tree no trimming necessary, and fruit so much

[@saeedalmajid1202]

I liked your farm natural touch... Trees signs 👍🏼

[@almejia915]

Very helpful videos thank you. I have hass that’s doing pretty good thanks to your vids. I’m gonna go shopping for a Gems this weekend. Cheers from SD.

[@saeedalmajid1202]

Thanks... You can use big soil filled bags and lay them on non vertical trunk to reshape it gradually... Good luck...

[@michealsailor7423]

Nice trees! I’m glad I’m not the only one who has avocado obsession! I have all those varieties too!

[@bertaduenas3951]

Great video,thanks Greg

[@josehernandez9486]

Another great avocado video. Thanks Greg. It is important for avocado growing newbies to be able to distinguish new growth from below the graft union. It will never produce fruit of the variety plants. If anyone has this type of growth from a tree on clonal rootstock (Duke 7, Toro Canyon, et al) I’d be interested in buying it. I want to try my hand on grafting with clonal rootstock instead of seedling material. Again, thanks for the great information Greg!

[@madelinkoh]

Hi Greg, Why not just air layered it with a little bag of soil so that the roots will grow and you can have another clone tree @ 10:00

[@thirstybest]

Nice video! looks like you might have some mites on the small hass.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Yes, indeed. I was waiting for someone to point that out. You're the first! The trees went through a couple days at near 120 degrees though and it looks like the mites have all been killed. We'll see.

[@aquapros916]

Soil wicks moisture, dont overwhelm yourself with distribution.... It will deliver.

[@davey_davey_dave]

Hey Greg, I noticed your Gwen in this video is kind of planted on a slope. Any tips on planting avocados on a slope?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi David, That's a good question and I can't believe I haven't added it to my post on planting avocados -- especially since most of my trees are planted on a slope. I'll add it to this post within the next couple days: gregalder.com/yardposts/how-to-plant-and-stake-an-avocado-tree/

[@davey_davey_dave]

@@gregalderdotcom Looking forward to it!

[@sarahsun4387]

thank you so much for sharing!! I learned a lot.

[@onememories8523]

Very nice video. Very informative. Thank you sir sharing. Any tips or advice on planting a avacado tree....ie gem avacado? Please advise. Thank you.

[@EdSuastegui]

Low limbs shade the soil under the tree... so does a well-expanded canopy, no? And doesn't that stand better chance to develop if you don't have the first-come-first-grab lower branches drawing away nutrients that would other go to upper canopy development?

[@gregalderdotcom]

That's a good question, Eduardo. You have to find a balance between keeping foliage that the tree needs today (for photosynthesis, shade, evaporative cooling, etc) and training and pruning toward the future goals you have for the tree (such as shape, height, interference with irrigation, carrying fruit without letting them touch the ground, etc). Some people prune a lot in the first year or two while others don't prune much until the tree is older. I used to be in the former camp but now I'm more in the latter. Both approaches can result in a great tree down the line, but there's no doubt that pruning less at first results in bigger trees that produce more fruit earlier. I've observed this with my own trees, in other yards, and there was a good trial done in Chile comparing the two styles that showed this as well.

[@rossisbonsaiandavocados5785]

Hi Greg, thanks for your nice videos. Just a question, have you ever airlayered avocado trees with success? I have a aggressive growing seedling that looks to be root rot resistant and want to try propagating it by airlayering but not sure it works on Avocados? Thanks.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Rossi, I have never air layered avocados, but I do know others who have. Yes, it is possible.

[@rossisbonsaiandavocados5785]

@@gregalderdotcom thanks Greg appreciate your reply i will give it a try. Happy growing.

[@ScuteriB]

Very informative! Thank you. I was curious - what are the cages around the larger trees for? Is it to keep certain animals from the trees?

[@gregalderdotcom]

I use those to help with a few things: they provide a scaffold for heat and cold protection; they keep the mulch in place so my chickens don't scratch it away; they keep the rabbits from chewing on the trunks.

[@CyberTeacher100]

@@gregalderdotcom thank you so much for that information :-) I've learned a lot watching your video and I went outside yesterday to start trying to adjust my baby avocado trees direction of growth.

[@mikemccright7418]

How do you shape one of the laying down variety like Queen? The branches seem to have no interest in growing up. Do these laying down varieties send up scaffolding branches later? Good job!

[@gregalderdotcom]

Sometimes you have to tie them to a stake or else they will forever crawl around like a bush. Don't wait for a vertical branch to show itself, just tie the most vigorous branch to a stake to force the matter.

[@edbertoso1599]

Hi Greg. Thanks for your tips. If you had to choose just one heat-resistant avocado variety, what variety would it be? I’m more concerned with the tree surviving rather than retaining it’s fruit. Thanks in advance.

[@geeyoupee]

He has another video called varieties and heat. Reed or Lamb would be most heat tolerant.

[@edbertoso1599]

Thanks @geeyoupee!

[@moj8945]

Will we see a Carmen profile in 2021?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Good idea. I'll see about doing a profile on the fruit using some off-bloom crop really soon, and then I'll see about doing a profile on the tree sometime next year.

[@moj8945]

@@gregalderdotcom awesome thank you.

[@AvocatDude]

Good stuff.. thanks Greg. (SoCal byard grower; Sharwil, 2 GEMS, REED, SIR PRIZE AND MULTI GRAFT HASS/MEXICOLA)

[@VidarrKerr]

One of my sapling avocado trees started to grow a couple suckers. I read on your webpage that if a 2nd branch turns into a leader to let that one go as the new leader. The suckers aren't starting as branches, they are coming from the root. Should I chop them? They are growing pretty fast though, so not sure. These are my first avocado trees started from seed. Thanks for the website and videos.

[@gregalderdotcom]

If it's an ungrafted tree (just grown from seed), then you can leave those low branches or chop them off according to how you want the tree to look later. Do you want it to have multiple trunks or just one trunk? It's all up to you.

[@VidarrKerr]

@@gregalderdotcom Right. Ok got it. For these few that I grew from seed, I don't care if they grow like bushes, or are ugly. They will be separate from the orchard. I just want them to be healthy. Thank You!

[@JoseGonzales-ul9sv]

Hey amigo how old are they?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Jose, I do note the ages of some of the trees on my accompanying post here: gregalder.com/yardposts/training-young-avocado-trees/ Otherwise, let me know which tree you're curious about and I'll tell you.

[@QuickCookie]

Where do you buy your Avocado trees from?

[@gregalderdotcom]

I've bought trees from many sources. Here's a post I wrote with some more information about that: gregalder.com/yardposts/where-to-buy-an-avocado-tree/

[@QuickCookie]

@@gregalderdotcom Thank you for all great information you have provided!

[@fire808surf]

Awesome collection! My newly grafted trees sometimes become dominant through a lower branch. Should I prune the lower branch ti direct growth or stake the newly dominant branch up? Thanks

[@gregalderdotcom]

It depends. That can be a hard decision to make sometimes. Check out the section "Allowing the tree to choose a new leader" in this post: gregalder.com/yardposts/training-young-avocado-trees/

[@kimiyemlsmallgardendream8115]

I have 6 trees all grown from seed. Pinched off the tops when they had 8 lower leaves to bush them out. How do I keep them no more than 7 ft high? None of them are in the ground oldest is two yrs and about 4 ft.

[@ddennis6398]

What county is this ?

[@gregalderdotcom]

San Diego County.

[@vinj98]

Greg, thanks for the informative video. With regards to your microsprinkler issue with the Hass, have you considered placing two microsprinklers at a lower output setting on opposite sides of the tree?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Vin, That's a good idea. I have done that with two 180-degree sprayers on either side of the trunk. However, I ultimately switched back to a single spinner because my kids like to climb the trees and more sprinklers mean more equipment for them to step on!

[@dani.afiiq_]

Thanks

[@spinnordoctor]

Hi Greg, another great video and very educational. How old is that mature Hass? Did you plant that one? Looks pretty old. I Never really paid too much attention to the issues you bring up but totally see why it’s so important.

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Pat, Thanks. That Hass I planted from a five-gallon container in July 2013. It probably looks older than it is.

[@sofiarusso3038]

Mr Greg, I need help with my avocado tree. I planted my avocado tree a week before the SoCal heat wave I believe it was in August. All the leaves of my avocado tree fell off but I just keep watering them. And new leave has been growing...is this normal? How to keep my avocado healthy?

[@tonylopez1841]

Are you using IV Organics on your trees? How old are they?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Anthony, No, I've never used IV Organics, but what you're mostly seeing is a spray of kaolin clay (the product Surround WP). The trees are all different ages. Let me know if you'd like to know about one in particular.

[@evanweinshel5811]

Thanks for all the great info! Did you make the labels for the trees yourself, or is there somewhere you have found to purchase them?

[@gregalderdotcom]

Hi Evan, Thank you. Are you wondering about the metal or wood labels? The metal labels are Emboss-o-tag Data Markers, and the wood labels come from my brother. He uses a laser burner.

[@fire808surf]

Great video Answered a question I posted on a different video.

[@Ob1311-x8b]

👍🍺