7 Managing Avocados During Drought Summer 2015

Better
Growing By Tim Spann

Research Program Director
Managing Avocados During Drought

A
s every California avocado
grower is painfully aware, Cal-
ifornia is in the fourth year of
an unprecedented historical drought.
As Ken Melban, CAC vice president
of industry affairs, described at a re-
cent grower meeting, it’s no longer
about the cost of water, but whether
we even have water.
Managing avocados under these
conditions is difficult and many grow-
ers are having to make hard decisions
about their groves. While there is no
ideal way to grow avocados under
drought conditions, there are steps
that growers can take to make sure
that every drop of water they have is In light of the drought and reduced groundwater availability, some California avocado
used efficiently and effectively. growers in San Luis Obispo County have stumped their trees in an effort to preserve
their groves
Irrigation mature and young trees, change out to see how much water can be saved
There is arguably no more im- the sprinkler heads near the young by improving the system’s DU.
portant thing to do during a drought trees to lower-flow rate heads so In addition to knowing how
than to service and maintain your ir- you are not overwatering the young much water to apply to your trees,
rigation system and its components. trees. Consider investing in pressure you need to decide when and how of-
Your goal should be for every drop compensating emitters or sprinklers. ten to apply this water. This is where
of water that enters your irrigation Pressure compensating emitters soil moisture monitoring comes into
system — whether from a well or maintain a constant flow rate over a play. Soil moisture levels have several
district water — to reach a tree by range of pressures as is common be- phases, from saturated to the perma-
promptly fixing leaks and improv- tween the top of a slope and bottom nent wilting point. In between these
ing your system’s uniformity. To help of a slope. phases is what is known as “plant
you in this task, most water manage- You can also save water by op- available water.” This is the small
ment districts offer free water audits timizing your irrigation management fraction of water held in a soil that
that will tell you about your system’s through scheduling and soil moisture is easily available to the plant. Your
efficiency and where best to make monitoring. To properly schedule goal in scheduling irrigation is to
improvements specific to your situa- your irrigation you should utilize an maintain plant available water levels
tion. irrigation scheduling calculator tool, with minimal to no periods in the
There are a number of little such as the avocado-specific one that saturated or permanent wilting phas-
things you can do to help improve can be found on www.AvocadoSource. es. To do this, you need to monitor
your irrigation system’s efficiency com. This recently-updated calcula- the soil in your grove since the plant
and save water. These include cap- tor has many features, such as allow- available water content is influenced
ping sprinklers to dead or diseased ing the user to adjust their system’s by the unique soil characteristics of
trees. If your grove has a mix of distribution uniformity (DU) in order your grove. Complete details on how
14 / From the Grove / SUMMER 2015

to monitor soil moisture and utilize troducing invasive pests, such as the ways the best practice.
soil moisture data to manage avocado polyphagous shot hole borer. If you
irrigation can be found in the Fall must bring in mulch from an un- Stumping or Removing Trees
2014 issue of From the Grove. known location, it should be compos- Reducing the number of trees
ted or otherwise treated (heat, chemi- requiring water in your grove, either
Mulching cal fumigation) to ensure that it is by stumping or completely removing
Mulching is the application of pest free. Also be aware that mulches trees, is one option for dealing with
material to the soil surface without can be a source of weed seeds, par- drought. Stumping involves cutting
incorporating it into the soil. In their ticularly greenwaste. Sourcing mulch the tree down to four to five feet in
native rainforest environment, avoca- locally and knowing the source is al- height, leaving about two-foot long
dos are naturally mulched by leaves
and other plant debris that accumu-
late on the forest floor. In cultivated
avocado groves it is often necessary
to supplement fallen leaves with
other organic mulches, particularly
when the grove is young. Ideally for
avocados, mulches should be course
material such as avocado trimmings,
composted greenwaste or wood chips.
Mulch should be spread evenly, four
to six inches thick beneath the tree,
but kept several inches away from the
trunk.
Mulch helps to conserve water
in several ways. Mulch reduces water
loss due to evaporation by shading
and insulating the soil surface. Mulch
also helps to reduce water runoff,
soil compaction and soil erosion.
The combined effect is a reduction in
rapid soil moisture fluctuations that
help minimize plant stress. In addi-
tion, mulching helps to reduce weed
growth; weeds steal water from trees
and increase overall grove water use.
In addition to these physical ef-
fects on soil moisture, mulching im-
proves root growth. Avocado roots
require a lot of oxygen and flour-
ish in the soil-mulch interface zone.
More root growth means more water
and nutrient uptake that leads to im-
proved tree health and yields.
When considering mulch
sources for your avocado grove, local
is best. If you have trimmings and
branches from within your grove,
consider chipping and using these as
mulch. If you need to bring mulch in
from outside your grove it should be
sourced from as near to your grove
as possible to reduce the risk of in-
SUMMER 2015 / From the Grove / 15

stubs of the main scaffold limbs. not overwatered. Use of soil mois- stumping.
The stumps should be immediately ture sensors is critical during this Another potential option that
whitewashed with a diluted (50:50) period. A stumped block will require some growers may consider is top-
water-based paint to protect against less water for several years following working. Topworking trees starts
sunburn. Tree sealant should NOT stumping as the canopy of the trees similarly to stumping, but instead of
be used on the cut surfaces; tree seal- regrows. Stumped trees will general- allowing the original tree to regrow,
ant will slow the tree’s natural heal- ly be out of production for two years new scion wood is grafted onto the
ing process and keep the cut surface following stumping, producing a crop stump. This may be a useful strategy
moist, which can actually increase the in the third year. if you wish to reduce the number of
chance for disease and rot to set in. It Deciding which trees to stump pollinizer trees in your grove or if
is best to stump as early in the year or completely remove from your you still have blocks of green skin
as possible, generally after the trees grove isn’t always easy. Stumping is varieties.
have been harvested. generally a good option if the trees There is no ideal way to con-
When stumping, consider are in good health, but are simply too serve water when growing avocados
stumping an entire irrigation block. tall and their production has begun — they are thirsty trees. However, by
This will make managing irrigation to drop off. Completely removing a combining several different tactics
much easier because the entire block block is a better option if the trees — improving irrigation efficiency,
can be shut off rather than having are diseased, in poor health, or are in mulching, reducing the size of very
to cap individual sprinklers. Irriga- a problematic area that is too difficult tall trees or eliminating diseased
tion can be shut off to stumped trees to manage. Removing and replacing trees — each grower can make incre-
until they start to grow new foliage, trees will obviously reduce water use mental improvements to their grove
usually after one to several months. for several years as the young trees that will help our industry survive
When the trees start to regrow, it is grow; however, production will be until the rains return.
important to keep the soil moist but lost for a longer period compared to
Additional Resources
Additional information on irrigation efficiency and management, mulching, stumping and topworking can be found in
the following articles available online.
Determining Water Use Efficiency, K. Melban, From the Grove, Summer 2014
http://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/publications/from-the-grove/issue/grove-summer-2014
Optimizing Irrigation Management through Soil Water Monitoring, D. Crowley, From the Grove, Fall 2014
Soil Moisture Technology and Irrigation Management, J. Escalera, From the Grove, Fall 2014
http://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/publications/from-the-grove/issue/grove-fall-2014
Root Health: Mulching to Control Root Disease in Avocado and Citrus, J. Turney and J. Menge
http://www.avocadosource.com/papers/research_articles/turneyjerrold1994.pdf
Some Pros and Cons of Mulching Avocado Orchards, B.N. Wostenholme, C. Moore-Gordon and S.D. Ansermino
http://www.avocadosource.com/Journals/SAAGA/SAAGA_1996/SAAGA_1996_PG_87-91.pdf
Pruning and Canopy Management, G. Bender

http://ucanr.org/sites/alternativefruits/files/121298.pdf
Stump and Topwork – A Technique for Rejuvenating Mature Avocado Trees. R. Hofshi, M. Tapia and M.L. Arpaia
http://www.avocadosource.com/cas_yearbooks/cas_93_2010/cas_2010_v93_pg_051-071.pdf
16 / From the Grove / SUMMER 2015

7 Managing Avocados During Drought Summer 2015

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Better

Growing By Tim Spann

Managing Avocados During Drought

14 / From the Grove / SUMMER 2015

SUMMER 2015 / From the Grove / 15

Pruning and Canopy Management, G. Bender

16 / From the Grove / SUMMER 2015

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