California produces around 10% of the worlds avocados and around 95% of the United State's avocados! With that many avocados growing here in California the competition is intense so you have to know the best growing methods to maximize production and growth. So to help out our customers we have made a short guide for you guys! Even though you aren't producing at a huge level, this guide will hopefully help you out in your backyard Growing!
Ideal Soil For Avocados
We have used a wide variety of soils here and sometimes the trees take and other times they don't. With Avocados we discovered that they do best in sandy well drained soil. Adding things like perlite, Decomposed Granite, Sand, Volcanic rock for drainage will greatly help the soil you put your avocado in. Avocados are prone to root rot so we want excess water to drain as quickly as possible.
Watering
The most logical thing to do and what has become common practice around the world is the watering of trees with a hose. While for some plants the hose may be enough to suit their needs, it can vary by the kind of tree and the type of soil the tree is in. We have been witness to lots of cases where watering by hose leads to the water splashing and going everywhere except where it needs to go. This mostly effects pot grown mangos. When watering by hose the water just slips through the sides of the pot and doesn't reach the main root ball causing the tree to grow very slowly or not grow at all, which is why we see a lot of people say their mango is not growing. We always recommend a drip system to all of our customers who come and buy mango trees from us. We walk them through our own personal trees so they can see first hand and understand the concept of it. Using a drip system allows the water to penetrate through the soil and wet the whole root ball evenly. Even watering makes sure that no roots shrivel up preventing discrepancies in its growth and development. We try our best to hook all of our trees to a drip system to ensure the production of healthy trees and root growth for our Mangos. If you don't have the resources to invest into a drip system you can take some empty plastic jugs and make a small hole on the bottom of each to recreate the drip system. Anything works as long as it drips.
Fertilization
For our avocados we use the strongest organic fertilizers we can get our hands (Avoid manure the first couple of years). We fertilize about twice a year and give them a plentiful amount. Things like worm casting and coffee grounds seem to help them out a lot.
