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Grafted Fuerte Avocado

Complete care guide for premium avocado seedling. Follow these instructions for optimal growth and maximum yield.

Complete Care Guide

Detailed care instructions for growing your Grafted Fuerte Avocado seedling successfully

Watering

Water the holes unless the soil is wet enough. Water the seedlings immediately after planting if it is not in the rainy season. Water deeply, avoid waterlogging. Avoid waterlogged conditions as avocado plants are sensitive to excessive soil moisture.

Sunlight

Full sun required. High temperatures and direct sunshine can cause sunburn damage to exposed fruits. Pruning should be minimized because the tree is very susceptible to sunburn.

Soil Requirements

Avocado grows successfully on many types of soil provided they are deep, with good water holding capacity and free draining. Water logged or saline soils are unsuitable because avocado plants are sensitive to excessive soil moisture and high salinity. The optimum pH is 5.5-6.5. Planting: Prepare planting holes about 60cm x 60cm x 60cm. Fill the holes with topsoil mixed with manure. Plant the grafts in the holes, to the same depth as they were in the nursery. The bud union should be about 300mm above the ground.

Temperature

Temperatures between 16-24 degrees centigrade are good for growing avocados and the maximum temperature for avocado is 33 degrees centigrade. Above this temperature the fruits and trees can be damaged. Avocado trees are not tolerant to frost especially those adapted to humid tropics. Altitude: 'Fuerte' is suited to altitudes 1500-2100 m above sea level. The avocado tree requires high relative humidity at flowering, about 70-80 per cent, then moderate levels during the fruit swelling stage. Too much humidity encourages the proliferation of pests and diseases.

Fertilizer

To obtain good growth and high fruit yields, it is important to supply the plants with necessary nutrients. Basal and foliar fertilizers should be applied. NPK 8-3-9 or avocado-specific.

Spacing

5 metres by 5 metres. 150 pieces per acre.

Time to Fruit

3 years.

Pest & Disease Management

Pests:

•Fruit flies (various species attack avocados, lay eggs under skin of ripening fruit, cause sting lesions and star-shaped cracks)
•False coddling moth (young caterpillar tunnels into fruit causing discoloration, premature ripening and fruit drop)
•Thrips (small slender insects with fringed wings, feed by sucking plant sap, cause whitish/silvery damage, attacked fruits develop leathery brown skin)
•Scales (small stationary brown greenish insects, soft scales excrete honeydew leading to sooty mold, armored scales encrust twigs and leaves)
•Spider mites (produce circular necrotic spots with dense webbing, cause leaf distortion and drop)
•Bugs (coconut bug feeds on young and mature fruit causing necrotic bruise-like depressions, Helopeltis bugs feed on young tissue causing brown necrotic patches)
•Swarming leaf beetles (swarms cause severe damage to new terminal growth, damaged terminals have burnt look)

Diseases:

•Avocado root rot/Phytophthora cinnamomi (attacks trees of any size, leaves become small pale/yellow green and wilted, branches die-back, feeder roots blackened and decayed)
•Anthracnose/Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (major post-harvest problem, appears as sunken spots on fruit, can penetrate deep into flesh, develops rapidly in storage)
•Scab/Sphaceloma perseae (infects young tissues, lesions appear as small dark spots giving corky appearance, fruits only susceptible when young)
•Cercospora leaf & fruit spot/Pseudocercospora purpurea (lesions appear as small light-yellow spots becoming reddish brown and hard, causes ragged holes in leaves)
•Bacterial soft rot/Erwinia carotovora (infected fruit has darkened metallic sheen, flesh is grey to black and soft with putrid smell)
•Stem end rot (dark brown to black rot begins at stem end, produces dark streaking of water-conducting tissues)

Pruning:

•All suckers and dead branches are removed from main trunk branches. The canopy is pruned to keep the tree to a height of 5-8 m and for ease of picking. Pruning should however be minimized because the tree is very susceptible to sunburn. Weeding (The area around the tree should be kept clean by weeding and removal of all fallen fruits. Weeds compete for growth factors like nutrients and water and harbour pests and diseases.)

Growing Timeline

Phase 1

Planting

Prepare soil, plant seedling, water thoroughly

Phase 2

Establishment

Regular watering, fertilizer application

Phase 3

Growth

Pruning, maintenance, pest management

Phase 4

Fruiting

Harvest and ongoing maintenance

Common Issues & Solutions

Overwatering/Waterlogging

Improve soil drainage immediately. Reduce watering frequency. Ensure proper spacing and avoid compacted soil. Consider raised beds for better drainage.

Cold/Frost Damage

Protect plants during cold periods with covers or windbreaks. Choose appropriate planting locations. Consider frost-resistant varieties. Water plants before expected frost to help protect roots.

Scale Insects

Use horticultural oil or neem oil during dormant season. Prune heavily infested branches. Maintain plant health to reduce susceptibility. Scrape off scales manually for small infestations.

Thrips Damage

Use blue sticky traps to monitor. Apply neem oil or insecticidal soap. Ensure proper spacing for good air circulation. Remove weeds that serve as hosts.

Quick Reference

Min Temperature

10°C

Ideal Sunlight

6+ hrs

Water Frequency

Regular

Soil pH

6.0-7.0

Ready to start growing?

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