South African avocado variety Fuerte cultivation notes, and Mexico/Guatemala variety introduction

If you are serious about growing avocados, you can buy trees from nurseries. Poor quality trees will grow slowly in the orchard, no matter how careful you are. Please pay attention to the following:

The size of the container in which the plant grows. In general, the larger the container, the healthier the root system, and the greater the chance of successful establishment.

Growth medium. Clay mixtures tend to clog drainage holes in plastic containers. Lighter soil improves drainage and stimulates root development.

Leaves. Healthy trees have glossy dark green and no deformed or discolored leaves.

Read the growing avocado: learn about your soil

Grafting Alliance. Grafting combines the tissues of two kinds of plants to form a new plant. Choose the root of a plant-the "rootstock". Another choice-"scion"-is its stem, leaf, flower or fruit. Using avocado, excessive thickening (connection) at the junction or a large difference in the thickness between the rootstock and the scion is a sign of incompatibility, which is a poor rootstock or a diseased scion. You should see a smooth union with little or no irregularity on the stem.

Select variety

The above are general guiding principles. To choose a specific variety, keep in mind the climatic conditions. Of the three most famous avocado races, the West Indian variety is the most suitable for continuous hot and humid environments, with heavy rainfall in summer.

They can't stand frost. The optimum temperature for growth is 25 °C to 28 °C (humidity above 60%).

The Mexican race originated in the cool subtropical plateau forests of the country, and mature trees can withstand temperatures ranging from-4 °C to-5 °C. They should not be planted in areas prone to frost in August and September, because flowers are easily damaged by frost. The optimum temperature for growth is 20 ℃ to 24 ℃ and the humidity is 45% to 60%.

Guatemalan varieties need a cool tropical climate without extreme temperature or humidity. Flowers are particularly sensitive to frost. A high temperature of about 38 °C, especially if combined with low humidity, may cause flowers and fruits to fall. 65% or more humidity is required.

Fuerte, the most common cultivated variety in South Africa, is considered to be a natural hybrid between the Mexican and Guatemalan races and has a wider climate tolerance (especially to the cold) than the pure Guatemalan species.

The optimum growth temperature is 20 °C to 24 °C. The high temperature, especially during flowering, is not well tolerated.

All avocado varieties commercially produced in South Africa are sensitive to water stress. The annual rainfall in the planting area should be more than 1 000 mm, which is evenly distributed. June and July are only dry periods. However, most suitable areas in South Africa experience dry weather during flowering and require supplementary irrigation. From a climatological point of view, the best areas for commercial avocado production are the cool subtropics of Pumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, with high rainfall and frequent fog.

High humidity (more than 50%, 2 p.m.) is ideal because it reduces stress conditions, especially high temperatures. This plays an important role during flowering and fruiting. The fog belt in South Africa is particularly suitable.