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phoenixtropicals Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 1207 Location: Mesa Arizona
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:19 pm Post subject: Keeping it real - avocado heat burn |
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Well, I generally like to post photos of my plants doing well, but in the interest of giving the full story I have to post the ugly every now and then.
I have had a Winter Mexican avocado in the ground for a number of years now. The first couple of summers it did great but about 2 years ago I made the mistake of trying to fertilize it with magnesium sulfate (which worked great on some other plants). It burned the heck out of it and it has been on the mend ever since. This spring showed lots of promise with large dark green leaves and I also gave it lots of mulch. It was doing well and it was just a matter of filling out more.
Unfortunately the weather recently has been really harsh because we have not only had 110°F and humidity around 8% (fairly normal this time of year), but it is constantly breezy. Phoenix is normally a dead calm place but it has been so weirdly windy this year and it really desiccates the plants.
Fortunately we are past the solstice and the humidity will be going up soon and the temperatures will drop down but my avocado is very worse for the wear so I have strapping taped a cardboard shade skirt around its neck to hopefully salvage the lower branches if the top doesn't make it though this. There is new growth pushing out which can barely be seen in the photo.
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mariolo
Joined: 06 Feb 2012 Posts: 116
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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That's nothing pt,I also mistook my fertilizer and applied the wrong fertilizer on my mexicola,mine would make yours look Amazing,will post pics soon[/img]
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phoenixtropicals Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 1207 Location: Mesa Arizona
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:51 am Post subject: |
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Ouch. Well I hope your trees make it. I don't fertilize my avocados at all. I just give them mulch and water. That's it.
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myamberdog
Joined: 21 May 2011 Posts: 323 Location: palm springs, california
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:53 pm Post subject: |
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Smart to do what you're doing, PT. Try to save ANY part you can. Gosh, and the summer is just beginning....well so sorry to hear this. May I ask two questions?
1 Why not just cover the whole plant with shade cloth during the worst part of each summer until it gets big enough to handle our brutal heat?
2 Why plant it so close to a wall(unless it's a south facing wall)? If that wall isn't south facing, but east or west (though I know you're smart enough not to plant it on the latter side), it's gonna burn - I don't see any way around it. Even 3-4 feet away would help, but the more the better...
myamberpanting
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phoenixtropicals Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 1207 Location: Mesa Arizona
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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I have covered it with shade cloth other years when I first planted it. It has made it through other summers without shade cloth and without getting so beat up, so I didn't go through the trouble to cover it this year. I think the constant wind made this summer "special".
It is on the north side of a wall and on the east side of a large pine tree so it gets lots and lots of shade. Keep in mind that during the hottest part of the day the sun is always in the southern part of the sky so being on the north side of a wall is beneficial.
It has been my experience that avocado trees cannot make it here without afternoon shade. Well, not until they are very large trees anyways. I have seen several large avocado trees here in fact that had grown larger than the house next to them. In none of these cases were the trees reliable bearers or quality fruit though. Avocados are really an experiment here.
The worst part of the summer for sunburn is over. After the solstice the sun starts heading further south again and the humidity is higher in July. Yes, August can be fairly brutal and dry but still the sun is lower in the sky by then.
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