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CapitalPress.com
April 14, 2017
Avocados a challenge for growers
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
Ed McFadden grows a
different type of tree fruit.
In fact, there aren’t many
similarities between avoca-
dos, which are technically
berries, and other tree fruits.
“Avocados are hard to
grow,” said McFadden, who
grows avocados in Ven-
tura County, north of Los
Angeles. “They are very
particular about soil, water
and climate. They like well-
drained soils, which is why
you often see them on hill-
sides. Too much wind is not
good and frost is definitely
a limiting factor for avoca-
do production. They prefer
water with a low salt con-
tent and do best with leach-
ing winter rains.”
About 52,000 acres are
planted to avocados in Cal-
ifornia, and are grown by
about 4,000 farmers.
Avocados are frost-sen-
sitive. Most are grown from
Santa Barbara County south
to San Diego County fairly
close to the coast, but there
are a few coastal areas in
Monterey County that pro-
duce great avocados late
in the season. California
avocado trees bloom in the
spring and, depending on
the region, will have ripe
fruit in the late winter.
They are unusual among
tree crops. In the spring and
summer they may have two
crops on the tree at the same
time. Avocados can bear
fruit within a year or two
but don’t reach commercial
production until 3-5 years.
The growing process is
unique.
“Avocados do not sweet-
en like many other tree
crops but their oil content
increases throughout the
time they are on the tree,”
McFadden said. “They
normally stay hard on the
tree, even late in the sea-
son when their oil content is
high and their skin starts to
darken. They do not soften
into the creamy goodness
that we are accustomed
to eating until they are
picked.”
Ripening may be accel-
erated by the naturally oc-
curring ethylene gas, which
is why many consumers put
a few avocados in a paper
bag with a banana when
they need ripe fruit, he said.
Pests are a curse, and the
greatest threat are the shot
hole borers, which can bur-
row into tree branches and
trunks, weakening the tree
and introducing fungal dis-
eases. Other pests are the
scirtothrip, a small insect
that chews on the skin of
young fruit and causes un-
sightly scars, and the persea
mite, which feeds on leaves.
A disease called avocado
root rot has caused prob-
lems for the industry for
many decades.
There are human pests,
too.
“Poaching is a big prob-
lem,” he said. “Thieves
sometimes move in at night,
strip trees and are out before
dawn. Many groves need to
be surrounded by secure
fences.”
California
produces
about 90 percent of the na-
tion’s avocados. Around 2
percent come from Hawaii
and the rest from Flori-
da. Hass, the most popular
commercial variety, does
best in California compared
to other avocado-growing
areas.
The American Heart As-
sociation recently designat-
ed fresh avocado as a heart-
healthy food.
McFadden says the fu-
ture of California avocados
remains bright despite the
challenges.
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