Fruit trees aren't my expertise, so we have Craig back to help us out!
We're going to talk about all of the key things like how to do it, where to plant your tree and everything else that we get asked regularly.
0:25 Intro & Buying Your Tree
Before you even head out to the store, make sure you have a good spot picked out. Consider things like irrigation, sun, soil, and so on. Here in Southern California, irrigation is a key thing.
You need to spend some time planning ahead, and that will make a big difference down the road. When it's time to head to the nursery, remember that these plants were most likely grown elsewhere. That means they've been shipped and moved around a bit. Keep an eye out for things like broken branches, scratches, insects, and so on.
This one may be tough, but you don't want trees with fruit on them. If that's not an option, you can remove the fruit for the first year or two.
In fact, you want to get a smaller tree. That means it's less likely to be rootbound.
You may have heard about "bare root" trees before or just seen the sticks. For trees that go dormant (ex. stone fruit), can you buy bare root trees that are usually about 2-3 years old. Because of that, they are really only sold for a couple of months here in San Diego.
6:01 Planting an Avocado Tree
We're starting with a hole that's just a little bit larger than the root ball of the tree. For depth, we are making sure the soil will match up with the existing soil or even a little higher because it's going to sink a little.
Most of San Diego has heavy clay soil. That makes digging tough, so it's a good idea to dig about a week beforehand if you can. That will give you time to amend the soil with compost as well as soak the hole at least a couple of times before you plant the tree. Clay will soak up water, but it takes a really long time to do so.
Once you have the tree in the ground, you usually don't need to fertilize or do anything special. You want your tree to get used to its new area and focus on its root structure for at least a year or two. Compost is great, but fertilizer can be overkill.
A couple things about avocado trees:
-They have shallow roots. That means you can leave the leaves instead of raking them up. You should also mulch heavily, just not up against the trunk.
-They cannot process salt. Salt in the water ends up in the leaves and turns them brown. It's not too serious as long as new growth looks good.
13:37 Final Takeaways
Citrus and avocado are susceptible to sunburn, so you need to shade them or protect them with whitewash which is Craig's preferred method.
The tree stake along with the trunk is not meant to stay here, but this small tree is weak and does need some support still. We'll do that with three poles around the tree that are loosely holding it upright.
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