Avocados, the fruits that are very nutritious and have high protein and oil content. They perform well from 0-2100 m above sea level. When planting, the soils should be deep and free draining. the varieties that do well are:-
VARIETIES |
CHARACTERISTICS |
Fuerte |
Hybrid, Green, thin skinned pebbled fruits of very good flavor |
Haas |
Vigorously growing trees with black fruits. grows well in Kenya |
Nabal |
Green fruits with good flavor. Bears in alternate years |
Puebla |
Dark green trees bearing round purple fruits. Used as rootstock |
Avocado trees seedlings are grown in the nursery, from healthy egg sized seeds which are extracted from the fruits and planted in boxes, seedbed or 4kg containers. Grafting should be carried out when the seedlings reach pencil thickness (the wedge grafting method is the most successful) and it should be done when the root stock is still soft
The scion should be dormant at the time of grafting and should match the size of the rootstock. Wrap the grafting joint thoroughly to exclude water from the union. Planting of avocado trees is done at a spacing of 9m×9m.Dig holes 60cm ×60cm× 60cm separating top soil and subsoil. Mix the top soil with 20kg of well rotted manure, 120grams of double super phosphate fertilizer. Remove the seedling from the pot keeping the root and soil structure intact, and plant using the top soil mixture.
Water and shade the avocado seedlings immediately after planting. Application of manure and fertilizer on growing avocado trees is done twice a year An Acre at the spacing of 9*9m will have around 49 trees listed below are the pesticides and fertilizers to be used
Trees age |
CAN |
Double supers |
Muriate of potash |
manure |
1-3 years |
120 g |
220 g |
_____ |
15kg |
4-5 years |
220 g |
450 g |
______ |
15kg |
6-7 years |
450 g |
650 g |
220gm |
30kg |
8-9 years |
650 g |
650 g |
450gm |
30kg |
10-14years |
900 g |
1 kg |
650gm |
____ |
15 + years |
1.3kg |
1.2kg |
650gm |
_____ |
It’s not easy to tell when fruits are ready for harvesting, and the recommendation is, pick a few fruits from the plant, keep at room temperature.Mature fruits soften within ten days without shriveling. There are no major pests and diseases on growing avocado trees.