Question from Deborah:
My bacon avacado tree has been droping fruit off the tree the last couple of weeks, and (does not) ripen until nov., the beginning of dec. I don’t know what the problem is. Thought maybe you could help?
Answer from Pat:
Summer drop of immature fruit is normal on avocado. Some varieties drop fruit in June, others drop in July and August. Fruit drop, called abcission, is a natural process since the tree sets more fruit than it can support. Reed avocado has a “A” type flower and needs to cross pollinate with a “B” type flower such as ‘Bacon’. If you live in an area where many neighbors grow avocado, no problem. If not, attend a meeting of the Rare Fruit Growers and see if you can get someone to graft a branch of the other type onto your tree. This can help your tree bear fruit that sticks on the tree. Lack of bees when flowers are on the tree can also be a problem.
However, if all the fruit suddenly fell off the tree at once, then you have a problem. If you ever cultivate under an avocado, it will drop all it’s fruit. If you have a hired gardener tell him never to rake up the leaves under the avocado. They look messy but must be left to lie on the ground under the tree. Regular fertilizing beginning in February—see my book beginning of February for detailed instructions—, deep watering, and a thick layer of mulch takes care of any problems. Switching to drip, lack of water, or quick swings in temperatures in late winter and spring can sometimes cause more than the usual numbers of fruit to drop off, but raking under, or digging or cultivating is the usual cause of serious fruit drop. If plenty of fruit stays on the tree, you don’t have a problem. Just pick up and compost the fruit that falls.
Related Articles:
- Avocado With Single Fruit
- Unknown Avocado Variety
- Seed Grown Avocado is No Good
- Grafting Avocado Trees
- June Drop on Peach Trees and Proper Thinning of Fruit
I have 4 mature Bacon Avacado trees. One has dropped about 80% + of it’s fruit during the past 30 days. The other three trees have not and appear to be a normal season. All are treated the same, no leaf raking or competing plantings. The dropped fruit appears to be normal at about 2″ and falling day and night. We’ve lost several hundreds in the last two weeks (500 or more). We usually have mature fruit from mid Nov through April. Any ideas? It is not normal. Is there a disease or pest that could do this.
Some fruit drop in summer of immature fruit from ‘Bacon’ avocado trees is totally normal, but when one tree drops more than others this might point to another problem, such as a cold spot and sudden cold weather which might have actually happened earlier on, or a gopher, though usually a gopher will also cause a tree to wilt. Very often it will be just one side of a tree. I had a friend who was a grower who told me root damage from gophers can cause fruit drop worse than normal. So I am writing back quickly to make sure you check the ground for a gopher hole or mound and if you find a mound, set a “Black Hole” trap according to package directions soon as possible.
Also make sure your water system is working correctly and that all the trees have been fed the same as well. The tree just may think it is carrying far more fruit than it can bring to maturity. Bacon avocados are large and heavy fruits and just a few of them per branch is a lot. If you end up with huge avocados you won’t feel so badly that you have lost many smaller immature ones. Also, we can’t always figure out all the reasons for things. Good luck with it and if you don’t find a gopher don’t worry about the fruit drop.