- Joined
- May 27, 2012
- Messages
- 5,192
- Location
- Bellmere, QLD
- Website
- www.selfsufficientme.com
- Climate
- Sub-Tropical
Avocado is one of the great fruit trees but it can be notoriously difficult to grow in places where the soil is heavy (particularly clay based).
Avocados love free draining soil more than any other fruit tree (that I know of) they don't like to dry out either - it's just that don't like wet feet whatsoever. Avocados like humus rich soil (rain forest settings are perfect), volcanic soil, and sandy soil with lots of organic matter. In any location where the soil is naturally like described above, avocado trees thrive and grow fast.
Common practice for growing avocados in clay soil is to build a mound and plant the young avocado tree above ground so when the tap root grows down it doesn't end up permanently in wet clay and then develop root rot leading to a slow death.
However, often people (myself included) do not build the mound high enough or the dirt pile sinks/erodes over time and the sensitive tree roots end up still in the clay or exposed. To overcome this problem I have considered growing my avocado trees in large pots (dwarf varieties) but until now I have persisted with the mound technique. I have two trees growing OK...ish.
Over the past 18 months I have been admiring a property down the end of my street who have been growing an avocado in a large used tractor tyre and the growth has been completely amazing! The video below shows this fine example of how to grow an avocado tree in clay soil successfully - I only wish I had thought of this myself 6 years ago after 4 failed avocado trees.
Avocados love free draining soil more than any other fruit tree (that I know of) they don't like to dry out either - it's just that don't like wet feet whatsoever. Avocados like humus rich soil (rain forest settings are perfect), volcanic soil, and sandy soil with lots of organic matter. In any location where the soil is naturally like described above, avocado trees thrive and grow fast.
Common practice for growing avocados in clay soil is to build a mound and plant the young avocado tree above ground so when the tap root grows down it doesn't end up permanently in wet clay and then develop root rot leading to a slow death.
However, often people (myself included) do not build the mound high enough or the dirt pile sinks/erodes over time and the sensitive tree roots end up still in the clay or exposed. To overcome this problem I have considered growing my avocado trees in large pots (dwarf varieties) but until now I have persisted with the mound technique. I have two trees growing OK...ish.
Over the past 18 months I have been admiring a property down the end of my street who have been growing an avocado in a large used tractor tyre and the growth has been completely amazing! The video below shows this fine example of how to grow an avocado tree in clay soil successfully - I only wish I had thought of this myself 6 years ago after 4 failed avocado trees.