Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cultivar with the reverse pattern of sex
changing flowers is needed for pollination.
These are referred to as 'A' and 'B' type
avocados and both types must be planted for
a crop in such areas. Those growing in cooler
climates can be self-fertile due to the
fluctuating temperatures that promote the
synchronisation of male and female flowers
on the same tree at the same time. No matter
what region they are growing in, only a few of
the millions of avocado flowers will set fruit.
will shrivel rather than ripen. The fruit stems
will start to turn yellowish and wrinkle when
they are ready. Always cut your avocado from
the tree rather then pull them off. Once the
stem attachment is removed from the fruit,
rot sets in quickly.
Carob
Ceratoniasiliqua
Carobs have been cultivated for millennia,
providing highly nutritious and high-energy
food for humans and animals alike. They
can be grown as a screening tree to 10 m or
encouraged to have a lower branching habit
that makes harvesting the pods manually
more convenient. Commercial orchards
always have trees with a trunk at least a
metre high to facilitate mechanical
harvesting. Grow them with a central trunk
pyramid style (see page 128).
Pruningtime
Prune after harvest to shorten long lanky
growth. Major renovation of the tree should
also be carried out at this time. Dead or
diseased wood should be dealt with as soon as
you see it.
Maintenance
Once the avocado is established with strong
branches, it rarely needs pruning; however, as
they are large trees to 10 m and their wood is
brittle it is easier to gather the harvest from a
3-4 m tree. Avocados can be cut back
extremely hard, even skeletonised, as they will
produce strong buds from their old wood, but
fruiting will be unlikely in the year following.
The major problem with this strategy is that
the bark will be unshaded and vulnerable to
sunburn. Paint the exposed stems with white
water-based paint. A less drastic solution is to
remove a branch every few years to keep the
tree small and the fruiting wood within reach.
Carobs carry male and female flowers on
different trees although there are some
hermaphrodite trees that will of course be
self-fertile. If you grow your trees from seed
Harvesting
Avocados ripen off the tree and can be stored
on the tree for two months. Harvest them
later rather than earlier as immature fruits
Figure 7.2
Carob. (Photo courtesy of The Food Forest,
www.foodforest.com.au)
