Gary Bender retired as a UC Advisor, but his work lives on in these two avocado production books that are just about everything one needs to know in order to grow avocados. Here they are:
Book 1: Background Information-Digital Version (PDF)
Chapter 1: History of the Avocado Industry in California
Chapter 2: Avocado Botany and Commercial Cultivars Grown in California
Chapter 3: Avocado Flowering and Pollination
Chapter 5: Site Selection, Road Engineering and Erosion Control
Chapter 6: Planting the Avocado Tree
Book 2: Cultural Care-Digital Version (PDF)
Chapter 1: Irrigation
Chapter 2: Avocado Fertilization
Chapter 4: Strategies for Control of Avocado Root Rot
Chapter 5: Insect and Mite Control
Chapter 6: Vertebrate Pest Management
Chapter 7: Pruning/Canopy Management
Chapter 8: Frost Management-Treatment of Cold-Injured Avocado Trees