- Author: Ben Faber
California Avocado Society's
2017 Annual Meeting
This year marks our 102nd Annual Meeting and it will be held
in Ventura County on October 20 - 21, 2017
californiaavocadosociety@gmail.com
949-940-8869 Office
949-276-9721 Fax
Must Download 2017 AM Flyer & Registration to Fill out Form
**Register & pay online or mail or fax the form with payment.
**Late fee of $25 will be added on registrations after
Monday, October 16th.
Friday Field Tour
Registration at Hansen Agricultural Center
(Directions to the fields will be given at Registration)
Best to register before October 20th
Fruit Growers Laboratories: Water, Leaf and soil analysis technologies along with some pathology analysis.
Brokaw Orchard: High Density. Management changes over time.
Dominguez Orchard: High Density. Management and pruning.
Friday Evening President's BBQ Reception
At Limoneira Ranch Headquarters.
It will be a special evening as members and friends network and share industry information.
(Download to Hansen Agricultural Center Directions)
(Linke to BBQ Reception Direction to Limonira Ranch HQ)
Saturday Annual Meeting
Held at Four Points by Sheraton Ventura Harbor, CA
1050 Schooner Drive, Ventura, CA, 93001
We have a great line up of speakers planned
Scott Bucy
Vice-President Fruit Growers Laboratories
Soil and Plant Analysis--Common and Not So Common Problems.
Dr. Raquel Folgado
Cryopreservation Researcher, The Huntington
Cryopreservation of Avocado Germplasm and New Technology Spin-offs for Propagation and Breeding.
Consuelo Fernandez
Director of International Cooperation, Brokaw Nursery
Gem Variety Management, and New Rootstocks.
Dr. Peggy Mauk
UCR Director of Ag Operations and CE Subtropical Specialist
Rootstock Trial Progress.
Brittany Collins
Owner and Chief Pilot, HawkEye Imaging
Remote Sensing Technology—Now and in the Future.
M. Cristina Léon
CAS Board Member
Highlights of the CAS tour to Michoacan, Mexico.
Grower Panel
Shawn Martin, Organic Grower Carpinteria; Kevin Ball, Ag Land Services; Ed McFadden, Orchard Manager.
Moderated by Susan Estrada, Newsline Editor.
Awards: Oliver Atkins Award and Award of Honor.
You will find the pricing and detailed information for
Saturday's agenda, Friday's tours and President's reception on the registration pamphlet.
For the CAS's special rate rooms at the Four Points by Sheraton
for single/double rate $129
Please call in-house reservations:
(805) 658-1212 ext. 1290 (Mention "California Avocado Society" for the discounted rates.
Cutoff date for the special rates will be September 27, 2017.
- Author: Ben Faber
There was just a group of Florida researchers here in California sharing their experiences with ambrosia beetles and a fungal disease in avocado and other members of the laurel family. This is a pest/disease complex similar to that found here caused by a shot hole borer and fusarium. Avocados grown in Florida are of the West Indian or West Indian cross with Mexican or Guatemalan varieties. They are usually big, green fruit that tend to be of a lower oil content. Some marketers promote them as “low cal” or “slimcados” as a result. Whatever.
One of the things that struck home during these wonderful talks was the pronunciation of the word Hass. It was “hozzz”. The “a” was pronounced like the a in hot, not in hat. It made me think that this is probably how our familiar fruit is probably pronounced in much of the US. I also hear Californians (and CA growers, too) pronounce this iconic fruit “hozzz”. The generally accepted pronunciation of this name is “HaaaaSSSSS”. Like in the verb “has” - “He has an avocado”.
The fruit variety was found by a California grower named Rudolph Hass in the 1920's. The name Hass is of German origin. How it has come to be pronounced differently from his name is not clear to me. According to Google Translate, even in German it is pronounced as “has”, though with a somewhat clipped “s” on the end.
And not only has the pronunciation of the name been changed, sometimes the spelling in many produce departments is “Haas”. I once saw it on packaging spelled this way and when I asked the produce manager how that had happened, he told me that they had asked the packer explicitly to spell it that way because that's the way the consumers wanted to see it spelled.
So, the consumer drives the market. Maybe how people say it isn't important, as long as they know what they are buying and enjoy the fruit. At least most Californians seem to know how to say the word Hass.
Can you say Hass?
Photo: On the left: Florida (Slimcado) avocado. On the right: Haas avocado or Lamb-Haas. From: The Gardening Cook, http://thegardeningcook.com/slimcado-information/
- Author: Ben Faber
Avocado harvest time and the growers are in the orchard checking things out a little more closely and to see what is going into the bins…..and they see some unusual shaped fruit. Here's what's been popping up and some possible explanations.
Crick-side - First described by Dr. J. Eliot Coit as kink-neck and later by Horne (1931) as kink-side. Finally, the name crick-side (Horne, 1934) was adopted. It is characterized by a definite depression on one side between the stem end and the larger portion of the fruit causing a distortion. In some cases, the area of depression turns black and the fruit drops. In other cases, the fruit grows and matures but the distortion remains. Crick-side is usually found on trees carrying a heavy load of fruit. It has been suggested that high temperatures or temporary water-stress may relate to the occurrence of crick-side, but no definite determination as to its cause has been made.
Carapace Spot - First described by Horne (1929), the name carapace-spot was chosen because of the resemblance to a turtles' back. This external blemish is corky and usually cracked into somewhat regular, angular divisions. The flesh under the carapace spot is undamaged, but exterior appearance is such that the fruit is reduced in grade. Slight rubbing or brushing of tender young fruit on leaves or stems appears to cause this corky growth to start. Fruit on trees exposed to strong winds are more apt to develop the trouble. Windbreaks should reduce injury in windy areas.
Photo: Avocado thrips damage, carapace damage and greenhouse thrips damage.
Sunblotch - This is a viroid that can affect fruit, leaves, and stems with a yellow or reddish streaking, cause a compacted growth and willowy growth habit. The streaking in the fruit is usually depressed and doesn't extend the length of the body.
Sunburn - Fruit exposed to full sun may be injured by sunburn. This occurs when trees defoliate, or partially defoliate, from any of several causes, leaving the fruit exposed. It is normally most severe on fruit on the south and southwest portion of the tree. Sunburn shows as a pale yellowish area on the exposed side of the fruit. Often the center of this area turns brown to black and may wither.
Ring Neck - This trouble has been observed occasionally, particularly with Hass. The cause is unknown but is believed to be related to soil-plant water deficiency at a critical time. A ring of tissue on the pedicel just above the attachment to the fruit dies, turns black and peels off. If only superficial, the fruit remains on the tree. Growth may be retarded because the restriction impedes movement of nutrients and water outward to the fruit. Most severe in humid coastal areas.
Embossment - Occasionally, and particularly on Fuertes, a section of the surface will be raised slightly or be a darker or lighter color. This is referred to as a sectional chimera or genetic mutation.
Healed over damage - if fruit has mild damage that allows it to heal over (remember avocado fruit expand by cell multiplication not enlargement), then a scar is left, such as this likely amorbia feeding
Cuke - As in cucumber but not a squash. These are seedless fruit that can most often be seen from a fruit set in cooler weather or due to some hormonal stimulus. We don't know the reason, but seems to occur more commonly along the coast.
Double Fruit - In some instances there may be a normal shaped fruit with a single cuke attached ot in some cases there is a double ovary and two fruit are attached.
Woody Avocados - For some unknown reason, avocado fruit will form into a grotesque woody structure hardly resembling an avocado. The cause is genetic and non-transmissible.
Sources: R.G. Platt - California Avocado Society Yearbook 1972-73 and Reuben Hofshi and M.L. Arpaia Yearbook 2002.
- Author: Ben Faber
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- Author: Ben Faber
Avocado is a fruit tree that is notable for its sensitivity to cold. There are tropical varieities that are very sensitive to cold most notably many of the varieties that are of a West Indian origin. The subtropical varieites that are grown in California are of Mexican and Guatemalan origin or hybrids of these two subraces. ‘Hass' is a variety that has genetic origins of both of these subraces. Mexican origin typically have more cold tolerance than Guatemalan sources. Mexicans can often sustain cold down to the mid-20 deg F for a few hours when trees are mature. Young trees can sustain short periods under 30 deg but can be severely damaged or killed for prolonged times (more than 2 hours). Temperature and duration are not the only factors for determining damage potential. Humidity, wind and surrounding environments (proximity to open water, enclosed areas with reflective heat, etc.) are also important factors.
We know from experience that some varieites of Mexican origin are more cold tolerant than other varieites, some being able to the very low 20's for prolonged periods are survive. They may not produce fruit the following year because all the fruiting wood may be killed, but they will still come back. Varieties like ‘Bacon, ‘Zutano', ‘Stewart', ‘Susan' and even ‘Fuerte' are notable for their greater cold tolerance than ‘Hass'. They may not have the same eating and shipping qualities as ‘Hass' so they will not be commercialized on the scale that ‘Hass' has. But some people like these lower oil content fruit.
It recently came to my attention that there are some low chill avocado varieties that were selected in Texas where winter temperatures are usually killing for most of the avocado varieites we have have. Texas has a much smaller acreage of avocados than California and even Hawaii. So small (under 500 acres) that yields are not recorded for this crop. Most of the trees are backyard trees that have much more protected environments than a normal orchard setting. No really systematic data has been collected on their cold tolerance, but word-of-mouth has identified several varieties that might be cold tolerant. These are ‘Holland', 'Wilma', ‘Joey, ‘Fantastic', ‘Lila' and ‘Poncho'. They may not be the best tasting (that is in the opinion of the taster, as always), the best shipping (thin skinned and damage easily), or hang on the tree for a long period of time, but may make for a good backyard tree in colder environments. There has been no systematic study to determine if and which of these varieties might be more cold tolerant that those that we already are growing in California. Desperate gardeners might find them worth growing in marginal environments.
The avocado as an evergreen subtropical will never likely be a commercial tree in Canada (greenhouses?) but there may be more cold tolerance in the species than we normally associate with the crop. For a description of some of the characteristics of the Texas industry see the bulletin: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/files/2015/04/avocados_2015.pdf .