Test PB Collection: FTE

Recent research, in which eucalyptus wood chips were used to mulch avocado trees, showed there was no toxicity to young or old trees. Besides this, the trees used less water, developed a better root system and had less diseased roots than unmulched trees.

I would suggest a water-soluble type of fertilizer with a balanced NPK formula. The brand is not important, however, the formulation should contain at least 10% nitrogen (N) and near equal amounts of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). A general purpose garden formulation would be good.

You can use fireplace ash in your garden, but use it sparingly. Central Coast soils tend to be slightly alkaline. Our water is also slightly alkaline (pH 7.2 to 7.5). Ideal soil pH for growing most plants is 6 to 7. Wood ashes are also alkaline, having a pH as high as 8-9.

Several factors may cause fruit to split. The most common cause of cracking/splitting is water. If the fruit is repeatedly wetted by rain or sprinkler water, the drops that hang on the tip of the fruit will lead to cracking.

All commercially grown avocados are grafted or budded in the seedling stage. When plants are grown from seed, they usually do not produce fruit which is true to the parent variety.

In commercial pineapple production, pineapple tops are used for propagation. Before you start, you need to remember that pineapple is a tropical plant, so will need to be kept in a greenhouse or indoors during the frost season. Also a mature plant is quite large.

Different varieties of avocado have different harvest dates. The most popular variety Hass has a long harvest season and may be picked any time between January and October. The fruit will hang on the tree for over a year.

Most pear varieties need to be conditioned for a time in order to ripen properly. Conditioning involves a period of cold treatment. The period of cold treatment varies according to the variety. Therefore, pick the pears as usual when they are mature but still firm.

Depending on the variety, potatoes take from 80 to 120 days to mature. As a rule-of-thumb, I suggest 100 days to start digging from the date of planting. If you like new potatoes, you can try digging early to check their size and maturity.

Problems may include skin cracking, split pits, and skin russeting. The last one is the easiest, so I will start there. Russeting of nectarine fruit is usually caused by the feeding activity of thrips.