Posts Tagged: abiotic
Abiotic Problems of Tomato
Originally published in the Summer 2021 issue of Utah Pest News. Many...
Lawn Problems: Diseases Are Not Always To Blame
Your customers want their lawns to be beautiful and functional (Figure 1) but dead patches or other...
Winter is Coming- IPM Tips for Yard and Garden
Days are getting shorter and evenings cooler as winter approaches. Sweater weather also means a...
These things pop up in the avocado orchard
Boom, just when you think everything is going fine, you run across a reminder that there are little things going on in the orchard that are out of our control. In Goleta, I just ran across these crick-side, crook neck fruit that are a reminder that we just had about 3 weeks of foggy weather (in the fall, when it's supposed to be in the spring) and then a week of hot weather which is just the condition to create this calcium imbalance and distorted fruit. It's no big big deal, unless it was all over tree. Just more of an oddity. Harvest time is past this year so didnt expect to see it on this new fruit.
At avocado harvest time, 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.
Why O Why, One Tree???
It's winter time and avocados and other subtropicals are prone to frost damage. Little trees especially that haven't developed a canopy that can trap heat are the most prone. So it gets cold and all the orchard looks fine, but there's one tree that doesn't look right and in a couple of days it really stands out.
Here's an example of a year old tree that turned brown and it actually looks like it was doing better than the trees surrounding. It's bigger and has a fuller canopy..... or at least it did.
But there's all the symptoms of frost damage - bronzed leaves and dead tips.
A week after the cold weather, there is already sunburn damage on the exposed stems. See the brown spots on the upper fork? That will soon turn all brown and dry up.
This is still a healthy tree with green stems, in spite of the burned leaves. Now is the time to protect the tree from sunburn damage. This is what can kill the little tree. Time to white wash it.
Why did it happen to this one tree? Maybe it was a little bigger and needed more water than the surrounding trees. Maybe sitting on a rock and didn't have enough rooting volume for water. Maybe a touch of root rot (although the roots looked pretty good even for winter time). And there were ground squirrels in the area. Easy to bklamne them.
Listen to the sound of winter frost control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwTJveN8cIE
And when freeze damage gets extreme
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=16448