How to start an avocado farm?

For some years now, avocado cultivation in Italy, especially in Sicily and the southern regions, has been arousing a lot of interest, probably also because of economic expectations. Beyond the fruit, in fact, avocado oil, rich in vitamins A, B and D, is of particular interest.

It is a plant recently introduced in the Italian agricultural scene, which shows a certain rusticity. Almost certainly, this characteristic is linked to the environment which, being virgin compared to this crop, has not developed natural enemies.

Where to grow an avocado plant? What is the climate and the preferred soil for the crop?

Index

How to build a new avocado plant

Fun fact: How to grow an avocado plant in pots?

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Building a new avocado plant

The construction of a new avocado plant involves an accurate study of the soil, in order to provide the plant with a suitable environment for growth and development. The cultivation experiences of this crop in Italy have shown that avocados prefer medium-textured soils;   strong winds and low temperatures are an additional stress factor for the crop.

Let's see together, therefore, what are the first operations to be carried out:

Tillage

The tillage of the soil must be defined according to the initial conditions of the cultivation site.

Before planting, it is advisable to carry out any leveling and hydraulic arrangements, in order to avoid stagnation of water, a condition that is very hostile to avocados.  Although the crop develops the root system on the surface, it is good to establish a cultivation area of at least 0.8-1 m and transplant it to a trunk.

Start of construction of the new avocado plant

When building any new plant, the essential factors to be taken into consideration concern:

1. Soil analysis
2. Processing 
3. all the operations useful to avoid water stagnation.

What is avocado's preferred soil type?

In a new plant, bottom fertilization is very important to provide nitrogen and phosphorus. For this reason, we recommend the use of:

• Nutrigrantop (dosage: 200-400g/pint)

A further precaution is to prevent the root system from the attack of pathogenic fungi, through the use of:

• Cilus (dosage: 0.5kg/ha)
• Carbogen (dosage: 5l/ha)

After 5-7 days, our advice is to intervene again in order to further promote the rooting and development of roots and root hairs, through a mixture consisting of:

• Radifarm (dosage: 5l/ha)
• Kendal (dosage: 5l/ha)

Despite being an arboreal plant, the avocado does not have a fast lignification process of its organs and in particular of the trunk. Therefore, to protect the aerial apparatus from solar radiation and to reduce stress due to high temperatures and high transpiration, it is advisable to intervene with:

• Kaolin Surround WP (dosage: 1kg/q.le), fertilizer capable of creating a protective shield against excessive solar radiation

Our advice is to brush the product at a higher concentration on the trunk. It is important that the cover is always present, which is why we suggest that you repeat this operation whenever necessary.

It is possible to repeat this program every year, until the plant goes into production, replacing the bottom fertilization with fertigation operations:

•  Tionamm (dosage: 75 kg/ha)
•  Fosf. Monoam 12-61 (dosage: 50 kg/ha)
•  Ecogreen (dosage: 12.5 kg/ha)

The intervention with Radifarm and Kendal can be replaced with two/three applications of:

Kendal Root (dosage: 10l/ha), with nematostatic action and interventions spaced out from each other  at a distance of 20-25 days.

After this first phase useful for start-up, it will be necessary to proceed with targeted interventions for the entry into production and defense of the avocado.

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... BEWARE OF FROSTS...

Generally, after the first 3 years, the avocado plant passes the critical phase in which some adverse conditions could limit or slow down its growth.

Among the abiotic causes, frost is the most dangerous source of stress. In fact, it could not only stunt the development but also kill young avocado plants.

In these situations, glycinbetaine is an excellent ally.

Used for many crops, glycinbetaine is able to fully develop its peculiarities on farmed avocados.

... THE FARMER'S EXPERIENCE...

We tell the story of one of our customers who treated his two-year-old plant in winter with night temperatures below zero:

" The products I used were 3:

• Greenstim (dosage: 300g/hl)
• Welgro Complex (dosage: 150g/hl)
• Ecogreen (dosage: 150ml/hl)

Unfortunately, I used less water than necessary during the treatment, and I was unable to treat all the plants. After 4-5 months, I saw that the treated plants appeared healthier and more vigorous. The others that I was not able to treat, on the other hand, were still struggling to grow"

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Fun fact: how to grow an avocado plant in pots