CULTURAL TIP: SUPPORT YOUR TREES AT FLOWERING
As California begins transitioning to spring, new flower buds are becoming obvious, and, in the early flowering groves, flower bud break should already be occurring. Therefore, now is the appropriate time to evaluate how strongly your trees will flower. Because flowering is a stressful time for the tree, growers need to ensure each tree has adequate water and nutrition; in order to maximize fruit‐set potential. If flowering appears weak, or significantly lower than normal, it is advantageous to consider the reasons behind this and to identify necessary changes to avoid poor flowering in the future.
Various factors cause poor flowering; however, the most common is alternate bearing, wherein the fruit on trees, carrying a heavy crop to maturity, is negatively associated with the amount of opening flowers. At times, crops have become heavy enough to cause two years of poor flowering and yields, resulting in a large third‐year crop, as the tree seeks to find its "balance" among growth, fruit and future flowering. In efforts to reduce this harmful effect on production, general advice is focused on two main cultural‐management objectives: 1) ensure trees have met the nutrient targets for good yields 2) maintain overwintered leaves in as healthy a condition, for as long as possible, throughout flowering and fruit set. These are the main reasons fertilizer applications - especially trace elements that may be in short supply, yet are not deficient - are recommended just before flower bud break. For further flowering information, please reference the following study, "Inflorescence and Flower Development of the ‘Hass' Avocado During "On" and "Off" Crop Years," here: http://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/assets/Uploads/Growers-Site/Cultural-Management/Cultural-Tips/Flowering.pdf.
