by Greg Alder | Jun 8, 2018 | Avocados, Pests |
If your avocado leaves are getting holey this spring, you are due for a night hunt. Every May and June, I find myself going out after dark and finding the same culprit: June bugs. Here’s what I do: Grab a flashlight or better yet, a headlamp. Bring along a cup...
by Greg Alder | May 25, 2018 | Fruit, Soil, Watering |
When some people visit my yard or see photos of my trees, they spot a violation of the rules: Aren’t you supposed to keep mulch away from the trunks of your trees? (That’s my rule-breaking lime tree in the photo above.) It’s true, there’s no real benefit...
by Greg Alder | May 4, 2018 | Avocados |
Even though I’ve planted many avocado trees, I was nervous putting in this little Jan Boyce, or JB for short (pictured on left). It is a particularly fine-tasting variety that I’d been trying to get my hands on for years. But I needn’t be too nervous. I’ve...
by Greg Alder | Apr 27, 2018 | Fruit, Weather |
Are your deciduous fruit trees acting funny this spring too? Frightfully funny? Look at a couple of my trees today compared to this time last year, and then let’s explore why they’re behaving this way. Finally, is there anything to do about it? Bloom is a full month...
by Greg Alder | Apr 20, 2018 | Avocados |
It was 95 years ago that J. Eliot Coit, who would later be called the father of the avocado industry, wrote the article “How to make the avocado tree bear.” In other words, we’ve always wished avocado trees gave us more fruit. One way to encourage production is...
by Greg Alder | Apr 13, 2018 | Avocados, Citrus, Fruit |
April is a dynamic time to talk about fruit trees — as they are all blooming and flushing — and this last week I did so as the monthly speaker for the Ocean Hills Garden Club in Oceanside. When allotted only an hour to cover “Growing fruit trees in...
by Greg Alder | Mar 23, 2018 | Avocados |
This question is unanswerable in an objective sense. But I’m game to attack it with a fun and practical twist: I’m imagining that I just moved into a new house with a blank yard . . . One tree: Hass If I had the space for only one avocado tree, I would...
by Greg Alder | Mar 9, 2018 | Fruit |
The first time I pruned a plum tree, I climbed into it and started snipping off stubby branches that looked good for nothing. They were kind of in my way too, snagging on my shirt. Hmm, the plum tree didn’t flower much that year. It set only six plums in total....
by Greg Alder | Mar 3, 2018 | Avocados |
Our guide through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve in the highlands of Costa Rica had just picked up a fallen orchid to show us when we heard a whistle. He put the orchid down and started walking briskly toward the whistle. We followed. He turned back to...
by Greg Alder | Feb 9, 2018 | Fruit |
My Pixie mandarin tree is carrying its first fruit, which look pitiful. They’re small, warped. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Pixie mandarins are no good, and I’d replace it with a different mandarin. Luckily, I’ve had fruit off of mature Pixie trees....
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