“Avocado trees are like Baby Bear,” says University of California farm advisor Ben Faber. As with Baby Bear’s porridge in the Goldilocks story, avocado trees need their environment neither too hot nor too cold. They need it just right.
Well then, how do you keep them just right in a location like California’s Central Valley which gets blazing hot in the summer and frosty in winter?
See how Tarcisio Ruiz is accomplishing temperature mitigation for acres of sensitive avocado trees using a canopy of shade cloth:
Notes
One benefit of the shade cloth not mentioned in the video is an increase in fruit size. Avocados grown in the heat of the Central Valley are smaller on average than those grown in cooler-summer locations. Formal observations of this have been made comparing avocados grown at two University of California research stations — one at Lindcove in the Central Valley and one at Irvine in Orange County.
However, in my limited observations of avocados of a few different varieties in Tarcisio’s shaded grove (he also grows some Carmen, Reed, Lamb, and a few others) compared to avocados of the same varieties on trees in full sun elsewhere in the Central Valley, his fruit appears to average slightly larger.
In research trials of avocados under shade cloth (or shade “net”) in South Africa, larger fruit sizes were also found under the shade compared to open fields, as was less scarring on the fruit due to wind reduction. Check out a presentation of this research here: “Growing avocados under shadenet — a few observations.”
Related posts
See my post from 2022: “Growing avocados in California’s Central Valley.” In it you will find photos from my tour of Tarcisio’s grove then, as well as photos from another grove (not under shade cloth) in the Central Valley.
Also see my post: “Avocado trees get sunburned: what to do?” In it you will find photos of how you can protect single, small avocado trees in a backyard with shade cloth too.
Also see, “Protecting avocado trees from heat.”
Also see my post: “Overhead watering for evaporative cooling of avocado trees.” Using overhead sprinklers is another proven method of preventing heat damage. Which is better: overhead sprinklers or shade cloth? That’s a great question to explore in a future Yard Post!
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Muchas gracious to Tarcisio! I was surprised to learn 1) that once it gets hot, the canopy goes over until fall (not that surprising, I’ve been there and it gets HOT!) and 2) that bees get confused under canopy. Beautiful flawless fruit and beautiful trees. I would say keep the road skinny with maybe some damage or pruning, just to see what he would say. Tarcisio loves his trees, I can tell. Sun can cook a tree in a matter of hours here in Irvine. I’m using water spray, a home method.
Thanks for sharing and educating us.
Hi Greg, wasn’t sure the best way to contact you, figured I’d try here first! Do you know if there is an updated or more comprehensive Southern california avocado harvesting season chart? This was the previous one you had: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SouthernCaliforniaAvocadoHarvestSeasons.png . Thanks!