Girdling is a technique that can be used to manipulate the growth, flowering, and fruiting of an avocado tree. I use it mostly to make a tree fruit every year rather than every other year.
Various tools and versions of the technique have been developed by avocado growers over the years, and I’ve tried many of them. I continue to learn and experiment, but this is how I have settled on making my girdling cuts over the past few years while achieving the intended results:
For details on the how, when, and why of girdling avocados, head over to my post, “Girdling avocado trees for consistent fruiting.”
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I found this to be educational and very interesting. Wish I had avocado trees!
Thank you for the instruction on Girdling.
Two of my trees, (one hass) and the other a (furete).
The older furete has never had a year off of producing, until
this last season. Two fruit came on. Not sure if it’s lack of pollenizations
this year, or if the tree was just tired.
The one fruit, which I just picked, was huge. Still waiting to see how the
flavor is.
The trees have been stunted after those high temperatures a few years ago,
when the younger trees took a huge hit and dropped most of their leaves and
there was no harvesting for about 3 years.
I don’t think I want to try girlding the ones that were it hardest by the high heat
from a few years ago.
If the one (8 year old tree), doesn’t produce more than 10 fruit this season, I
may have to cut it down. Could be the soil under it has a problem.
Hi John,
I agree with you not to girdle the trees that suffered in high heat last summer (September 2024 was it?). I’d just let them fully recover.
Call me crazy, but the idea of girdling my trees hurts. I rather let Nature take its course. (It helps to have a few Gem and Gwen trees and maybe a Carman). Seems like forcing a tree to produce when it naturally wouldn’t might shorten the production life? For all i know, could be the other way around. Either way interesting subject.
Hi Larry,
I hear you! I was reluctant to girdle my avocado trees, but some of them were not acting as I wanted so I tried. As of now, I only girdle my Hass and Lamb, and this is because they have insisted on alternate bearing in the past and I insist on them making a moderate crop every year. However, some other trees are more consistent in their fruiting so I don’t touch them. I let nature take its course, as you said. My Reed fruits well every single year, for example. I would never girdle this tree.
i girdled my Holiday approximately 15 years ago and it has flourished ever since!
Looks like a Trick to get more consistent Treats!
It looks like the girdle your son did was a technique I have seen where you take out a couple centimeters of bark all the way around, like you did the “window”. But you have modified to a cut, which looks easier, but I was wondering if you could comment on your reasons for this adaptive technique.
Hi Cynthia,
I have switched to doing the narrower, single cut because it is a smaller wound to the tree and yet accomplishes the goal. It’s also faster and easier, as you mentioned. At first, I wasn’t sure it would induce the branch to bloom in the same way as the wider cut but it does.
Thank you. That is excellent information. I will be girdling a tree in a couple of years to force fruit on a seedling. I am so glad to hear that I can make smaller cuts and get results.
Very interesting.
Wondering if this will work for an avocado tree what was grown from a seed/pit.
The tree is 10 feet tall had flowers once, a few years ago, but never set fruit.
Hi Greg,
Great post on girdling the avocado trees. I am wondering though, in a previous post the girdle consisted of two cuts , removing a band of phylum approximately 0.25” in width. Which do you think would be the best technique?
Hi Greg,
I got my answer to my girdling question from your response to Cynthia, thanks for that. A conversation regarding pollinators revealed from John Shustras ranch that by his estimation the hover flys do the best job, interesting. We have had our share those pesky and by the way my Lamb Hass and Reeds are loaded with the best looking fruit I have ever seen on my trees.
So happy for you, Greg! Next year at this time you will still be knee deep in guacamole.