avocados Archives - Page 12 of 12 - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening

How to cope with a heat wave

by Greg Alder | Aug 31, 2015 | Weather | 0 comments

Just as there’s always a cold snap or two every winter, we get a couple heat waves every summer that challenge the plants. We just made it through a second August heat wave, where five days were over 95°. Two weeks ago we had four days over 95° and a new daily...

Do you need two avocado trees to get fruit?

by Greg Alder | May 8, 2015 | Avocados, Fruit | 28 comments

No, you don’t need two avocado trees to get fruit. Before I explain how I know this, let me say where I think this myth originates: avocado flowers are strange. They are dichogamous, it’s called by botanists. The standard description of avocado flower...

Do avocado trees need a lot of water?

by Greg Alder | Mar 24, 2015 | Avocados, Watering | 22 comments

I heard a Master Gardener say she was hesitant to recommend that people plant avocado trees in their Southern California yards because avocados need a lot of water. Sounds sensible at first. We should be careful about our water use. But let’s think further....

Cass and the Placenta Tree Turn One

by Greg Alder | Feb 26, 2015 | Avocados, Fruit | 1 comment

It was exactly one year ago that our first child was born. When we brought Cass home from the hospital we also carried with us his placenta, and in the light rain that had started falling I dug a hole, placed the placenta along with the amniotic sac and umbilical cord...

The New Year’s 2015 Freeze Damage and Its Lessons

by Greg Alder | Jan 31, 2015 | Avocados, Weather | 0 comments

The low temperature at the Ramona airport on New Year’s morning was 25 degrees, one degree above the record low. The temperature sensor under the eaves of my porch bottomed out at 30 degrees. (The porch’s shelter keeps it a couple degrees higher, but we’re...

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Welcome . . .

I'm Greg. My goal is to help you grow food at home, with a focus on vegetables and fruits -- especially avocados -- in Southern California. I write a new "Yard Post" every Friday.

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