It was in 2018 that I first visited this grove of Reed avocados. The trees had been planted ten feet apart. In avocado-world parlance, they call that “high density” planting. Traditional tree spacing is more like twenty feet apart. But then the farmer further added a tree in between each tree to make the spacing only five feet apart within the row (but still ten feet apart between rows). We might call that “ultra high density.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was fascinating to see such an experimental planting in 2018, but where the most can be learned is in seeing such a planting after many years of growth and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could avocado trees be sustained at such density? Would they continue fruiting? Would the fruit all be up high? Could you still walk between the trees?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here in 2024, nine years after initial planting, and six years after the photo above was taken on my first visit, this is what the grove looks like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n