How To Get Avocados To Thrive In a Hot Climate

I’ve been growing avocados for a few years now and I’ve noticed a few things about them that will get them thriving or, if you don’t do these things, will cause them to suffer.

First of all, you have to get your potting soil right. Avocados are super sensitive to root rot, so if you use any kind of potting soil that has ingredients that can rot, expect your avocados to suffer. You either need to make your own mix or find one that doesn’t include “organic” ingredients. You can make your own mix by mixing peat moss and pumice in a 1:2 ratio or you can buy a mix that has only ingredients like peat moss, coconut coir, perlite, pumice and sand. Gary’s Top Pot is a potting soil I regularly use but you can also easily make it yourself.

The second most important thing is for the trees to never dry out. This is partly one reason why I use the pulse irrigation technique. My avocado trees currently get water 6 times a day for 2 minutes each time. That’s a total of 12 mins of watering. They are on a drip irrigation line that runs through their root zone and to the next tree and plant. I have one continuous drip line for about 150 feet, so whatever is planted in the drip zone will be getting water.

I also have overhead sprinklers from the old lawn system that I am slowly converting over to drip but the trees do get water from this as well. So, my trees always have access to water. None of that once-a-day, deep watering nonsense. Frequent and small applications of water work best for all plants. Plus, I never have runoff into the street. The water stays in my soil only.

The third most important thing for avocados to thrive is to provide them consistent nutrition through a concentrated fertilizer. I have definitely used complete synthetic fertilizers in the past and that resulted in some explosive growth. In the first year, the avocados grew 3-4 feet. This year, however, I am trying a complete organic fertilizer because I want to ensure that the trees are getting every trace element they need as well as a sustainable growth rate. The explosive growth can be too much, too fast and not create a healthy and resilient tree.

Now we come to a myth about avocados. People say you need to protect them from the harsh sunlight in the summer, but I haven’t found that to be true. I think when you don’t water enough, that might be the case. But if you provide them consistent moisture, they can handle the heat of the summer. I have seen avocado trees in my area growing in full sunlight with no protection and they do great. The other myth is that you need to protect them in the winter. This is probably true if you live anywhere where it gets below 30 degrees F regularly. For me, however, this doesn’t happen anymore. Our location is getting warmer every winter due to climate change and avocados do not need the winter protection in our area. They come from areas in Mexico that get down to the 20’s anyways so they can handle some winter cold.

So, if you get the soil right, the watering right and you provide your trees with a steady nutrient supply, then you should be producing some thriving avocados. Expect some fruit in the first couple years!