Planting avocados

Buy trees from an Avocado Nursery Voluntary Accreditation Scheme (ANVAS) accredited nursery. These trees grow in special nursery conditions so they're free from root rot and other diseases.

You can also request trees that are verified to be free from sunblotch viroid disease (indexed trees). If you plan to export fruit, some countries only permit fruit harvested from indexed trees.

Choosing varieties

The best avocado varieties to plant will depend on the location of your farm.

Common varieties

• Hass – most marketable and reliable producer in most areas. We suggest it makes up the bulk of trees in an orchard except in hot areas where the fruit tends to be too small.
• Shepard – for warmer areas with mild winter temperatures such as the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area and warmer slopes of the Bundaberg and Childers region. It is more sensitive to cooler temperatures during flowering and this negatively affects fruit set.
• Reed – a late season variety with an upright growth habit and spherical fruit. It is suitable over a wide range of environments but must be picked late in the season to be acceptable to consumers.
• Wurtz – tree tends to be smaller than other varieties but has a dense canopy and it is more prone to attack by insects such as Monolepta and red mite. It is a mid to late season variety.

New varieties

• Gem® and Carmen®.
• Protected by plant breeder's rights and attract a royalty when purchasing the tree and/or selling the fruit.
• Gem® is an upright tree and fruit hangs inside the tree, so is better protected from sunburn.
• Carmen® is a spreading tree and can flower several times in a year.

Mixing varieties

In most production areas of eastern Australia, pollination and fruit set are adequate in blocks of a single variety but in colder areas some interplanting of a variety of the opposite flowering type can benefit fruit set in some years.

In blocks of Shepard some interplanting of an A-type has improved fruit set in seasons with cool conditions during flowering.

A-type varieties:

• Hass
• Reed
• Wurtz
• Pinkerton
• Gem®
• Carmen®.

B-type varieties:

• Shepard
• Fuerte
• Sharwil
• Edranol
• Ettinger
• Zutano.

Rootstocks

The rootstocks that your trees are grafted onto will have a major influence on how they perform.

The best all-round rootstock for Australian conditions is Velvick but because it is in high demand you may have to wait longer for it. Dusa® are clonal trees and have a higher cost but they also perform well in Australia.

Choose the best rootstocks for your variety and region by considering:

• tolerance to Phytophthora root rot (highest priority)
• tolerance to low levels of salinity
• suitability to your climate (e.g. more tolerance to a cold environment)
• soil pH
• susceptibility to biennial bearing
• susceptibility of the fruit to anthracnose fruit rot.

When to plant

In areas where frosts occur, we recommend planting during September–October.

In warmer areas, April–May is best to avoid very hot weather whilst plants get established.

Tree spacing

Tree spacing depends on whether you opt for high, medium or low-density plantings.

High-density plantings (more than about 500 trees/ha, e.g. 6m by 3m):

• give earlier returns, but cost more to set up
• need to be pruned earlier because plantings crowd together sooner
• difficult to manage in warmer areas because tree growth is faster.

Low-density plantings (200 trees or less/ha, e.g. 10m by 5m):

• provide lower early returns per unit area but are easier to manage
• trees are generally allowed to grow larger
• large trees increase picking costs, reduce picker safety, produce less fruit and of lower quality.

Medium-density spacings (e.g. 9m by 6m) can be a compromise.

It's important to plant avocado trees correctly – watch how to establish a healthy and productive orchard.