General management
- Pollination, fertiliser planning, pest monitoring and spraying are contracted out. Remainder of work is completed by owners.
Canopy management
- Tree spaced 7m X 7m
- Trees are managed as individuals
- Max height of trees in 10m
- Light interception is the highest priority when pruning followed by access for picking and spraying, crop load management, structural tree balance and removal of dead or diseased material.
- Trees are structurally pruned once a year in autumn with an estimated average of 25% of the canopy removed each year.
Soil and soil moisture management
- Orchard is predominately sandy loam.
- Leaf litter and avocado pruning are used to mulch trees.
- Soil moisture is not monitored on the orchard and does not have irrigation.
Pollination
- Pollinizer species include Bacon and Zutano at a percentage of 5-7%
- Honey bee hives are brought onto the orchard at 5-10% flowering at a rate of 8-10 hives per hectare. Hives are located in the middle of orchard as there is an open clearing.
Soil and fertiliser application
- Soil and leaf tests are carried out once a year in April.
- A consultant provided a fertiliser plan based on test results and crop loading.
- Both ground and foliar applications are used to add fertiliser with ground application being more common.
- Boron fertilisers are applied as ground and foliar applications every year.
- Calcium fertiliser is applied as a ground application when levels are deficient.
- Fertiliser in some form is applied 8 times a year.
Tree health management
- Trees are injected once a year with phosphonate in autumn with no root testing done to verify root concentrations.
Frost protection
- No frost protection is in place in the orchard.