BROKAW NURSERY ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF NEW AVOCADO ROOTSTOCKS
Ventura, CA—Brokaw Nursery, LLC, of Ventura recently secured the licenses for three patented avocado rootstocks and a number of experimental avocado rootstocks from the Volcani Institute of the Agricultural Research Organization of the State of Israel. Brokaw, which is the largest avocado nursery in the United States, is now the exclusive licensee for these patents in the US and in the main avocado growing countries of the world.
The patented rootstocks are Tami (VC801), Ben-Ya’acov1 (VC66) and Miriam (VC218). In extensive field tests performed in Israel, each of the three newly licensed rootstocks exhibited beneficial traits. Tami is particularly characterized by Phytophthora cinnamomi resistance. Ben-Ya’acov1 exhibited a lower tendency towards alternate bearing; Phytophthora cinnamomi resistance; salinity resistance; and induced productivity on grafted varieties. Lastly, Miriam exhibited Phytophthora cinnamomi resistance; drought resistance; alkaline soils resistance; and salinity resistance.
“We are thrilled to announce the availability of these new rootstock varieties, in addition to the recently released ZeralaTM and LeolaTM rootstocks from South Africa,” said Rob Brokaw of Brokaw Nursery. “They reflect our nursery’s continuing commitment to offer avocado growers a broad portfolio of rootstocks tailored to a variety of growing conditions.”
Unauthorized propagation, production and sale of the materials is prohibited. For more information within the US, contact Brokaw Nursery, LLC at (805) 647-2262 or Norma@BrokawNursery.com. For international inquiries, contact Consuelof@BrokawNursery.com.
GEM Observations and Recommendations…
With Gem acreage increasing steadily and many growers unfamiliar with the characteristics of the Gem tree we are making the following observations based on our experiences.
Gem is distinct from Hass in some significant ways. Gem is a compact, slower growing column-like tree with predominantly non spreading branches, where much of the fruit remains tucked away under the canopy. This attribute protects the fruit from wind, heat, and cold to a greater degree than Hass.
While the Gem tree may be small, it has very dense growth that packs a lot of leaf surface into a given volume of canopy. Thus, while the Gem tree may occupy less space than a Hass tree, it still has considerable biomass. We can be fooled into thinking that fertilizer and water requirements are less than they really are. We think of the Gem as a hungry and thirsty tree and adjust our inputs accordingly. It may well be that we wrongly perceive it as being ‘smaller’ than it really is.
It does not need nor does it like to be pruned during its first several years. Pruning of young trees including minor skirt pruning may be causing reductions in productivity. For this reason we do not prune Gem trees until it is necessitated by crowding.
We irrigate using two rows of drip tubing and do not employ mini-sprinklers. This enables us to leave the skirts intact during the early years while still achieving uniform application of water. We have also discovered that we’re saving a considerable amount of water by using drippers in high density plantings. We have found that two rows of drip, with .5 gph emitters at 18″ intervals, this works very well and fruit damage from irrigation is minimal.
It looks like Gem need more Nitrogen than Hass. The leaf tissue Nitrogen level may need to be at 3%, although we need to consider the implications of high nitrogen applications on fruit quality and postharvest performance.
In the first two years, Gem can flower so heavily that it causes defoliation, and the tree looks like it will die. The trees will usually recover when given proper care. If this does happen whitewash works well. This defoliation tendency seems to diminish by year 3.
Gem need to be well staked due to the production load of the tree when it is young. They are more likely to snap off at the ground level in high winds.
Regards,
Dan Grant