I wish everyone a happy Christmas as we wait for the success of the flowering period, to see our flowers turn into fruitlets and grow to be avocados, and watch our next year’s income grow.

The present weather has hit with warm hot days that are growing our fruitlets into fruit for eating next year. It took a while in the spring to get good weather conditions. Now we’re on track to growing the new growth to carry the flower for next year and to help supply energy to grow fruitlets.

Now is also a good time to push growth, and good amounts of nitrogen will help achieve that.  Predictions are suggesting a hot dry summer ahead, so consider feeding early as growth tends to slow at higher day temperatures. Get the tree ready to fire up again in the early autumn.

Other than harvesting, we at AAL do very little work on the trees during the hot weather. No chainsaw or pruning work as this can open the tree up to severe stress and sunburn. Hold off any pruning until the autumn when the tree is in a better phase and has cooler temperatures and less impacting sun radiation.

Fertilise strongly this month as it could be the last chance until the next rain. Up until early-January we tend to get good growth and it is this growth that carries the flower and the fruit for the following years. It is also during this time that everyone who eats avocados in NZ is busy buying them for salads in our Kiwi barbecue season and for plates for their celebratory Christmas social times.

Happy Christmas to you all and your families. It is always great fun at this time of year, as we sit around enjoying our break with our families and friends. It is also a great time of the year to scoff avocados breakfast, lunch and dinner and anytime in between. Plus, it is the time of year that we get to reflect on the passion and enjoyment of growing avocados here in Aotearoa.