The Drought survivors,and gophers.
By stan510
7 comments
The Avocado is on an empty lot next to my home. Over 20 years ago there used to be very old migrant worker cottages. All torn down. I remember right before that somebody planted the Avocado seed. Since then,its survived on rainfall alone. Not a drop of hose water in decades.
Iochroma cyanea..browned leaf edges is the usual this time of year. I always just hope to get it to look decent until the rains return. I do water,but I can never seem to water it all that it wants. The Brug sprouted under the fence from one in my yard that I cut down. It too,despite never getting watered..survives.
The Aloe has gophers tunneling under or around it- you can see dirt mounds the furry devils created on the sidewalk.
16 Aug, 2016
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Comments
Moles would be welcome..worm eaters. Gophers are spawn of Beelzebub. They can reduce years of growth to death in one night.
Its not a Avocado of any significance in size or production...but that it never-ever- gets a drop of water that does not fall out of the sky and still looks presentable- that amazing. Well,to me!
17 Aug, 2016
Moles are very nice little hthngs but molehills in the lawn are not nice at all,worms are not...
17 Aug, 2016
Poor little worms... I think they get a bad rap. Those little squirmers aerate and fertilize (with their castings)... I agree, it's amazing that avocado subsists on the natural rainfall. No rain yet? I have started a few and got them to grow to about 5 ft. tall... but they grow too fast to be relegated to a pot and they really require the full sun, needless to say, if you don't have a conservatory they're not going to thrive. (here). I hope you get some rain...or is this how it's going to be until winter...like San Diego?
18 Aug, 2016
Oof- I have to be careful on how I say it!..I love worms. I think.-lol.
But I meant Moles don't eat plant roots like a plague on the land that gophers do.
Lori- we all have Mediterranean climate in California..but in a state this big..always a twist. Andy gets the occasional summer rains..we NEVER get that. So in a way plants face a drier year/summer then in the desert.
BUT!..he's also much hotter. So,that occasional summer rains only helps native dry flora. Garden plants get a day or two's rest.
The SF bay area's milder summers...can let a Avocado survive no watering. But..for production in a home yard or farm,you must water them.
18 Aug, 2016
I didn't mean to say worms are not, I meant to say molehills are not. Worms are more than welcome!
18 Aug, 2016
I thought that was strange Stera!
20 Aug, 2016
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Never seen a pic of an avocado growing before! Is the tree the one with the beautiful silvery bark? Your gopher heaps look rather like our British molehills - all very well until they appear in the lawn...
17 Aug, 2016