Avocado's

[titch7069]

we have 3 Avocado trees, 2 produce wonderful avocado's, 1 has a mould that means the 'fruit' is deformed and inedible. the tree is otherwise healthy, it produces new leaves etc. i am worried about the mould/disease spreading to the others more than getting 'fruit' from the 'sick' one as it's otherwise healthy i don't really want to fell it. the mould is very similar to that on the cashew trees on the island. anyone have any ideas as to what it is and how to get rid or cure it?

[Jack]

Gidday

Sorry but I am unable to help you with your problem.

However, you may be able to help me with one. In your signature line you mention a ankur gasifier. Please explain what that is. I have been looking for ways to make our own gas so I am therefore accutely interested.

[titch7069]

take a look at www.ankurscientific.com

wood produces the gas to run our generator, hope it helps.

[Jack]

Gidday

Hey mate that looks bloody interesting. Thanks.

[titch7069]

hamna shida (no worries), they're bloody cheap to buy too

[Wombat]

Hey Titch!

Does your avocado get "pink, white or yellow leaf variegations, yellow streaks on bark, and yellow or red streaks on the fruit"?

If so it is probaly a virus disease, sun-blotch, and you best plan is to rogue the tree. (pull it up and burn it)

Nev

[titch7069]

Hi Nev

No, it's a black mould on the bark and leaves, the 'fruit' are sort of shrivelled.

titch

[Jack]

Gidday

Black mold is normally honey dew caused by little buggers like scale or mites ir things that are hard to see.

To keep the answer as green as I can I would suggest you give it a few sprays with an oil spray. Look at the thread about lemon trees in the U.K. and you can see a good sounding organic oil recipe.

But I would normally use Jayes Fluid, a teaspoon full to the gallon.

[Boots]

Hi Titch,
Our lillypillies fall prey to a dusty looking blackish mould every now and then and I spent ages trialling things on it.

The best solution that I found was recycling the soapy water from the washing machine through a spray gun and giving the trees a good soak each arvo for about a week. That worked a treat, so might be worth a try on your trees, maybe.

Another suggestion was milk powder and soapy water... but my experiments suggested the soapy water was what was actually making a difference.

[Millymollymandy]

The milk powder may be to help the soapy water adhere to the leaves - we've started mixing Bordeaux Mix with skimmed milk because you can use less of the BM because the milk helps the BM stick to the leaves.

Sooty mould is a real pain because the only way to get rid of it is to wash it off the leaves - which you can't really do with a tree and you still need to get at the critters which cause it in the first place.

[Jack]

Gidday

Sooty mould does not really cause any harm at all apart from asthetic. But in this case, the fruit are being effected so he has to attack what is causing the sooty mould, like scale or mites. The sooty mould is just a mould that grows on the surgary poop of the scale or mites and is not feeding from the actual plant it is on.

[Karen_Grace]

Hey Titch, Your blog looks amazin, will have to have a good look later when I get the chance. (my bloke wants to play battlefield)

[Wombat]

Sounds like some good suggestions from the others Titch!

Nev