Hass avocado is a type of avocado in Kenya that is planted for export. This avocado can be planted anywhere in the country. But how do you do it? This article illustrates the steps needed to follow on how to plant Hass Avocado Trees.
Hass avocado trees can be planted from either seedlings or seeds. The following are steps to plant a Hass avocado tree in Kenya:
1. Select a Place to Plant Trees
Before you start to plant Hass avocado trees, you should select an appropriate area. The land should have deep soils that are well drained to avoid root rot. The soil should be sandy or alluvial loam with a PH ranging from 5 to 7. Also, the area should receive adequate rainfall.
2. Planting Materials
Planting materials should be inspected by relevant personnel to ensure they are free from diseases. Before planting, seeds should be treated in hot water at a temperature not exceeding 50 degrees Celsius.
3. Nursery Preparation
You prepare your nursery by planting seeds in plastic liners or seed bags about 2.5 cm by 10 cm with perforated bases for drainage.
4. Prepare the Land.
Prepare the land by clearing or removing all perennial weeds before the Hass avocado tree is planted.
The first cultivation should be deep to ensure the fast expansion of roots and ensure fast root proliferation. Therefore, you can use machinery like a tractor.
5. The Planting of Hass Avocados
Planting of Hass avocado will start if you see grafted seedlings that show healthy development of both shoot and root. Planting is done early in the morning or late evening, especially during the rainy season. Hass avocado trees are planted in straight lines to facilitate crop husbandry and harvesting.
After preparing the land, make holes of 2 by 2 feet in both depth and width (60cm by 60cm). The general spacing for a pure stand of Hass avocado is 5m by 5m.
Take farmyard manure or DSP fertilizer and a certified insecticide and mix it with topsoil. Remove the plant paper with soil and carefully place it in the centre of the hole and cover it firmly with a mixture of top soil. Thereafter, water the plant immediately after planting.
6. Weed Control
Weeding is essential to enhance growth and prevent competition for nutrients and water. You can control weeds by cover cropping, mechanical cultivation, and mulching.
Additionally, the use of non-selective herbicides to manage all types of weeds on the farm.
7. Pruning
Hass avocados need to be pruned to improve yields and provide a superior tree structure. You should start pruning at the planting stage when roots are too long and do not fit the planting hole. Also, pruning is done before flowering and upon completion of harvesting.
You can do thinning to remove some of the already formed fruits to reduce competition for nutrients, hence ensuring high-quality fruits.
8. Pest and Disease Control
You can prevent pests and diseases through weed control, proper selection of planting materials, and proper fertilizer application. Additionally, spray affected trees with appropriate chemicals.
9. Maturity and Harvesting of Hass Avocados
Hass avocado trees will start to produce fruit after three to five years. Hass avocado trees in Kenya flower in October and are ready for picking between June and September.
Harvesting of these avocados requires one to know the right period to harvest. If you want to ensure the fruits are mature, harvest a few fruits and place them in favourable conditions so they ripen evenly. Therefore, they can be considered to have matured.
Hass avocado farming in Kenya is mainly cultivated by both large-scale and small-scale farmers, and the fruit does well at altitudes between 1000m and 2000m.
How to Plant Hass Avocados in Kenya
Hass avocados are planted from either seedlings or seeds as growing materials through grafting in Kenya. Planting is done on prepared land where holes are dug and mixed with farmyard manure or fertilizer. Hass avocados are planted at the start of the rainy season and do well in areas with enough rainfall.
Hass avocados require farm management like mulching, weed control, pruning, and pest and disease control to enhance growth and yield.
Kenya’s major Hass avocado growing areas include Murang’a, Thika, Embu, Nyeri, Kiambu, Meru, Kisii, Nakuru, Naivasha, some parts of North Rift, Machakos, lower Nyanza, and Western Kenya.
In Kenya, an acre piece of land requires 150 Hass avocado trees in the space of 5m by 5m from one tree to another and from one row of trees to another.
How Long Does Hass Avocado Take to Start Bearing Fruits?
After a period of three to five years, Hass avocado will start to bear fruit. They mature at a period of 8 to 9 months after flowering. Harvesting is done when fruits have matured and are picked from a tree and placed in a favourable condition to ripen.
Hass Avocado Trees Spacing
Hass avocado spacing depends on climatic conditions and soil fertility, therefore the general space is 5 by 5 metres.
The spacing of Hass avocados between one seedling and another ranges from 6 to 10 meters, depending on the size of the holes, which should be 2 by 2 feet in both depth and width.
Hass Avocado Yield Per Acre of Land?
The yields of Hass avocado vary with the season each year in Kenya, since the more the tree gets old, the more it gives. Usually, the average production of Hass avocados in Kenya is 87,000 per acre. But a three-to-four-year-old tree yields 300 to 400 kilograms of fruit per acre, while a tree older than five years can yield between 800 and 1000 kilograms of fruit per acre.
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