How Often Should I Water My Avocado Plant

I've e'er wished there were a unproblematic formula that could tell us how much and how oftentimes to water an avocado tree. Alas, the variables are likewise numerous: weather is e'er-changing, unlike soils have different water-holding capacities, frequencies are partially adamant by the watering method (drip, sprinkler).

Still! I bulled forrard and made this table anyway, showing approximately how much and how often to water avocado trees of four different sizes in each month of the year.

This table will not be perfectly accurate for any real-life tree. However, even if you follow the table blindly without making any adjustments, I bet your tree will go its water needs approximately met and you'll probably non be wasting much h2o. These numbers are based on my personal experience growing avocados trees in my own k in Southern California, likewise as my observations of avocado trees elsewhere.

Want to exist more efficient and constructive with your watering? Read on to learn how yous can tailor the application of the table's numbers for your particular conditions.

Important note: Exist certain you've first planted your avocado tree properly and watered information technology through its showtime couple months properly before starting to use this tabular array.

Gallons are for the valleys

How did I come up upwardly with these numbers of gallons? I used weather information that is similar to where most people in Southern California live — basically, the valleys: roughly five to 15 miles away from the beach. (Specifically, it'due south Zone half-dozen on this map.) Anaheim in Orange County is an example of a city in this zone.

If you alive closer to the sea, well, aren't y'all absurd and comfortable? And then is your avocado tree. You can requite it x% less water in the summer. Likewise, if y'all're more than fifteen miles from the ocean, your avocado tree feels the heat and probably needs 10% more gallons than the table shows for the summer months. (Your tree might also need to be watered a bit more frequently.)

But these numbers aren't just theoretical. As mentioned above, they are besides based on the quantity of water that I accept plant to piece of work well on my own avocado trees.

(Hither is a video showing how I water my avocado trees.)

In my experience, you can't give avocado trees much less water without them suffering. (I've tried.) And it'south unnecessary to give them much more. (Yous won't become more fruit, which is the point.)

One exception that I must note is when an avocado tree, especially a young avocado tree, is growing near a large tree, shrub, or vine. That large plant will ofttimes grow roots into the zone where you lot are watering your immature avocado tree and suck up some of its water. Therefore, you may demand to water the young avocado tree more, fifty-fifty much more than, than the table shows for its size. Keep an eye out for this.

Gwen avocado tree in my yard that needs extra water because it's almost a large oak tree.

Frequencies are for sprinkling and mulch

The table makes a couple of assumptions. Ane is that you are sprinkling or spraying the water under the tree, not using drip emitters. If you are using baste emitters, so the gallons don't change but the frequency does. You lot must h2o more frequently with drip, probably every two or three days in summer.

Micro-sprinkler under avocado tree in a friend's grove.

Another assumption is that there is mulch nether your avocado tree. Leaves or wood chips under an avocado tree are extremely beneficial in myriad ways, i of which is allowing the tree to become longer between waterings.

What did I base the tabular array'southward frequencies on? Mostly, I based them on what has worked for my trees, equally well as what has worked on trees in yards and commercial orchards that I have visited throughout Southern California.

In addition, if you're familiar with the concept of evapotranspiration (ET), then you might be interested in knowing that the table says to h2o afterwards betwixt one-half and one inch of ET has been reached. I've found that trees tend to need water at about the half-inch ET frequency in late summer, but they only need water at near the 1-inch ET frequency in late winter. I believe this is due to the winter rains having wetted all the soil around the trees at this fourth dimension.

If you want to exist extra efficient with watering (especially during the autumn, winter, and leap, when the weather is variable), yous tin notice a CIMIS station near yous to get actual ET readings. See more on this in my post here.

Delight remember that the frequencies in the tabular array are averages and are meant by and large as a signal of reference. You must accept into business relationship rain that falls in winter, for example. And yous should certainly non await until it has been 3 days before irrigating once more in Baronial if at that place is a rut wave and your tree is wilting nether 110-degree sunshine. Lookout man your trees for wilting leaves and consider water immediately if yous find that the soil under such a tree is on the dry side.

(See more well-nigh a state of affairs like this in my posts, "Protecting avocado copse from heat" and "Reading avocado leaves.")

No automatic watering in winter

Where avocados grow wild, winters are even drier than ours in Southern California. So once our rains begin, sometimes in Nov simply more reliably in December, you should stop watering your avocado tree automatically.

Unnecessary irrigation in the winter non only wastes water but more importantly can keep the soil soggy and disease prone. Subsequently nosotros've had our starting time couple inches of winter pelting until around the end of March, only water an avocado tree if at that place is a dry spell of well-nigh a couple weeks.

And when you lot do water, give the tree approximately the amount it has used in that interval according to the tabular array. For case, a 10-foot tree in February that has received no rain for 2 weeks needs to be given about 50 gallons.

Big trees get water elsewhere

The table merely goes up to 15 feet considering bigger trees in a normal yard will have grown extensive root systems that drink from neighboring plants, peradventure even from your neighbour'south plants. So if yous have a big avocado tree, you lot almost surely can give it less water than an avocado farmer would have to requite such a tree in an orchard.

It's impossible to say how much to give your large tree. But call back virtually what is beingness watered under its awning and fifty-fifty within 10 feet or so of the outer edge of its canopy. If there are irrigated plants all over that expanse, then you might not need to give the tree whatever water of its own. This is particularly true if there is backyard existence watered within the tree'southward reach.

An instance from my thousand

This is a Lamb avocado tree in my yard that has a canopy bore of 9 anxiety equally of December 2020. The sprinkler that I use on this tree puts out 12 gallons per hr. I normally water the tree for two hours at a fourth dimension. Terminal summer, during July, I watered the tree for a total of 28 hours, and I watered it every two or three days. The average book I gave the tree in July was 10.8 gallons per 24-hour interval.

If yous expect on the h2o tabular array, it says that a 10 human foot (diameter) tree should get ten.3 gallons per day, and it should exist watered every 3 days. My yard is in Ramona in San Diego County, a slightly hotter and drier location than the zone used for the table. Therefore, giving my tree near x percent more water and irrigating it a bit more often makes sense. And it is effective: as yous tin can see, the tree is salubrious with little to no tip burn on its leaves here in winter.

Watering is, by far, the most important affair we do for our avocado trees in California. We must spend a little time on it. Getting the watering correct gets almost everything correct, and our trees show us their gratitude with green leaves and, possibly, lots of avocados.

All of my avocado posts and other 1000 Posts are linked Hither