It's that time of year when grower's think about pruning their avocado trees. What scars many growers is the regrowth that occurs. If the cut is to the middle of a branch, there is all kinds of wild growth that results. The best cuts are back to a crotch or a subtending branch. Then there is little regrowth. Sometimes those cuts cannot be made and a mid-branch cut needs to be made.
Tre-Hold, naphthalene acetic acid was registered on avocado several years ago to retard that regrowth. The growth hormone is mixed with white latex paint so it is possible to see where it has been applied. We recommended that the paint be hand applied to a distance two times the width of the cut. So if the cut is 2 inches in diameter, paint back 4 inches around the base of the cut. It works.
Many growers don't use the material, but recently I saw a neatly pruned grove that has been using NAA for a number of years and in order to avoid any confusion about how much paint to put on, they just apply a 2 inch width of paint to all the cuts. This is easier for the pruners and speeds up the process. Try it, you may like it. It certainly saves time in maintenance over the long haul after pruning.
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