Visit www.avocadosource.com/AvocadoCafe/AvocadoCafe_TOC.htm to download this Avocado Cafe presentation Visit www.avocadosource.com/ for everything avocados! “How the interplay of light and vegetative growth influences yield” The observation of yield fluctuations (irregular bearing) was my research focus. In trying to build upon previous research one realizes that this subject has been previously researched in very broad terms and in large scales of observations (such as countries, large production areas, whole orchards, whole trees, etc.). Ultimately, if the irregular bearing phenomena occurs due to fruit presence, then is necessary to switch the scale of observation to the one that is relevant to fruit presence or absence, in other words if one pretends to link fruit presence to growth problems, is then necessary to know where the fruit is growing and study it. That relevant unit is the single avocado shoot. After that mental switch in the approach and following more than 500 single Hass avocado shoots for 3 years at field conditions in Riverside CA, true vegetative and reproductive patterns became obvious when comparing Hass avocado shoots bearing fruits vs non-bearing ones and their collective presence and behavior became a way to describe the patterns at the whole canopy. I had the opportunity to travel and capture the resilience of these shoot level growth patterns in South Africa, Chile (even comparing high vs low density and with growth regulators) and more anecdotally in Israel and Peru. Furthermore, I was given a chance to collect this data on the Maluma variety. Interestingly and adding to the previous, there was one main environmental variable that was able to alter those patterns in a predictable way: exposure to sunlight. I will share these observations and the data that supports why trellising avocados should be consider together with new avocado varieties that are more adaptable to it.

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