Something Is Eating Our Avo Trees

[sbk]

Its killed one tree, and now another one is looking bad.

What is it and how do we get rid of it?

It starts like this

and ends up like this

[mike123ca]

What's a avo tree?

[aussieruss]

avacardo tree

[Pond Life]

It looks a lot like what eats our mango trees.

A couple of times I have found a large grub inside a hollow branch.

[soidog2]

If, on the ground near the trunk, just bellow the penetration marks you see something that looks like chewed up wood or very fine shavings; it is the Asian Long Horned Beetle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle

A very destructive pest. You only option is to catch & kill the larvae at an early stage.

Spraying Chandrite in the holes works, I just dig them out.

Get rid of the dead trees, burn them thoroughly.

Good luck

[soidog2]

duplicate

Edited June 28, 2012 by soidog2

[sbk]

The large larvae are the termites that come after its already dead, I am afraid. I haven't noticed any wood shavings near the ground tho, but will look. The tree trunk actually turns black as well.

[Scoop1]

Hi Sbk, google Phytophthora Root Rot Disease, it looks very much like that to me, but is hard to tell from the photos, it is a very serious disease of Avocardo's

Scoop

Edited June 30, 2012 by Scoop1

[xen]

My initial reaction was longicorn but then Long Horned Beetle appeared to the culprit. However i would still suggest looking at longicorn and here is a link to longicorns in Mango Trees from the Northern Territory of Australia dept of Primary Industry.

https://transact.nt....pdf?OpenElement.

I would not suspect Phytophera as the culprit this time altho it is a major problem with Avocardos that are not well drained but with Phytophera the signs are usually the leaves looking wilted before defoliation and if you dig into the soil you will find the roots are rotting like the name implies plus a terrible ordour from the soil due to the anerobic conditions. Would not hurt to check this tho.

Let us know how it goes.

Edited June 30, 2012 by xen

[slapout]

Our avacardo tree is fruitless this year. (completely, never saw a bloom) Its been producing fruit for several years, last year a bumper crop. No visibale sign of desease, has a nice canopy of leaves. This is in CM area, anyone else has this experience.?

[soidog2]

The large larvae are the termites that come after its already dead, I am afraid. I haven't noticed any wood shavings near the ground tho, but will look. The tree trunk actually turns black as well.

The adult beetle lays its eggs on small nicks in the bark, with a trained eye you can spot it.

As the larvae grow, it borrows and destroys your trees.

The larvae can grow quite big, up to three inches or more, some circle the trunk, some dig right in.

You did not say how many affected trees, for immediate control buy some Chandrite spray.

It comes with a long nozzle; check your trees very carefully for penetration marks, insert the nozzle as far as it goes in each hole and spray it thoroughly.

You may find many interconnected holes, spray at both ends.

One more time; removing and burning the dead trees is very important

[tim armstrong]

I used to have a small Avo orchard in Oz in northern NSW. Phytophera got to all the trees before I realized what it was. Its a nasty one that caused many farmers where I lived to change to macadamias. But the good news is that it can be treated with chemicals. You still have to dig out and burn the affected trees.

[xen]

I used to have a small Avo orchard in Oz in northern NSW. Phytophera got to all the trees before I realized what it was. Its a nasty one that caused many farmers where I lived to change to macadamias. But the good news is that it can be treated with chemicals. You still have to dig out and burn the affected trees.

Hi Tim,

You are right about being able to treat Phytophthora with fungicides like Phosphite which can help in the control but from what I believe there is no way to eliminate phytophthora completely. The best way to combat phytophthora is by planting on sloping ground where drainage is good, using compost /mulch around the root /drip line to filter water entering that root zone from ground surface, hygiene in irrigation (especially the water source) and not feeding your trees any nitrogen as fertilizer if phytophthora is present as phytophthora loves nitrogen being added.

There are also phytophthora resistant avocado spp available now.

I also grew avocardos & banannas in Northern NSW many years ago. It was a good life .

Edited July 5, 2012 by xen

[sbk]

The large larvae are the termites that come after its already dead, I am afraid. I haven't noticed any wood shavings near the ground tho, but will look. The tree trunk actually turns black as well.

The adult beetle lays its eggs on small nicks in the bark, with a trained eye you can spot it.

As the larvae grow, it borrows and destroys your trees.

The larvae can grow quite big, up to three inches or more, some circle the trunk, some dig right in.

You did not say how many affected trees, for immediate control buy some Chandrite spray.

It comes with a long nozzle; check your trees very carefully for penetration marks, insert the nozzle as far as it goes in each hole and spray it thoroughly.

You may find many interconnected holes, spray at both ends.

One more time; removing and burning the dead trees is very important

Thanks, will give it a shot. first stop burn the dead tree. (so far just one but several trees are infected)

[soidog2]

Whatever it is; here's his relative, found him today on a jackfruit tree.

[xen]

Judging by the long feelers he is a longicorn beatle.