Just be growing all the time
Weeds are a big problem in the avocado orchard, we1 I mostly mow it probably 4-5 times a year. When weeds are tall they hide the micro-sprinklers, which perch only a foot above the soil on a flimsy little plastic black stake. Mowing over and destroying the micro-sprinklers is super easy to do when the weeds are covering them.
So over the weekend, we repurposed most of the 3″ round tree stakes2These were used about 10 years ago to help stabilize the trees when they were grafted. into large micro-sprinkler stakes. We kept about 20 stakes for 10 new avocado trees we plan on planting next season.
The morning fog burned off and it was hot. I stole my umbrella and my son’s little play table from the backyard and set up a little cutting station in the orchard next to our rat-infested shed. The shade was nice. I proceeded to cut the stakes to be about 28″-32″ long. Ended up with 76, but need 100 so I’ll need to find something suitable later to make up the remaining.
Over the next weeks, we will paint the tops a bright color, pound them into the ground and attach the micro-sprinklers to them. Heck, we can also use these to identify the avocado variety.3We have Haas, Lamb Haas, Reed, Nabal, Pinkerton, Bacon, Zutano, and Jims This should make for a visible landmark we can see when we need to mow the orchard. Plus, raising the micro-sprinklers a little bit higher will keep the spray more distributed. Right now once the weeds are about the same height they block the water from spraying outwards.
It really feels good to get this project started. We have been talking about doing this for months but was never really high on the priority list. Let’s hope it doesn’t take much longer to finish the project. Cutting was the easy part.
