Crunchy avocado? Heat or drought?

General Fruit Growing
#1

Hi,

Last year I did not water my avocados enough. I had about 20 fuerte avocados. About half of each fruit will ripen okay. Another part of the fruit will stay as hard as the seed, all crunchy. It was not rubbery like when you pick one too early. It was like the flesh was turning into wood (though not literally of course).

I assume this is probably a known thing but I could not find it on a google search. It probably has something to do with it hitting 100-105 degrees in inland San Diego last summer, and also the fact that I did not water much? Or is it something else? Can anyone explain this? Thank you.

2 Likes
#2

I’m not familiar with this particular issue of partially hardened fruit, but avocados definitely don’t love 100°+ temperatures, and need lots of water during fruit development, especially when temperatures are high. I’d say you nailed it, probably the combination of drought and heat are to blame.