Avocados at a De Luz grove are seen knocked to the ground due to Santa Ana winds in early December. Downed fruit cannot be sold. Valley News/Will Fritz photo
Santa Ana winds have long been the cause of headaches for avocado growers, and the winds experienced in Southern California the first week of December – which also caused public safety power shut-offs in Fallbrook and elsewhere – were no different.One De Luz grower said the winds knocked a significant chunk of the fruit off her trees.“I have quite a few trees that have no fruit on them at all,” the grower said. “I wouldn’t say half my grove has no fruit but there are probably 10%, 20% with no fruit on them, and then the trees that do have fruit, don’t have much.”The grower said the damage caused by the winds will certainly impact the amount of avocados she is able to pick and sell, which is a process that her grove usually starts in January or February and conti
