While Dusa is the global standard today, it does not perform best in all conditions with all scion varieties. As I mentioned in a different post I have a Fuerte and a Hass here in temecula, Ive been thinking of putting in a third to open the possibility of year round avocados. Maybe I shouldnt have put Reed in that list, but Reed isnt as vigorous as some other varieties such as Bacon, Fuerte, or Hass. The rest of it rocky, not very rich, not clayey (I guess this should mean it is well ventilated. By the way, I have a few other Hawaiian varieties growing that Ive never tasted and am wondering if youd recommend giving any of them more or less attention and space: Murashige, Malama, Nishikawa, Kahaluu? The tree is around 12 ft. by Greg Alder | Mar 23, 2018 | Avocados | 167 comments. Peterson.) Hi Greg. We got a Hass today, and were planning to plant it tomorrow in the sunniest spot in our yard, which usually stays pretty warm, even when its chilly. Thank you for your response and info. This is one of the reasons that Hass went from obscurity in 1945 to over 95 percent of the commercial avocado production in California today. I have to plant them in a line of north to south. Are they light producing or is that they are slow growing therefore they are light producing because they are small? Also, what are your thoughts on a multi-variety grafted tree? If there is excess moisture, your Hass avocado tree might suffer from root rot. I made one for my mom in her backyard about six years ago and its doing well. has a high oil content and is larger than the hass variety. I confess I began gardening only very recently, and I am super interested in all the different varieties and the scientific details. The Nabal trees I know are not so wide spreading like a Fuerte, and neither are they more upright like a Bacon can be. We are Sunset zone 17. On June 10 and 11 last year (2019), my yard reached 100 both days. I really appreciate reading your expert advice and opinion about your experiences. I decided to go pairwise; Im curious and want to understand whatre the best varieties to eat & grow here in our climate and my particular soil and I hope to avoid alternate bearing issues. Give your avocado tree about 15 feet of space from other trees and plants. Our USDA certified Avocado fruit are medium to large sized pear-shaped with a small seed (~74% flesh), higher oil content than Hass (28% compared to 21%), and a green rough skin that is soft to the touch when ripe. It is very helpful! The challenge Ive heard others in your area having is with occasional cold snaps in winter (taken care of by your greenhouse) and such cool spring weather that B types dont set much fruit. Florida's avocado trees grow to be between 30 and 65 feet tall. Contemplated stopping by Fallbrook and talking to a grower, but returning on Sunday meant I was a bit eager to get home. Thank you for your reply, After doing some research and asking question in my neighborhood the last couple of days, I found out that Im not the only one with this problem. The equipment you need to move between rows to do your spraying will have to be accommodated. I dont know the nursery it is originally from. When it comes to Avocado, Temecula is the place to buy all your Avocado trees, famous for best Avocados in the WORLD. Holiday doesnt produce much down here either, from the trees Ive seen and grown, compared to other varieties. Until then, let me say that every one of the varieties you mentioned has great tasting fruit (except that Ive never eaten Green Gold so cant comment with experience on that one). Thanks for the detail and everything you do. Thanks really enjoy your posts! I dont have a lot of firsthand experience with avocados in your area so I try to be keep quiet about what will grow well there and how to do it. Flowering and pollination. In your climate, dangerous heat in spring and early summer just doesnt happen. Thanks for writing. At my place Gwen seems to be doing fine in the heat but it is getting some afternoon shade from a large live oak. Im about to head to subtropica nursery to buy three trees. This autumn, I decided to order more avocado trees from Brokaw. On the other hand, I doubt youd be disappointed with Pinkerton, which is widely available. The other two are not doing well. Its me from up North again. Ive found that 30% shade cloth over the top of young trees is enough unless its over about 105 degrees. But I think its going to be a more common variety for Southern California in the future. What are your thoughts on a Sharwil Tree? No one even the owner knows what variety it is, but there is a lot of fruits on it. Then, I found out that none of the French nurseries provided any information about the rootstocks. I fertilized more, watered less, and now its in perfect shape. As I recall, the Tijuana River valley is where they were first noticed some years back. We will sell trees at various ages and transport to other islands. And a friend showed me an old tree of an unknown variety that hed found growing without irrigation near Shelter Island. Im jealous. Id use less dense shade cloth or raise the shade cloth. Ettinger, Your help would be most welcome, I completely understand and I agree. In fact, cross-pollination is promoted in the flowers by the stigma of a flower being receptive to pollen prior to pollen being released from that same flower. The Hass has a lot on it and both the other trees have some as well. I have two questions for you: I have downscaled a bit.and now I have just 20 trees and 16 varieties. Let me know how the grafting and new trees go, and share photos of the cut fruit if you get a chance. Its a challenge to choose a single avocado variety to plant. Anyway, Id focus on A types, and with the 14-foot ceiling you could prune any variety to keep its size in check or go with a naturally smaller variety such as Gwen, GEM, Pinkerton, Lamb, or even Reed (these will all ultimately get taller than 14 feet, but not as soon). Thank you so much for the great articles, and for your personal attention and replies. maybe you missed my question on May 2, 2020 or I missed your reply, with 3 citrus trees and room for one avocado on the central coast of California, Cayucos. It seems that Reed has the advantage in terms of fruit production. I wanted to say I appreciate all you do with your website and videos. (Alternatively, if I had a neighbor with a Hass or a vendor at a farmers market who sold good Hass, then I could plant a Reed as my only tree.). More reliably available than Sharwil, GreyStar avocados have the same wonderful texture and delicious flavour, and a long season from December to June. As I learnt that planting an A-type and a B-type only encreased crops by 20%, I thought it would be smarter to plant a second tree that would be fruiting when Hass does not, allowing me to have avocados almost all year long, as ou describe in your article. Two, how many people are you feeding? Thank you! I saw a fruiting avocado tree for the first time in my life. Miuch like Citrus, Palm and Catus mix. The fruit has the same thick, pebbly skin as the Hass but has a little rounder shape. Horizontally? The fruit must be of good size. Guaranteed meaning: We have grown trees in areas away from tall trees, so not to be pollinated by them. Where I am now (Ramona) gets a little chillier even than there but Lamb does fine in my yard. The tree bears regular crops of large, round fruit of exceptional eating quality. Its significantly bigger than Hass, as seen in the photo above, and. If I had the space for three avocado trees, I would add a Fuerte to the mix. As an aside, I recently spent a long weekend in Ramona, beautiful area. About the leaves, I think most people just think it looks messy. The grove manager said he prefers Hass at no closer than 12 feet. Its important information. reading on other forums, ive seen comments that its better in the long run to plant a smaller size tree (3 gallon +) compared to a larger 15+ gallon size tree.that the smaller size tree will out perform and out grow the larger gallon size in the future. A Florida avocado has the same kind of fats but in much lower quantities. At best, carrying a super heavy crop load usually means that the following years crop will be very light. Distinguishing characteristics of the Sharwil avocado include its size, shape, and color. So I decided to plant a Hass and a Sir Prize which sounded like a great variety. My Reed, as well as those I know nearby, does relatively well. Riverside to The problem is that theres so much to say. I was there last week visiting a few friends and their avocado trees. Thought you and others might be interested in knowing that Gwen avocados are currently available at Elis Farmstand in Fallbrook. Ps. Really it's the type A Guatemalans that far and away perform best in the cool temps. It even has an upright variety (seedling actually) with a spreading variety (Fuerte), and it still works. Production is too low in California. Recently I moved to the cusp of Zones 9a and 9b. GEM is more consistent, so growers can make money every year," Arpaia said. The trees are doing spectacularly, especially the Nabal with 18 almost baseball size avocados on it. Because Cayucos is so cool, Id stay away from B type avocados in general, including Sir-Prize. Most people are a bit lazy when it comes to tree pruning. Ill write it within the next couple weeks and title it something like Avocado varieties for year-round fruit.. The main reason that I usually buy small avocado trees is because theyre so much cheaper. [About our soil: it is not acid at all, for sure. Or is Dusa just the best variety to this day (as these articles say), and in any case it will be better than Duke 7? What varieties did you get and on what rootstocks? In August I managed to order more avocado trees directly from Brokaw (Spain). I also planted a Queen avocado tree in the spot where the Holiday was. Black sand? I never feel like I have a palate that is refined enough to give a sufficiently florid description. I would like to let you know how my adventure in avocado growing proceeds. In my climate (Ramona), we can get heat waves of 100 degrees in May or June while fruitlets are still small and vulnerable. Our priest is a big avocado-lover; therefore, I planted 2 avocados there Hass (on Duke-7) and Lamb (on Duke-7). The mainland now accepts for resale, sharwil avocados, given the need for a great tasting avocado in winter. I would go with the clonal rootstocks if you can, but I would get one tree on Dusa and the other on Duke 7. Im also wondering if I might be happier going with a pair of smaller trees that let me enjoy avocados closer to year-round. In Europe, I can buy: Unfortunately, people here seldom grow avocados, it is just not in our culture which is strange, because people do eat avocados a lot, and you find them in every supermarket. I am less concerned about the fruiting period but a good tasting avocado and a tree that will look presentable in a public area. So sorry to have somehow missed your earlier comment. So from Armstrong and Evergreen and Walter Andersen, etc. What do think of a Reed vs. Sharwil in temecula where it can both get too hot and too cold some avocados? My experience with Sharwil in my own yard and my observations of other Sharwils confirm that its not the most predictable bearer, unfortunately. Persea americana x 'Mexicola Grande'. It means a lot to me! I have bought a number of trees there. Three, how big will you let the Hass trees get? I am looking for a variety that would : We had a hass 4 years back that sun burned to death. Hi Greg, Thank you in advance for your assistance. Any suggestions would be much appreciated please! Thank you. Funny thing is that Hass was once an outsider. Option 2: Sir Prize. Great article, and I agree with your choices of Hass, Reed, and Fuerte, but only if you live in a true mild avocado climate. By the way, all of these varieties Reed, Lamb, GEM, Sir Prize taste really good so I wouldnt choose one over the other because of taste. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. We have acreage The Land located above Hilo, Hawaii, at 800 foot elevation. (Both Reed and Hass produce more than Fuerte in my yard.) A handsome tree to about 9m x 10m, Hass is fairly cold and frost tolerant once established, and will bear its delicious fruit between September and January. I also checked on a huge old Nabal in OB that I used to eat from, and I was pleased to find that the tree is now doing better than last year. FWIW I think Fuerte, Reed and obviously a great Hass are among my top 5 so your advice is excellent. Hi Thomas, Then you can add a third one strictly based a flavor. I noticed that usually the soil in big box stores are not the best for avocados but that seems to be changing as the last tree I bought (Ettinger) came in black sand. And please let me know how your adventure in avocado growing proceeds. Thanks for your feedback. One is related to a nursery based in California called Brokaw: https://www.viverosbrokaw.com/?lang=en. Hi Greg, thank you for your posts. Thanks for the update. Ive heard people say that too, but Ive never found evidence for it. It becomes hydrophobic whereas the mulch never does.) Oval-shaped and dark-green in color, the Choquette avocado originated in Florida and is a mix of two different types - Guatemalan and West Indian. Greg Another which 2 trees are best question. In fact, Hass also produces more reliably than Fuerte in most places. Ive done it with some of my trees; with others I allow low branching, multiple leaders, and more of a globe shape overall. Home Depot in Whittier has mainly had Zutanos, Bacons and Hass while Lowes hadnt had anything. I found only two Spanish nurseries that talked rootstocks. Mexicola is the oiliest variety that I have tasted but its a bit too intense for me, and I wouldnt say its one of my favorites. might be possible to buy a Lamb Hass (but I read about the Lamb Hasss strong habit of alternate bearing). Were planting a minimum of 5000 trees using a high density planting design and will foliage spray. Edranol, Ettinger, Sharwil and Zutano demonstrated a closer timing to Hass than Bacon, Fuerte and Shepard . ), (See more about Fuerte in my post, The Fuerte avocado tree: a profile.). It has set more fruit while young than most of my other varieties. Heavy clay is the worst for Hass avocado trees, but if you have no other choice, create a raised bed or a mound with a 3-5 foot diameter to plant the tree on. Both can be considered "creamy," but Hass has higher levels of fat which makes. . I would plant a Hass if I were you. Medium sized, pear-shaped fruit has an excellent creamy, flesh. I am in the hills of Montecito, south facing slope. Its just easier to maintain over the long haul. Ive enjoyed reading your posts as I consider my Avocado plant. So I tried a Reed for the first time today from the farmers market. They have smooth, glossy skins and high water content. Do you suggest shade clothes for all my trees (about 4 feet tall, 15 gal), or will it stunt growth too much? Sorry that I bad-mouthed Zutano in the comment above. I visited a grove with a soil pH of 8 and saw that their GEM trees on Dusa were stunted and chlorotic. Some answers to these questions can be found here: Sixty percent shade cloth over the trees can work as long as its only over the top (not wrapping the entire tree) and more than a few inches higher than the tree (not almost touching the top leaves). Thanks again. Anyway, usually its for the best that trees shed some of their fruitlets. GEM with a friend is a great idea. Option 1: Reed. In contrast, most of the Type B avocados are considered "greenskins". Fruit may have a larger seed when grown in rainy areas. This is an interesting set of parameters. Those varieties would also probably not be extremely vigorous compared to the GEM such that pruning wouldnt be such a challenge. var. Ive seen high-density plantings get crowded after the first few years and then the yield is reduced and the grove is impenetrable jungle. 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