My cold hardy avocado is about to bloom! Just one yr after grafting it onto a seedling and after a winter that was frequently near 20 F! I am very pleased with the growth and durability.

It had minor damage from the cold--about 6 inches of dieback on several limbs. I will be very happy if I get a few fruit to set!

Best of luck skeet , what variety did you use?

Mrs. Holland is the variety that is blooming, I also grafted a variety named Duke that survived, but that variety has not grown nearly as much--I have 2 of them and they are both less that 1 ft.

Does avocados require both an A and a B tree to obtain fruit? - Millet (1.034-)

I have a Lula and a mexicola here in deep douth Texas and to my knowledge they don't need pollinizing , they have set fruit for me for 2 years now.

David, yes but you have two varieties of avocados, which could easily be cross pollinating. - Millet (1,034-)

If night time temperatures are below about 70°, many avocados will self-pollinate, since the afternoon flowers won't close the whole way before the morning flowers open. So in our area of central Florida, we often get rather good self-pollination. It works better in some varieties than others. We get excellent fruit set on 'Brogdon' (type B) and 'Gainesville' (type A), but very poor set on 'Duke' (type A). These are all at sufficient distance from each other that cross-pollination is unlikely.

Thank you Dr. Manners for the reply. - Millet (1,034-)

Yup probably millet

As I understand it, having both A and B varieties significantly improves fruit set, but you will still get some fruit if you only have one of them. I know a couple of people with only one type and they get a decent, but not huge, amount of fruit.

-Brett

Brett, it depends on the variety and the weather. For us, 'Brogdon' and 'Gainesville' will load up to branch-breaking crops without cross-pollination, but other varieties bear much less, and some almost none at all.

cold hardy avacodos ?

Hmmm
Mine i started from seed LOL and grafted died last winter we lost all of the plants that where brought into what used to be my house .............


Any one need Pot ash ?


Im interested in cold hardy anything to build back up

Avocados come in three "races": Mexican (cold-hardy to perhaps 16°F-22°, depending on variety), Guatemalan (cold-hardy perhaps 23-27°F depending on variety) and West Indian (injured or killed around 29-30 °F). California commercial types are generally GxM hybrids, whereas Florida commercial types are pure WI (summer-ripening types) or WIxG (Autumn and winter-ripening). But for the home gardener, what you want is pure M types for hardiness. Gainesville, Mrs. Holland, Duke, Topa Topa, Mexicola, are all pure Mexican, and there are numerous others. They always have a thin peel, like a tomato, and fruit varies from dark green to eggplant purple. (the interior is always avocado green; just the peel varies). We also grow Brogdon, which is thought to be WIxM, a very unusual combination. It's hardy into the mid-20s, good enough for Lakeland Florida. I've seen 'Gainesville' survive 6°F with considerable limb damage, and 'Mrs. Holland' is a seedling selection from Dallas Texas, where it survived many years with no protection, so again, hardy into the single digits, apparently.

Since named avocados are nearly always grafted, the rootstock is also important -- either get one budded very low and bury the union, or plan to mulch up over the union during cold weather, or it may freeze out from under the scion, and you still lose the tree. If you graft your own, you can graft onto pure Mexican seedlings, and then you won't have to protect the union and lower.

Malcolm

Thanks Dr Manners! I did not know Mrs. Holland was even that cold hardy.

I have been planting most of the seeds directly in the ground, so low grafting is a little harder, but the rootstock on my Mrs. Holland and the Duke that I have must be at least a little cold hardy. In the future, I will plant my seedlings in a pot so I can transplant the grafted plants and bury the union.

How would I know if the fruit I am buying is a pure Mexican variety (for the rootstock)?

Generally, if you can buy the fruit through normal channels (grocery stores), it will not be pure Mexican. But since you're now growing your own, you have your own seed source.

Malcolm