Avacados

Hi folks, this is the first time I have checked out this forum and I'm hoping one of you can answer a question for me. I was given an avacado this summer by my lovely Vietnamese neighbor that must have weighed at least 2 lbs. It had been given to them by a friend, so she didn't know much about it, but when I asked her how they got them so big, she said something about scoring the bark, but couldn't tell me where or when to do this. Is anyone familiar with this practice? I would love to find more info.The only place I've ever seen an avacado that big was at the Hilo Farmers market. This one was darn tastey too! Think I better start lurking on this forum, even if I do live in a semi-tropical region. Thanks in advance for any info!
Carol

Hi carol,
I personally don't know about this practice, i don't know much about avos. but i am sure that someone here will be able to provide you some info. hope to have you join us again.

Isaac

Sometimes a non-fruiting tree can be induced to bear by injuring the bark. Perhaps this made larger fruits? I might try that next year on one of my mangoes...

Oh, dear, I just had to google. Check these places--

http://www.willsavocados.com/index.php/grow-avocado-tree

and

http://www.ucavo.ucr.edu/

There have been a number of methods used to force mangos. It's mainly done to bring about earlier and heavier fruiting. More fruit generally means a smaller average size, which can be an advantage to the grower as the price is better for the medium sized fruit.

Cincturing, or cutting the bark around the tree used to be quite common, a number of my mangos still have scars from before I bought the place. It's often said the tree makes a desperate bid to reproduce itself (flowering and fruiting) because the cuts are life threatening. But apparently the plant foods produced in the leaves become trapped in the upper part because their distribution to the rest of the plant has been interupted. So it goes into producing more fruit.

There were other things done to directly stress mangos. One was to run a ripper through the surface roots. The previous owner of my place used all these types of methods. I still have the ripper. It's offset to the side so that it cuts close to the tree trunks rather than directly behind the tractor.

Then there's chemicals some use to poison the surface roots. Apparently this one is a bit of a delicate operation. Too much of the chemical can kill the tree outright. Too little might have no effect. The right amount gives you a bumper crop. Well, they say farming is a risky business.

Yow!! Actually my trees are fine as is!

And there are the long-necked avocados here, they're quite tasty. I have some babies growing, maybe I'll plant them way out there, rather than close in the yard, as I hear they don't come tru to seed.

And on one of the links I posted, I scrolled down thru the different photos, and several kinds have Avocados as large as 35 ounces. But that's too big for commercial production, they say.

Molamola, thank you for the links! The UC website has a list of links that I will check out.

tropicbreeze, that was good info.It helps me understand some of the commercial practices around here a bit better. I watched them cut an old orchard back to framework limbs and paint what was left to prevent sunburn. The following year you couldn't see the leaves for the avacados! I'll have to take a drive by there to see if that grove is still there. They have been removing them to build homes, so that may have been the last hoorah for that one.

Thank you so much!
Carol

Hum, cut back to framework... I have a friend who has a small avocado tree that's never fruited. Do they need more than one tree? This tree is about fifteen feet tall, the trunk at the ground six inches through.

He's really disgusted with that tree. And he also has a dwarf mango that's only about five feet tall, and seven feet across. Only one or two mangoes every year. He's really disgusted with that tree, too.

Molalola, Refer your friend to that UC website. Some take a long time to produce fruit...some seedlings never do. Mine is a seedling from a Pinkerton that I planted about 15 years ago. I had 2 good years that it prodduced about 100 avacados...the last two, I've gotten 6 or 7! They removed the tree next door, so it may be a pollination problem...who knows.
Carol

A nursery was saying something about type a flowers, and type b, and I didn't go look. Must be fertilization.

There are probably 100 different varieties of avocado. I live in Hawaii and have 8 avocado trees (we call them pears.) I have 7 full grown pear trees and one baby. Each tree is a different breed. I have summer pears, winter pears, spring, fall, big pears, small pears, round pears, goose necked pears, smooth skin pears, pebbled skin pears, creamy, buttery, watery and sweet. . You name it I got it. Its about the breed. If you get a big variety and give it generous fertilizer, make sure it has correct conditions (temperature, water etc) you will have BIG fruit

I have avocados up the ying/yang. I am drowning in avocados.....HELPPP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

If anyone wants my recipe for Avocado pie just say the word

If you have the space to grow them....go to a nursery and get some large varieties, yes, and you need A and B flowers. Your nursery person should know this.

To be honest the Hass and Fuerte varieties you folks grow in California are so small they would go back in to the compost at my house.. They say the flavor of the Hass is the best. NOT TRUE. Its all lies, propaganda....hahahah

I agree about Hass. There's a type here that, if I find a roadside table with them for sale, I buy all of them! They're smooth green, long necked, easy easy to peel, and absolutely delicious!

I agree about the Hass. I did find though, that if I just go by size and pick mine, they are not so good. If I wait till the stems darken, they are ready and excellent. If they don't get damaged when they fall off the tree, they are perfect...if they get banged up, I leave them for the Oppossums.

Happy 'possums! The Hass that get here, wow, are tiny and $4.

My new avocado tree, just planted is a Green Gold and a B Variety.

The avocado is also unusual in that the timing of the male and female phases differs among varieties. There are two flowering types, referred to as "A" and "B" flower types. "A" varieties open as female on the morning of the first day. The flower closes in late morning or early afternoon. The flower will remain closed until the afternoon of the second day when it opens as male. "B" varieties open as female on the afternoon of the first day, close in late afternoon and re-open in the male phase the following morning.

A" Varieties
Hass
Gwen
lamb Hass
Pinkerton
Reed
GEM
Harvest

B Varieties
Bacon
Ettenger
Fuerte
Sharwal
Sir Prize
Walterhole
Zuteno
Marvel
Nobel

Opps the Green Gold avocado is an A variety.

So they are not often self-fertile? And even not often getting pollinated or something? From what you wrote, it seems very chancy that both male and females could be open for business at the same time.

Many people hand polinate them. I,m not going to get on a tall ladder twice a day! We are paying $2 a piece for them here, and they are grown locally! I do understand why though, with land prices, labor costs, water and fertilizer, pesticides, and rustlers, plus the trees take years to produce...

I live in sunny south FL and have an avocado tree that is over 34 years old (it came with our house). My question is: this year I had thousands of baby avocados on the tree (largest crop of little ones I have ever seen) -- now that it is July the tree has thrown all but a dozen or so of the fruit. The mature size of my avocados is large -- and they are about baseball size now (but pear shaped). Any one have any suggestions on how to keep the fruit on the tree until it matures???? This has been a problem for a few years -- we have blamed it on everything including hurricanes!

I'd like to see an answer to this too. I have the same issue, but mine usually drop at about walnut size.

maybe Dave (metrosideros) can help us with this?

Aloha,

My trees do that too - I thought it was just a natural thinning of the fruit because the tree would have a hard time with the hundreds of baby fruit that it has produced. My trees don't thin themselves down to just a few fruit though...

Here is a website with photos of avocados.

http://www.hawaiifruit.net/AVOVAR/index.html

Avocado pie? That sounds interesting.....

Avocado pie

If you want to impress your friends...with your magic expertise in the kitchen...this is the recipe for you...and it is brain dead easy.

2 pie crusts...browned...(the reason I do 2 pie crusts is because 1 can of sweetened condensed milk is perfect for 2 pies.)

Throw enough avocado into the blender to fill 2 pies
Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into the blender with the avo
Pitch in at least 1/2 cup lime juice...or more to taste
Toss in lime zest of at least 2 limes...its all a matter of taste..I use much more

...BLEND...

Pour mixture into the browned pie crusts...do not over fill...I fill it to just below the fluted Pie crust rim..otherwise the avo overcomes the other ingredients. .
Cover the top of pies with sweetened whipped cream
Optional...sprinkle unsweetened chocolate powder on top

put in fridge until cold...at least 2 hours...over night is even better

This is not supposed to be an overly sweet pie...the sweetened whipped cream is important because it picks up and balances the sweetness

oh yummy, this sounds sooooo delicious!!!! but unfortunately i can't eat it, because of the condensed milk. I am lactose intolerant... :(

We get those small Hass avocados around here, I wonder how many of them would fill two pie crusts?

My first summer pear (avocado) of the season is going off. My trees were here when I moved in so I can not confirm the variety but the fruit looks like a : yamane1. Guacamole time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My next tree will soon follow and will probably be ready to pick in maybe a month. It looks like a wild tree. However the fruit looks closest to a Kampong.

Here again is the website that has many many photos of avocado varieties from Hawaii.

http://www.hawaiifruit.net/AVOVAR/index.html

Thanks, that pie just sounds so yummy - and different.