Yes, my Reed weeps whenever a limb has a lot of fruit because Reeds get heavy. Sometimes I thin or prune such limbs, but you can also prop with 2x4s as the commercial farmers do.

"How water hungry are Avocado trees compared to other fruit trees?"
In my yard, I've tried to get away with the least water possible, and I've noticed that deciduous fruit trees like apples and peaches need the least, citrus are intermediate, and avocados need the most.

"What happen if you don't give it enough water? Will it not fruit at all or will the fruit be smaller or less tasty?"
In the town where I grew up, I knew of a couple of avocado trees that were unirrigated. So they lived off of only rainfall, and this is in Southern California where it's dry all summer and only around 18 inches of rain fell there in the winter, on average.

The trees didn't look great. One had only a couple fruit each year and its leaves always looked very stressed in the fall. The other had a dozen or more fruit each year and looked better than some irrigated trees I've seen (maybe even some in my own yard!). But this tree was in a flat area in a vacant lot near a road and probably gathered a lot of extra rain through road runoff. It also had a deep, undisturbed, natural mulch.

So, the fruit were few on both trees, but I must say they always tasted very good.

Totally agree that this is so subjective.

A month or so ago, I found myself surprised to find that when I ate a Bacon side by side with a Hass, I slightly preferred the Bacon. Of course, Bacon's season was about prime then while Hass's prime taste will not come for a couple more months (in my yard in San Diego County). And I find Hass to taste awesome at the right time, as good as any other avocado I know.

I sometimes think Fuerte is my favorite, but it's not perfect. Sometimes it has a few fibers, the seed is on the large side, and sometimes the seed coat doesn't adhere to the seed. But dang it tastes so rich just to the right level for me.

Reed is hard to beat in almost every category. And the productivity blows most varieties away.

If you're just thinking of flavor, you might say Jan Boyce, for example. But it's not perfect as it doesn't peel as well as Hass does.

And how about Pinkerton?! Tastes great to me, plus its seed is tiny so you get so much flesh.

About when to harvest Gwen: it might help to refer to the release dates that the Cal. Dept. of Food and Ag. issues for commercial farmers. URL: http://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/sites/default/files/documents/Avocado-Maturity-Release-2017-2018.pdf

For Gwen, smalls can be picked starting April 3. I find it helpful to compare the release dates to other varieties I have. So, you might compare the Gwen release date to Hass (Jan. 16) or Lamb (July 17) just to give you the idea that Gwen is predicted to be mature some three months after Hass but three months before Lamb. It's just a prediction on their part, but I think it's useful all the same.

I'm in San Diego county. I normally mulch with tree trimmings to about six inches deep once or twice a year.

Doesn't matter if it's touching the trunk in my yard; I have sandy loam soil, and I irrigate relatively infrequently and out toward the trees' canopy edge.

I wait to apply a new layer until midwinter though, once we've had a few inches of rain, because otherwise you've got to water a lot to soak the mulch and get water down to the soil below.

I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get that second load. Never know when you'll get another convenient chance.

Thanks Mark. Speaking of Gwen, mine is flowering right now, more and earlier than any of my other avocado varieties. Same for you?

Anyone notice their Sir-Prize getting more tip burn than other varieties? I have about ten varieties, and every year my Sir-Prize has the worst tip burn. I'm certain I water it as much as my other trees, so I'm wondering if it's the scion or the rootstock of this particular tree that's susceptible.

P.S. It's so odd to me that Sprouts isn't marketing them as locally grown and charging a premium as WFMarket is. Not only that, but the fruit is in a bin that just says "Green mangos." If you didn't notice the Ava's USA sticker you'd never know.

There are also California Keitts at the Sprouts in Poway, as of last week. They're not conspicuously signed, and they're only $2each

If you're in California, what avocados are you eating from your yard now in early October?

Behlgarden,
I'm also very surprised to hear your Reed isn't productive. I've never seen or heard of such a Reed. Can you post a picture? Where are you located?

Joshua,
By the way, the Corona I tasted in Carpinteria looked just like the ones in your photo and video. I wrote in my notes at the time, "shape like Fuerte but lighter green skin, seed pointy like Zutano."

Yeah, I'm in basically the same climate as Spaugh in inland San Diego County that is on the dry side and my passion fruit do pretty well. What I've found is that they continue to grow and flower like crazy even if I don't give them much water, but if I want a lot of juicy fruit then I need to water them adequately.

The varieties I've tried are Nancy Garrison, Black Knight, Frederick, and Purple Possum. Purple Possum has been my favorite so far in terms of fruit taste.