Aravaipa Avocado how's the taste from growers with older trees ???

[drymifolia]

I also got a box of fruit from Marta, and a bunch of seeds last year. Aravaipa grow the fastest of almost any varieties I've tried, most of them are easily twice the size of similar age Duke or Mexicola seedlings after a year now. But Marta did mention to me once that she has Aravaipa grafted on her Mexicola tree, and I've noticed occasionally the Aravaipa seedlings are smaller and look more like Mexicola, so some of them are probably crosses. Something to keep in mind for anyone else growing out her seeds.

As far as flavor, I agree they were only ok once ripened and also that they rot quickly. I ate the skin rather than scooping or trying to peel it. The skin has only a mild taste, unlike Bacon which is bitter.

My own graft is big enough it can probably hold a few fruit next year, but maybe not for a couple years. Fingers crossed!

[sc4001992]

I also purchased some scionwood of the Aravaipa from Marta. I have it grafted on my large tree and it grows about the same as my other varieties that are grafted on the same tree.

[drymifolia]

I also purchased some scionwood of the Aravaipa from Marta. I have it grafted on my large tree and it grows about the same as my other varieties that are grafted on the same tree.

I meant the seedlings, not the grafted variety. I agree the graft grows at a normal rate, but the seedlings are unusually large and vigorous compared to other Mexican race avocados I've grown from seed.

[sc4001992]

Ok, thanks for the clarification. I'm glad to hear the seeds grow fast, I planted my Aravaipa seeds so next year I hope they grow well. I have seeds from a very large Hybrid Bacon tree (30 ft x 30 ft) that I grow, and it seems to grow pretty fast so I can compare the Aravaipa seedling in one year and see if it grows faster than the Hybrid Bacon seedlings.

[Avoman]

Kaz and others have been very helpful in tasting fruit and giving their thoughts about it , so my own conclusion is aravaipa is great for growing seeds up for rootstock and the cold hardyness of tree,as far as taste it doesn't sound that bad but no one says it's the best they have ever had or right up there with favorites, I don't like the short shelf life at 1 to 2 days must be eaten before it starts going bad, I have a grafted tree myself in the ground all I can say so far is it handles cold very well better than a bacon or zutano

[drymifolia]

Kaz and others have been very helpful in tasting fruit and giving their thoughts about it , so my own conclusion is aravaipa is great for growing seeds up for rootstock and the cold hardyness of tree,as far as taste it doesn't sound that bad but no one says it's the best they have ever had or right up there with favorites, I don't like the short shelf life at 1 to 2 days must be eaten before it starts going bad, I have a grafted tree myself in the ground all I can say so far is it handles cold very well better than a bacon or zutano

I have no doubt that it's more cold hardy than Zutano and Bacon, but I believe its cold hardiness may have been overstated by Shamus when he was promoting the variety. I planted an own-root clone of Aravaipa out last summer, and it suffered moderate damage to leaves and stem tip dieback after multiple nights around 28°F, when my grafts of Northrup and Poncho (and most seedlings of Duke) showed zero damage.

Since I have it grafted in my greenhouse, I also decided to sacrifice my Aravaipa clone to the January freeze, and it appears to be dead (at least above ground) after a low of 14.7°F. I would expect even the hardiest avocados to die from that level of cold at this size, though, so it doesn't say much. You can see photos and updates from throughout the winter on the tree profile page here:

https://www.drymifolia.org/profile.php?a=218

[spaugh]

Does anyone have a photo of an aravaipa tree?  Like one that is large enough to make fruit in decent health? 

Kaz, your pics from october 2022 look lije a box of bacon fruit.  The thin skin, the stringy at the bottom of the seed.  The slant on the bottom of the fruit, the shape of those seeds.  It looks just like bacon. 

[drymifolia]

Does anyone have a photo of an aravaipa tree?  Like one that is large enough to make fruit in decent health? 

Kaz, your pics from october 2022 look lije a box of bacon fruit.  The thin skin, the stringy at the bottom of the seed.  The slant on the bottom of the fruit, the shape of those seeds.  It looks just like bacon.

It is absolutely 100% not Bacon. The flush is deep green with no hint of the red that Bacon leaves have in their flush. The skin is also basically flavorless and easy to eat, while Bacon skin is bitter and unpleasant even though it's a similar thickness.

Now it could be a Bacon **seedling** I guess, but all of those that I've grown also had a red flush. Aravaipa has one of the greenest flushes I've seen. Here's what it looks like as the flush expands:

[Fygee]

If anyone has some seeds they're willing to sell, I'd like to buy some from you so I can experiment with in-ground seedling growth here.

[sc4001992]

Brad, the shape of the fruit may look similar to Bacon, but it is maybe half to two-thirds the size of the Bacon fruit.

[sc4001992]

Fygee, just watch Marta's website for fruits she sells, I doubt there are many people who have larger trees which are fruiting.

[sc4001992]

drymifolia, I doubt it is a seedling of Bacon snice the Bacon was not registered until 1950s.

Also the Hamada tree fruit tree is almost 100 yrs old, so much earlier than the Bacon discovery. I did get feedback from Greg A. who I sent fruits and cuttings of the Hamada tree and he said he doesn't believe it is a Bacon. So, it is an unique cultivar.

[drymifolia]

Here are what hardened Aravaipa leaves look like, they have a fairly distinctive wavy leaf margin. Joey does too, but none of my other cultivars have it to this extent.

[drymifolia]

If anyone has some seeds they're willing to sell, I'd like to buy some from you so I can experiment with in-ground seedling growth here.

Marta usually lists them (fruit boxes, at least) in the fall on her Really Good Plants website, but you could also reach out to her directly this summer to ask about fruit set. Hers ripens around October/November in the Sacramento Valley area. Last year she had very low, nearly zero fruit set, so didn't offer them, but she said she was hoping it would set a normal amount this year again. I assume it's only barely started flowering now, so she probably won't know yet if they'll be offered.

[Benoit30]

Hello,
I'd like to ask you a few questions about the Aravaipa avocado tree. An Off Grid Athlete video mentions two possible origins for the avocado tree: Arizona 1 and Arizona 2. Is this possible? I do not find this video anymore...
The age of the mother avocado tree differs according to the sources, some talking about the end of the 19th century and others the beginning of the 20th. I think it's important to know whether it withstood the historic cold snap of 1913 in Arizona.
Here in France, we're just beginning to observe its behavior. Winter has been mild, so it hasn't yet shown its qualities against the other avocado trees in the garden (several seedlings of Mexican, Bacon...).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfOxf3CZ6bY

[sc4001992]

Benoit30,

Here's the video with Jake, same person who made the first video with other people who didn't really know the true history.

Look at time 8:30 on tihs video and the owner of the land describes in detail that the tree was planted or growing on this land in the early 1910s and it has documentation of the age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDAy2-Y9g58&t=649s

[Avofan]

I got a 6” long maybe 1/2” diameter Aravaipa scion from Marta last year and it has grown faster than anything else for me. Around 42” tall little tree now in one year. Really impressive. Avocado rootstock is so unpredictable that it doesn’t mean much but I could see how it might fruit on the second year after grafting