I found a mature avocado tree in zone 8b - video

[BeachGardener9a]

I met someone who has a 5+ year old in ground avocado tree that has survived the harsh winters here in the Panhandle of Florida.

Located in Miramar Beach, FL 32550. Hardiness zone 8B.

He does not protect this tree in any way. He said it produces 500-800 avocados each year. Last year on Christmas Eve we had temperatures at 19 degrees F for consecutive nights and the tree had some die back also killing all the flowers. It will not fruit this year but seems to be in great shape.

He does not know the variety. The fruit turns black upon ripening. I think it's ether a Joey or Mexicola. Does anyone here have an idea?

Here is a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_04KB8Sh7Y&t=1s

[Enkis]

That's a lot of fruit for an avocado tree that does not have any chance of cross pollination

[lajos93]

Do they really grow that fast??

It would take 6-8 years for an apple/pear whatever tree to get to that size

[drymifolia]

I know of a number of people with large, mature avocado trees in zone 8b Florida & Louisiana, so that tree doesn't seem too surprising to me, especially somewhere that close to the Gulf, where the water helps moderate the temperatures and keeps the freezes shorter when they do come.

That's a lot of fruit for an avocado tree that does not have any chance of cross pollination

Contrary to popular opinion, avocados have no need for cross pollination, it barely even increases fruit set for a mature tree. On a small tree with only a few hundred flowers it might matter more, but on a tree that size with thousands of flowers, you'll get a significant number of blooms that stay open in "male" phase long enough to pollinate some of the next "female" phase flowers as they open up, especially if you have lots of pollinators visiting.

He does not know the variety. The fruit turns black upon ripening. I think it's ether a Joey or Mexicola. Does anyone here have an idea?

As far as identifying the cultivar, are you sure it's even a grafted variety? Or could it be a seedling tree? Closeup photos of new leaf flush, flowers, and cut fruit would help as well, though. The photos of the fruit hanging on the tree at the end of that video are hard to ID effectively, but they look a little more round than Mexicola, and a bit larger than Joey (though fruit size is variable based on growing conditions, and there is nothing in the photo for scale).

Joey flushes light green with slight pinkish hues, whereas Mexicola flushes more reddish. Here's the current spring flush on my greenhouse Joey tree:


Here are the UC Riverside photos of Mexicola leaves:

[pineislander]

It matches my Mexicola planted by Treehouse Nursery Pine Island SWFL.

[drymifolia]

It matches my Mexicola planted by Treehouse Nursery Pine Island SWFL.

Here's what CA-grown Mexicola looks like, these were from a tree known to be correctly labeled:



I've mostly seen them with a slight neck and not so egg-shaped. Obviously environmental differences can change that, and the seed shape might be altered if they are pollinated with something else, but that was what I'm comparing to.

[ScottR]

looks like mexicola grande. mexicola is a shorter fruit.

[drymifolia]

looks like mexicola grande. mexicola is a shorter fruit.

Sadly I didn't include a scale, but those are only about 3 inches long, even with the neck. MG is usually larger. In the Mexicola box photos from Miami Fruit there seems to be a wider range of fruit shapes than I've seen from Marta's tree (the source of my fruit above). Here's the Miami Fruit photo of Mexicola:

[Enkis]

So it seems mexicola can be egg shaped as well. According to UCR:
Mexicola Grande:

Mexicola:

[drymifolia]

So it seems mexicola can be egg shaped as well. According to UCR:
Mexicola Grande:

Mexicola:

Yup, based on the Miami Fruit box photo alone, I'd say shape is unreliable for ID. New flush color might be better, Mexicola has more red than many Mexican types, Joey has almost no red.

[1rainman]

Do they really grow that fast??

It would take 6-8 years for an apple/pear whatever tree to get to that size

With proper soil and watering there are many plants that grow at break neck speed in Florida.

We had a Florida peach that grew larger than that in five years as well as a live oak. It looks like 100 year old oak now but it's 20 years old. It grew faster than wild ones because we dug a giant hole and filled it with potting soil when we planted it.

My grape from seed is close to 15 feet tall in one year. But grow stuff in sand most stuff will barely grow.

[Thematt829]

I have that tree out in the suburbs of New Orleans. Me and my 5 year old froze it last winter and had an ice branch fight. By which I mean we broke all the branches back and used em as ice light sabers. It came back perfectly shaped. 10/10 great tree.

[Thematt829]

This was it yesterday.

[pineislander]

So it seems mexicola can be egg shaped as well. According to UCR:

Yup, based on the Miami Fruit box photo alone, I'd say shape is unreliable for ID. New flush color might be better, Mexicola has more red than many Mexican types, Joey has almost no red.

Not all avocados are the same shape. Much commercial fruit is culled out so that you don't see the variation in shape.

[BeachGardener9a]

I have that tree out in the suburbs of New Orleans. Me and my 5 year old froze it last winter and had an ice branch fight. By which I mean we broke all the branches back and used em as ice light sabers. It came back perfectly shaped. 10/10 great tree.

I am not familiar with this technique. can you elaborate on how this protects the tree and the proper way to do it?

[gumbo2go]

TheMatt,
What kind do you think the avo is?
Thx,
JJ