How close can I plant avocado trees?

[Heather Florida]

Hello Everyone!

I live on the east coast of South Florida and I wanted to get three trees to try to spread out my avocado season. Do you think it would help to get both A & B trees? Or because some of the season doesn't overlap will it not matter? Also, my yard is not huge, so I wanted to get trees that I could keep smaller. How small can I keep them to get a decent amount of fruit for my family of 4? If I keep the trees small, how close can I plant them? I like the taste of the Hass avocado, but the organic ones are $2.99 each at Whole Foods!!! I really want to start growing my own. I heard good things about the flavor of the Nishikawa, however, I also heard it is a vigorous grower and the trees get huge, so I didn't put it as an option. Based on my current research, I am between the following:

1) June - Sept: Day or Simmonds

2) Oct - Dec: Ooh La La (Super Hass) or Wurtz

3) Nov - Jan: Oro Negro or Monroe

Please advise! Thank you!!!

[Julie]

Tree spacing is something debated a lot here.  In my personal experience, these trees get large, but it takes years.  I believe ~15 ft between the trunks to be the ideal spacing.  How much space do you have?

[Julie]

Avocado season is starting now.  It's ideal to try the fruit before planting it in your yard.

[Heather Florida]

Tree spacing is something debated a lot here.  In my personal experience, these trees get large, but it takes years.  I believe ~15 ft between the trunks to be the ideal spacing.  How much space do you have?

My backyard is like an L shape because I live on a corner. I have one section that is 30 by 20 feet, then I have a 30 by 10 foot section around a pool, finally I have a 40 by 18 foot stretch. It is very weird shape. I have a huge front yard, but we use to have a mango tree in the front, and every year someone would steal all of our fruit. One of the hurricanes took it down, but I have been hesitant to plant fruit in the front yard since then.

I would definitely love to try the fruit this season, do you know where I can purchase samples of these varieties?

Thank you, Julie!

[fruitmonger]

Right now there are the following varieties in production and available

Bernecker
Beta
Donnie
Dupuis
Hardee
Miguel
Nadir
Nesbitt
Pollock
Ruehle
Simmonds

Several of the ones above taste nice IMO.

If I had to pick a favorite of the list above I guess the Pollock gets the nod and Dupuis a close second....but they are all pretty good.

Donnies have lots of water so I guess they are not for everybody but those come on the earliest....sometimes as early as late may or early June.

The Pollock are a late June variety (by the marketing order) but if you let them hang they get huge and the solids/oil content goes way up.

My suggestion would be
Early: Dr. Dupuis #2
Mid Season: Tonnage or Black Prince
Late: Choquette or Monroe

All will produce more than any family could eat

All can be trained to stay manageable or allowed to grow to ginormous proportions.

Best of luck

[fruitmonger]

Also 3 trees is fine for a 1/4 acre yard....you could have 5 trees and still be OK.

But 3 trees is plenty.  Save some room for something different.

You will be giving away a bunch of fruit when the trees are mature and start to bear heavy

[Heather Florida]

Also 3 trees is fine for a 1/4 acre yard....you could have 5 trees and still be OK.

But 3 trees is plenty.  Save some room for something different.

You will be giving away a bunch of fruit when the trees are mature and start to bear heavy

Thanks Fruitmonger! I do want to save room for mango trees and some other fruit trees! Do you know anywhere in South Florida where I could purchase some of the fruits you mentioned this season?

[fruitmonger]

Homestead, FL.....Brooks Tropicals

18400 SW 256th Street Homestead, FL

All the ones mentioned as current are available.

a 50# box of #2s is $20/cs right now....prices change but not by a ton

Minimum order for walk up cash purchase is $100.

Monday through Friday 8am-3pm

Get a friend or 20 together and get 5 cases.....eat avocado until you are sick of them

BTW....the Hardee ripen a very neat purple/red color...they look super nice and eat very good

 

[carolstropicals]

There are articles about planting 3 trees side by side especially for pollination.  I did that with my fig trees, but not my avocados.
I have to keep my avocados small so don't need to plant them too far apart.  When I plant, I am thinking about the size I will let
each get.
Blessings with your avocado trees.

[Heather Florida]

Homestead, FL.....Brooks Tropicals

18400 SW 256th Street Homestead, FL

All the ones mentioned as current are available.

a 50# box of #2s is $20/cs right now....prices change but not by a ton

Minimum order for walk up cash purchase is $100.

Monday through Friday 8am-3pm

Get a friend or 20 together and get 5 cases.....eat avocado until you are sick of them

BTW....the Hardee ripen a very neat purple/red color...they look super nice and eat very good

Awesome! Thank you!

[Heather Florida]

There are articles about planting 3 trees side by side especially for pollination.  I did that with my fig trees, but not my avocados.
I have to keep my avocados small so don't need to plant them too far apart.  When I plant, I am thinking about the size I will let
each get.
Blessings with your avocado trees.

Thank you! Yes, I want to keep them small because I don't need a ton of fruit, it's just for my family and friends. I do want multiple trees to extend the season. Do you think if I keep them small that 10 feet apart will be enough?

[eez0]

I'm a newbie gardener but one thing I have learned during the past year is that it doesn't matter how large a tree can get, what's important is your commitment to keep them on the desired size, and control that no tree outgrows the others.

That said, I have three avocados (Hass, Fuerte, Reed) spaced about 6-7ft. As they grow, they will eventually collide, and this is where I need to make a decision about how to deal with them. As of now, my idea is to let them merge into each other, or probably give more priority to Hass over the others.

[K-Rimes]

I planted a Sir Prize, Lamb Hass, and Hass about 8' away from each other, intermixed with other shrubs like pitanga between. My plan is to prune them heavily and top them often to keep the size somewhat reasonable. It really depends on how much space you have. I would say 15' spacing trunk to trunk is ideal if you have unlimited space for them to get big.

There doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules in building an orchard - after all, it's up to you on how it's going to look, how much maintenance you're able to put into it, etc.

[johnb51]

I'd definitely like to taste Simmonds vs. Pollock vs. Dupuis in the early avocado category!

Heather, Simmonds and Day do not ripen at the same time.  Simmonds (August in N Broward) ripens about 2 months before Day.  Both trees are fairly compact with Simmonds growing taller.  Wurtz ripens after Day, like late November/early December, and it's definitely compact.  From what I've seen, Oro Negro tends to be spreading but seems manageable.  I don't know about growth characteristics of Monroe even though I recently planted one.  Oro Negro has the richer flavor, but I've been told that Monroe outproduces it big time.  I think it's helpful to plant both an A type and B type for best pollination if possible, but not absolutely necessary.  I have no experience with nor much information about Super-Hass.

[Heather Florida]

Thank you so much for all of your help!

[zands]

I have a huge front yard, but we use to have a mango tree in the front, and every year someone would steal all of our fruit. One of the hurricanes took it down, but I have been hesitant to plant fruit in the front yard since then.

It only gets real when you plant in the front yard. Stealing is how they show their love and flattery. No I do not believe the every year part. Where is BS Bullie anyways?

[johnb51]

It only gets real when you plant in the front yard.

How right you are, sir! 

[Heather Florida]

I have a huge front yard, but we use to have a mango tree in the front, and every year someone would steal all of our fruit. One of the hurricanes took it down, but I have been hesitant to plant fruit in the front yard since then.

It only gets real when you plant in the front yard. Stealing is how they show their love and flattery. No I do not believe the every year part. Where is BS Bullie anyways?

What is BS Bullie?
It was a tree that was closer to the street, and someone would come in the middle of the night, back their truck up in the very lower part of our driveway and pick every single fruit. We caught them on the ring, but there was really nothing we could do. A friend of ours said that there was a group of people that mapped out fruit trees in front yards in our neighborhood and would take the fruit every season to sell. I don't know if that is true. We also have a coconut tree in our front yard and I would always catch people climbing up and taking our coconuts. In the middle of the day, when we were home. They would put a mattress on the ground and just take them off and drop them down. One guy told me that the lady that lives in my house lets him do it, but it was like 3 years after we bought the house. So maybe the previous owner didn't eat mango and coconut and just let people take it? We live on a busy street and a lot of people that walked buy would knock on the door and ask if they could take some mangos, and it had more than we could eat so I would always say yes. But to go to bed with a tree full of fruit and wake up to an empty tree was pretty frustrating. It only happened for the first 2 years we had the house then a hurricane destroyed the tree. However, these experiences have made me leery to plant in the front yard.

[johnb51]

What is BS Bullie?

He's one of the earliest members of the forum who stopped posting about a year ago.  He was very knowledgeable and also very opinionated.  I'll leave it at that. 

[Heather Florida]

What is BS Bullie?

He's one of the earliest members of the forum who stopped posting about a year ago.  He was very knowledgeable and also very opinionated.  I'll leave it at that. 

Gotcha!

[Julie]

I have a huge front yard, but we use to have a mango tree in the front, and every year someone would steal all of our fruit. One of the hurricanes took it down, but I have been hesitant to plant fruit in the front yard since then.

It only gets real when you plant in the front yard. Stealing is how they show their love and flattery. No I do not believe the every year part. Where is BS Bullie anyways?

What is BS Bullie?
It was a tree that was closer to the street, and someone would come in the middle of the night, back their truck up in the very lower part of our driveway and pick every single fruit. We caught them on the ring, but there was really nothing we could do. A friend of ours said that there was a group of people that mapped out fruit trees in front yards in our neighborhood and would take the fruit every season to sell. I don't know if that is true. We also have a coconut tree in our front yard and I would always catch people climbing up and taking our coconuts. In the middle of the day, when we were home. They would put a mattress on the ground and just take them off and drop them down. One guy told me that the lady that lives in my house lets him do it, but it was like 3 years after we bought the house. So maybe the previous owner didn't eat mango and coconut and just let people take it? We live on a busy street and a lot of people that walked buy would knock on the door and ask if they could take some mangos, and it had more than we could eat so I would always say yes. But to go to bed with a tree full of fruit and wake up to an empty tree was pretty frustrating. It only happened for the first 2 years we had the house then a hurricane destroyed the tree. However, these experiences have made me leery to plant in the front yard.

This is so horrible.

This makes me so worried about my front yard trees.  I planted in my front yard because I want as many trees as possible.  I have 27 trees on 1/3 acre.  I have jackfruit, coconut, lime, avocado and mango in the front yard.  I have the option to put all buy 1 coconut tree inside a front yard fence.  All my trees in the front are not producing yet.  I could also do security cameras, but that may not deter them.  Right now I have a front yard papaya tree that will produce in a few months so I'll see if anyone takes them.  I don't want to go through the expense of the fence or cameras but I'm expecting that I probably will have to. 

[carolstropicals]

I've caught yard men with our camera.  Hitting my sprinkler system with their cars.  Still they denied it.
I have also learned from the police (in Texas) that I must have a no trespassing sign saying a person will be prosecuted before the police can act.
We posted this sign.
My fruit trees in the front are mostly nearer the house while landscape plants are in the front.  Don't think people realize what is happening.

Also, be sure not to give any fruit away to people who pass by.  Then they know what is in the yard.
We used to share our mulberries until the person came by & picked everything.
That was an important lesson.
Carol

[Julie]

I've caught yard men with our camera.  Hitting my sprinkler system with their cars.  Still they denied it.
I have also learned from the police (in Texas) that I must have a no trespassing sign saying a person will be prosecuted before the police can act.
We posted this sign.
My fruit trees in the front are mostly nearer the house while landscape plants are in the front.  Don't think people realize what is happening.

Also, be sure not to give any fruit away to people who pass by.  Then they know what is in the yard.
We used to share our mulberries until the person came by & picked everything.
That was an important lesson.
Carol

Don't worry, I won't.  If I have extra I will share with people I know only.  Having extra at this point seems like a dream since this summer was so barren.

[zands]

It only gets real when you plant in the front yard.

How right you are, sir! 

I have three mango trees in the front yard (Carrie/Neelam/NDM/) and two avocado. Some are kept small. My HOA has been a bother in past years but now with food prices zooming they lay off.......


Everyone here is righteous because we are growing real food and real distributing it.

[zands]

I have a huge front yard, but we use to have a mango tree in the front, and every year someone would steal all of our fruit. One of the hurricanes took it down, but I have been hesitant to plant fruit in the front yard since then.

It only gets real when you plant in the front yard. Stealing is how they show their love and flattery. No I do not believe the every year part. Where is BS Bullie anyways?

What is BS Bullie?
It was a tree that was closer to the street, and someone would come in the middle of the night, back their truck up in the very lower part of our driveway and pick every single fruit. We caught them on the ring, but there was really nothing we could do. A friend of ours said that there was a group of people that mapped out fruit trees in front yards in our neighborhood and would take the fruit every season to sell. I don't know if that is true. We also have a coconut tree in our front yard and I would always catch people climbing up and taking our coconuts. In the middle of the day, when we were home. They would put a mattress on the ground and just take them off and drop them down. One guy told me that the lady that lives in my house lets him do it, but it was like 3 years after we bought the house. So maybe the previous owner didn't eat mango and coconut and just let people take it? We live on a busy street and a lot of people that walked buy would knock on the door and ask if they could take some mangos, and it had more than we could eat so I would always say yes. But to go to bed with a tree full of fruit and wake up to an empty tree was pretty frustrating. It only happened for the first 2 years we had the house then a hurricane destroyed the tree. However, these experiences have made me leery to plant in the front yard.

Why are you posting in one congealed paragraph? This is disrespect to this forum and I don't care ///cannot read what you have to say.

I mean I get what you said, but you are actually (think)I get it self adverse to people reading absorbing it. A self inhibitory light shine and you are smarter than me.