Author Topic: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?  (Read 1324 times)

tropic_tester

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Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« on: April 16, 2021, 02:08:54 AM »
I have a 5 -6 foot avocado bush that I started from a seed that has two main stalks at roughly the same height. The trunk on both are about 2-3 inches. I started the avocado on a whim, but now has started my fascination with gardening. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area near the coast where it doesn't get too hot, which I know may not be the best climate for avocadoes.

I'm new to growing fruits, so wanted to know if it was possible to graft a variety that could potentially flower and fruit in my area. I love my tree and I want to bring it to its full potential by growing fruit on it. I heard that mexicola is very vigorous in fruiting and is cold hardy, I was thinking that maybe this could be a potential variety since the milder climate would only slow but not stop its vigor (maybe...?). also I know that I probably need both A and B flowering types to allow the best chance of fruiting and since I have to two main stalks I thought this might work out. Does anyone have experience with growing avocado in milder/cooler climates, or of which varieties might be good candidate/pairs?

I posted my question in the temperate discussion because my climate is mild but they mentioned that someone here may have some insight. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2021, 10:28:15 PM by tropic_tester »

johnb51

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados?
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2021, 09:19:10 AM »
TFF has CA avocado growers who might be able to offer you some suggestions.
John

spaugh

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2021, 11:06:48 AM »
you can graft hass on it and most likely get fruit.  theres people getting avocados in the bay area.  and also a guy in humboldt growing hass trees. 
Brad Spaugh

Jack, Nipomo

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados?
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2021, 08:10:01 PM »
Here's a link to ponder :http://www.avocadosource.com/AvocadoVarieties/QueryDB.asp, then check out Epicenter's selections of avocados (they are in the Santa Cruz area).

tropic_tester

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados?
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2021, 10:27:41 PM »
Thanks for the links. It was quite informative. Someone also mentioned the Epicenter nursery and looking further at the site beyond the varieties they had was very insightful, specifically the blog post: http://www.epicenteravocados.com/blog/

And while it didn't help me decide on a specific variety, it was very good at helping me determine that I need at least a type A, because type B won't do well in coastal/cooler weather. I'm still thinking I should get a mexicola, because it seems they have hardier flower buds and are a good back-up for colder climates, I'm not too sure what other varieties I should try, and also not very sure where to get rarer/more novel varieties of scion like Epicenter's Bonny Doon. 

Here's a link to ponder :http://www.avocadosource.com/AvocadoVarieties/QueryDB.asp, then check out Epicenter's selections of avocados (they are in the Santa Cruz area).


BQ McFry

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2021, 10:40:15 PM »
Gary Gragg has explored outlying regions of northern California for oddball avocado plantings, and he's showcased several on his YouTube channel. He has one video of a grove of trees in Shelter Cove, that he sold to a guy there. I have seen comments on another channel someplace, from a resident of Crescent City who had a few planted outside. So there are microclimates along the coast even farther north than S.F. that have been successfully colonized.

Avocados can survive fine in cool climates, but they prefer to flower above 75 degrees. The shorter seasons to harvest can become a problem the further north you travel, because the fruit needs a long time to hang on a tree and mature. It might be possible to find a microclimate in Oregon that doesn't freeze a tree, but that might also involve waiting until May before flowering, leaving too little remaining time for the fruit to fatten up. That's not such a problem in Southern California, where fruit don't face any hard freezes and can hang on the tree through the winter until an owner feels like picking.

Just as an extreme mental example... Ocean Shores in Washington State rarely has freezing nights, despite being at the same latitude as Olympia. But the average high temperature doesn't get above the low 70s, even in the middle of summer. A tree planted there might live... but it also might never flower at all, and would just be something to look at. :) And then there is the matter of the long cloudy days from October to April. I would expect in reality, a tree would drop its leaves from lack of light - even if the frost was not killing it outright.

I guess in the end, you can fool mother nature a little bit with microclimates. But you can't fool the sun!!
« Last Edit: April 17, 2021, 11:21:31 PM by BQ McFry »

mbmango

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2021, 02:17:58 AM »
We have 2 young trees in our north yard, so only the very tops have recently gotten direct sun over the winter.  No leaf drop issues with the winter shading.  We don't get a lot of heat either, so citrus in that yard never sweeten up, but the avocados have fruited fine so far.  They may not grow as fast or produce as much fruit, but we'll have to see how they perform as they continue to mature.  I don't know how it would be if we were another 5 degrees cooler though.  We're usually 2-5 degrees lower than what's reported on weather.com for the city, as we sit in a depression behind the western hill.

spaugh

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2021, 02:54:17 AM »
Gary Gragg has explored outlying regions of northern California for oddball avocado plantings, and he's showcased several on his YouTube channel. He has one video of a grove of trees in Shelter Cove, that he sold to a guy there. I have seen comments on another channel someplace, from a resident of Crescent City who had a few planted outside. So there are microclimates along the coast even farther north than S.F. that have been successfully colonized.

Avocados can survive fine in cool climates, but they prefer to flower above 75 degrees. The shorter seasons to harvest can become a problem the further north you travel, because the fruit needs a long time to hang on a tree and mature. It might be possible to find a microclimate in Oregon that doesn't freeze a tree, but that might also involve waiting until May before flowering, leaving too little remaining time for the fruit to fatten up. That's not such a problem in Southern California, where fruit don't face any hard freezes and can hang on the tree through the winter until an owner feels like picking.

Just as an extreme mental example... Ocean Shores in Washington State rarely has freezing nights, despite being at the same latitude as Olympia. But the average high temperature doesn't get above the low 70s, even in the middle of summer. A tree planted there might live... but it also might never flower at all, and would just be something to look at. :) And then there is the matter of the long cloudy days from October to April. I would expect in reality, a tree would drop its leaves from lack of light - even if the frost was not killing it outright.

I guess in the end, you can fool mother nature a little bit with microclimates. But you can't fool the sun!!

Good post!
Brad Spaugh

tropic_tester

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2021, 10:46:25 PM »
Yes the cooler averages in my climate was my main concern during my initial search. I might still give it a go, but cautiously. The weather has been somewhat odd in recent years, and I feel that climate change may be affecting the weather in my area. I felt that the indian summer was slightly longer and warmer, but I'm not sure if its a trend or simply a fluke.

barath

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #9 on: April 19, 2021, 03:31:43 AM »
Yes the cooler averages in my climate was my main concern during my initial search. I might still give it a go, but cautiously. The weather has been somewhat odd in recent years, and I feel that climate change may be affecting the weather in my area. I felt that the indian summer was slightly longer and warmer, but I'm not sure if its a trend or simply a fluke.

Where in the bay area are you?  People are able to grow and fruit avocados in most of the bay area now, even in San Francisco itself. A types by themselves fruit fine pretty much all over the region, but B types need more heat.  There are folks fruiting Hass with no trouble in San Francisco.  No cross pollinator seems necessary for most A types in the bay area, though cross pollination will probably increase yields. The only places that might struggle with avocados would be the inland areas of Palo Alto where they seem to always get much more frost than the rest of the area, but even there Mexicola will fruit just fine.

tropic_tester

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2021, 04:56:28 PM »
I live near the coast --almost daly city -- which is still probably not the best, but it's reassuring to know that it could be possible. I'm going to try my hand at grafting some mexicola or mexicola grande (when I get some cuttings) to test the hardier variety and maybe work my way to other varieties if I get fruit.

barath

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2021, 06:17:52 PM »
I live near the coast --almost daly city -- which is still probably not the best, but it's reassuring to know that it could be possible. I'm going to try my hand at grafting some mexicola or mexicola grande (when I get some cuttings) to test the hardier variety and maybe work my way to other varieties if I get fruit.

All the usual varieties will do well for you there (Hass, Lamb, Reed, Pinkerton, etc.), and they're generally better than Mexicola. Though there may be some value in growing Mexicola as well just to have year round fruit.

spaugh

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #12 on: April 19, 2021, 06:32:10 PM »
Much better off growing hass than mexicola.  The mexicola types have a super short season and are not as good to eat. 
Brad Spaugh

tropic_tester

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #13 on: April 19, 2021, 07:10:14 PM »
Okay, maybe I'll try a lamb hass then (or also). I mostly based my choice on hardiness because I don't know if it will even work out. But, they're probably all fairly close in that respect for mild climates.

spaugh

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Re: Possible for me to get avocados in cooler climate?
« Reply #14 on: April 20, 2021, 03:57:33 PM »
Lamb take 14-18 months to ripen here where its much warmer and more sunshine.  I think you will find it takes an exceedingly long time to properly mature in San Francisco.  You are best off growing regular hass because its a vigorous tree and the fruit are smaller and ripen faster and also hang on the tree very long.  Even longer in that environment.  And because the tree has strong growth and good structure it makes a better skeleton to graft other varieties onto if you choose to do that. 

Just my opinion of course, take it for what its worth.
Brad Spaugh