The Tropical Fruit Forum

Looking to add an early/summer avocado tree and was wanting to get a Simmons but heard they were cold sensitive.  I have a mature Choquette that is doing great, but it is supposedly a bit more cold hardy than Simmons.  If there is anyone growing Simmons in the Tampa area please advise.  Thank you.

My Choquette Avocado is over glowing and been delicious.  Yes Choquettes taste great as long as you wait till December to start eating them.

Hass is not particularly cold hardy.  I have lost young Hass trees to temps around 30 degrees.

Brogdon is a popular HOME variety in the Southern USA available at most USA fruit nurseries.  There are better varieties.  I would choose DAY over Brogdon.  Day produces in a couple of years, not eight

Brogdon skin is very thin and prone to rotten spots on the bottom which spread to the rest of the fruit before it can ripen.  Is there a solution?  Any nutrient that will encourage thicker skin on the fruit?  It effects about 50% of the fruit on my tree.  Thanks.

10 for being photogenic.....1 for flavor unless you like carrots.

I have the same problem with round decay spots on my Brogdons on 50% of the fruit all in the same place at the widest part at the bottom.  I think that that may be where the fruit expands the most and the skin is thinnest or may crack and get infected.

My Brogdons have never turned black as the squirrels wipe them out before they turn.  I have to eat them mature green and they have good flavor anytime after August 7th.  The flavor gets better each day and I have found they peak around Sept 1 for me.  I have noticed that they start to take on a slight deviled egg after taste (not a criticism) by late September.  I have heard the egg/canistel flavor comparison mentioned by others when describing other varieties, but never Brogdon, possibly because Brogdon only has that flavor at a certain stage.  I believe you could make a very good "egg salad" using avocados when they are at that stage.  Dont ask me how they taste when they turn black on in October, the squirrels take them all before that.

Looking for these trees in healthy filled out 3 gallon size with decent roots.  Need a place that ship or is in the Tampa area.  Yes already tried Pine Island in Miami & Fruitscapes in Bookelia.  Thanks. 

Hey

I am planning on planting a Kari carambola tree.  As they are so prolific I was reluctant to plant a 2nd variety unless justified.  Is Fwang Tung unique enough and good enough to also justify planting as well?

Thanks. : )

The flavor of Super Hass is VERY good when properly ripened.  It does seem to take a week longer than any other avocado to soften up on the kitchen counter and the uneven ripening issues are apparent.  One side soft..other side hard...etc.  You sort of have to eat the ripe parts & save the rest for later. Having said that the flavor of Super Hass immediately put it on my top 5 list so the ripening issues aren't a deal breaker for me.  Our choices for in Florida for Hass type avocado's can be limited so we can't be too picky.  I have made space in the yard for Super Hass which says a lot as I'm very selective as I have limited space.  Ironically to my surprise the much berated Florida Hass I got from Squam was VERY good and I would plant it, if it had a better reputation for not having issues.

In my discussion with Squam about Super Hass & Nishikawa this is what he had to say.  I highly value & respect his knowledge and experience.  Also if anyone is interested Alex/Squam also ships  avocados now.........try his Oro Negros if you have never had them before.  It's arguably the best tasting & most versatile Florida variety there is.

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"Super Hass like others seems rather unpredictable in terms of its ripening characteristics. We’re at the point where some of them are splitting on the tree and falling off. I would say it’s equal to Nishikawa in eating quality, but our Super Hass tree has performed much better in terms of overall tree health and production. That may not be representative of how Nishikawa would perform in your area though. We’ve been trying to “revive” our Nishikawa tree and though it’s been very well cared for, it barely grows.

So based on just this experience I’d probably pick Super Hass, but I might try topworking a tree into Nishikawa to see if I can get a bigger/healthier one to evaluate".

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I would love to try a Nishikawa if anyone knows where I can procure a few.

Thanks : )

Starting to run out of tree space.  Have a spot for either a Super Hass or Nishikaawa avocado.  I have tasted Super Hass before, but not Nishikawa.  What say you?

Thanks I was down there last year and I just happened to be there on a day he was closed....a Monday I think.   Better perimeter camera security system than the White House.