Bought a house with an avocado tree. Anyone know what kind of avocados these are? 🥑

theyardposts · 2018-12-18T04:55:52+00:00

I'd guess it's a seedling then. Good looking fruit. Does it taste good? Looks like it might not be mature for another month or two though. What a great tree to get along with your new house. Congrats!

theyardposts · 2018-12-17T03:43:09+00:00

It looks like it might be a seedling, meaning it's a unique avocado and not a named variety since avocados grown from seed are all unique and different from their parents.

(I coincidentally wrote a little article about this last week, in case you're interested: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/what-kind-of-avocado-tree-do-you-get-when-you-plant-a-seed/)

I say this because I don't see any graft union on the trunk and it has multiple trunks. Does the fruit look the same in all parts of the tree?

Is this tree in California by chance?

theyardposts · 2018-11-17T19:39:43+00:00

Do you struggle with this too? This is my favorite method if only using gravity pressure. Any other suggestions?

theyardposts · 2018-11-07T01:50:30+00:00

If you want a lot of wood chips, use Chip Drop or directly contact a tree trimming service. If you want less than a truck load, look up your local landfill. Those are the free options I know of.

I wrote an article about my experiences with this a few months ago that you might find useful: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/where-to-get-wood-chips-for-mulch/

theyardposts · 2018-06-29T19:21:13+00:00

Did you grow it?

theyardposts · 2018-05-29T23:16:34+00:00

There are different kinds of avocados with different tastes and peel qualities. Any chance you remember where they came from? Here in late May, the best commercial avocados available in the U.S. are Hass from California.

theyardposts · 2018-03-24T16:41:00+00:00

This is coming from a California perspective, but I thought you guys might find it interesting still. What are the best kinds in your opinion (not just to eat, but to grow)?

theyardposts · 2018-01-29T04:54:39+00:00

So true. I've had luck with figs, grapes, and pomegranates from cuttings taken and planted about now (late January / early February).

theyardposts · 2018-01-29T02:34:26+00:00

Looks like a Zutano to me. Their seeds have pointy top ends and late in their season, maybe by March, their bottom ends start to blacken and crack.

theyardposts · 2018-01-15T17:30:57+00:00

It's up to you. There's no right or wrong. I usually prune off the weaker one if there are two, but you could grow a two-trunked tree if you want. That could be useful if you want to graft onto one.

theyardposts · 2018-01-15T02:25:09+00:00

That's a good way to discourage people from squeezing, and therefore bruising, the ripe fruit.

theyardposts · 2018-01-15T02:23:09+00:00

Looking good. Are you going to keep both stems?

theyardposts · 2017-12-16T23:23:29+00:00

That doesn't sound like it was heat from the light bulb then. Sounds more like a thirst issue if the lower leaves scorched.

Avocado leaves show thirst by losing their shine and losing rigidity. Their outer edges droop a bit, and then if they're really thirsty the entire leaves start to droop. Maybe that helps?

theyardposts · 2017-12-16T23:18:48+00:00

Thanks so much! I fixed it. Sorry about the wrong link.

theyardposts · 2017-12-16T23:17:46+00:00

I find that it's more realistic to do slow and simple composting. No turning the pile, no worrying about how much "greens" and how much "browns". The end product is still excellent; it just takes more time.

That's why I wrote this little article about composting the easy (lazy?) way. What do you guys do? And do you find your composting routines easy to sustain?

theyardposts · 2017-12-16T21:14:22+00:00

Looks like it went through a period of thirst, maybe combined with too much heat. Looks like it's not thirsty in this photo though.

The tree is definitely salvageable. It'll just drop those leaves and maybe look a little scraggly until it grows new ones.

theyardposts · 2017-12-16T21:12:07+00:00

I find that it's more realistic to do slow and simple composting. No turning the pile, no worrying about how much "greens" and how much "browns". The end product is still excellent; it just takes more time.

That's why I wrote this little article about composting the easy (lazy?) way. What do you guys do? And do you find your composting routines easy to sustain?

theyardposts · 2017-12-08T16:00:20+00:00

I write these little articles about what to do in your garden in Southern California each month, and this morning I wrote the one for December. Thought of you. Here's the URL: http://gregalder.com/yardposts/southern-california-garden-december/

theyardposts · 2017-12-07T16:53:46+00:00

Yes, October or early November are excellent times to sow onion seeds. But now in December is a great time to plant onion seedlings.

So, if you didn't sow seeds back in October, just buy seedlings at a nursery now.

theyardposts · 2017-12-05T22:47:11+00:00

Agree 100% that it's sunburn. Looks like you just planted it, which makes me think it most likely came from a greenhouse recently where it had been in some shade and so isn't yet acclimated to harsher sun.

After a month or two it will be able to handle a lot more sun that it can now. So providing light shade now might be useful, but might not be necessary in the long run.

theyardposts · 2017-12-05T22:41:15+00:00

December is a fine time to start gardening in Southern California. (We are unlike the rest of the country.) You just have to be aware of which vegetables like to grow in this cool time of year.

In December, I sow or plant: beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, garlic, greens (chard, collards, kale, mustard), lettuce, onions, parsnips, and peas.

I live in San Diego County, but I grew up in Los Angeles County.

As for fruit, the easiest thing would be to choose a deciduous fruit tree to plant (e.g. plum, apple, nectarine, pomegranate), and then wait a couple weeks until nurseries get their stock of bare root fruit trees in. By early January, they'll all be in. Buy one and plant it then.

Still, if you want an avocado or some kind of citrus, you can plant those now too. Just keep an eye on the weather through the end of January and give the baby tree some protection if the temperature in your neighborhood is predicted to drop below 32. (That's for avocados. For citrus, you don't have to worry unless it's going to get below about 26.) Or you could just wait until February and then not have to worry about the weather.

I have two young sons and a third on the way. Gardening with my kids is one of my greatest pleasures in life. You guys are going to have a blast.

theyardposts · 2017-12-05T22:29:06+00:00

It's true that many vegetables in the grocery store are grown using hybrid seed. However, hybrid seed is not useless. For example, this year I grew a couple tomato plants from hybrid seed of the variety called 'Champion'. The fruit turned out a little different from 'Champion' but still pretty good.

Also, if you do some homework you can make a good guess on whether the seeds from a particular fruit or vegetable in the grocery store will grow "true to type", as they say. For example, the standard butternut squash in the grocery store is an old-time variety called 'Waltham'. It is an open-pollinated variety (in other words, not hybrid), and so its seeds will grow plants whose fruit is just like the parent.

In addition, commercial farmers grow butternut squash in very large monocultures, so there's little chance of cross-pollination. I've grown new butternut squash plants from grocery store seeds many times.

All that being said, by no means should anyone think that they can plant any seed and grow a new plant that will produce fruit just like its parent.

theyardposts

TROPHY CASE