- Published on
By Catherine Watson
GROWING avocadoes is a holy grail for many local home gardeners, but it’s no simple matter.
I reckon I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on avocados in my lifetime, and hundreds of dollars on avocado trees.
All failed. If the drought didn’t get them, the frost did. The trees are incredibly vulnerable. I’ve heard there are productive avocado trees growing in the community garden at Wimbledon Heights, so it can be done, but how?
GROWING avocadoes is a holy grail for many local home gardeners, but it’s no simple matter.
I reckon I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on avocados in my lifetime, and hundreds of dollars on avocado trees.
All failed. If the drought didn’t get them, the frost did. The trees are incredibly vulnerable. I’ve heard there are productive avocado trees growing in the community garden at Wimbledon Heights, so it can be done, but how?
My friend Bob bought three different varieties and planted them at Jeetho West. He tended them fastidiously and about two years later invited us up for the launch. All three trees had fruit and he gave each of us a precious avocado to take home.
We thought this was just the beginning of good times, but the frosts knocked off two trees the next winter and the drought killed the third the following summer.
I’ve read that if you can get them through the first few seasons they grow hardier, but I’ll have to take their word for it because I’ve never managed to get a tree through.
We thought this was just the beginning of good times, but the frosts knocked off two trees the next winter and the drought killed the third the following summer.
I’ve read that if you can get them through the first few seasons they grow hardier, but I’ll have to take their word for it because I’ve never managed to get a tree through.
My neighbour Frank has managed to keep a tree alive for over 15 years. In winter, he lays heat-absorbing bricks around the base. In summer sheets of corrugated iron channel the water to the roots.
Last winter he revealed that his avocado tree – grown from a pip – had finally fruited. After first swearing me to secrecy in case the avocado thieves overheard, he generously shared three fruits with me.
Shortly afterwards, I heard an illuminating – and I hope helpful – avocado tale from Helen and Richard in South Dudley.
Over 10 years ago they bought and planted a Hass and a Bacon, the ideal pollinating pair for our region. Finally, three years ago, one of the trees produced a small fruit. It clearly wasn’t a Bacon or a Hass and they began to suspect it was a ring-in – a Fuerte.
So they bought a genuine Hass and planted it near the first. The first year it produced a couple of fruit and last year it produced a good crop for a small tree.
Last winter he revealed that his avocado tree – grown from a pip – had finally fruited. After first swearing me to secrecy in case the avocado thieves overheard, he generously shared three fruits with me.
Shortly afterwards, I heard an illuminating – and I hope helpful – avocado tale from Helen and Richard in South Dudley.
Over 10 years ago they bought and planted a Hass and a Bacon, the ideal pollinating pair for our region. Finally, three years ago, one of the trees produced a small fruit. It clearly wasn’t a Bacon or a Hass and they began to suspect it was a ring-in – a Fuerte.
So they bought a genuine Hass and planted it near the first. The first year it produced a couple of fruit and last year it produced a good crop for a small tree.
But what was most remarkable was that the other two avocado trees also produced fruit for the first time. Clearly the Hass was pollinating the Bacon and the Fuerte and vice versa.
So pollination is everything, but timing can be tricky. The trees produce female and male flowers but they have to coincide for pollination to occur.
This year all three trees have produced a smaller crop but they are good-sized fruit, and Richard and Helen suspect there may be a natural ebb and flow in the cycle.
The two older trees are now substantial trees and fairly hardy. At this stage they cover the new tree with a sheet when frosts are expected and it got through winter unscathed.
I told the story to Frank and said I wanted to buy a new tree to pollinate with his old one, if he would look after it.
At the start of last spring Frank planted the new tree along side the old one. And then nothing happened. No flowers in spring. No fruit this winter. Frank was dubious.
This week he called me over to have a look. After a cold winter, the new tree is looking sunburnt. It's also covered in flowers.
So pollination is everything, but timing can be tricky. The trees produce female and male flowers but they have to coincide for pollination to occur.
This year all three trees have produced a smaller crop but they are good-sized fruit, and Richard and Helen suspect there may be a natural ebb and flow in the cycle.
The two older trees are now substantial trees and fairly hardy. At this stage they cover the new tree with a sheet when frosts are expected and it got through winter unscathed.
I told the story to Frank and said I wanted to buy a new tree to pollinate with his old one, if he would look after it.
At the start of last spring Frank planted the new tree along side the old one. And then nothing happened. No flowers in spring. No fruit this winter. Frank was dubious.
This week he called me over to have a look. After a cold winter, the new tree is looking sunburnt. It's also covered in flowers.
“It took 15 years for the old tree to flower,” Frank said.
We’re not counting our avocados yet but we’re definitely feeling hopeful.
We’re not counting our avocados yet but we’re definitely feeling hopeful.
Comments are closed.