The soil is ideal; there is proper drainage, abundant sunshine and cool ocean breezes all year round. When we had the 115F degree heat wave it nearly died. Sorry for a very long post. Riverside gets hot, indeed. Can you start vegetable seeds in compost? There is more to that story though, and you can read about it in my post, “Should you buy a big or small avocado tree?”: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/should-you-buy-a-big-or-small-avocado-tree/. We are a family of 4. Will the Reed self pollinate or do I need to plant a male and female? I’ve found that fabric pots dry out faster? Does it help if I dulute it with tap water? It only handles cold about as well as Hass — that is to say, Reed gets some leaf damage when the temperature drops a bit below freezing, and it gets twig damage at around 26 degrees. Hi Greg, I just stumbled upon your site today. Thanks in advance , Hi Shival, As for your Reed, if it is now healthy, then it will likely bloom again this coming spring. I love your details about the avocado varieties. I would leave them for now and prune them in March. Hass sets a good crop almost every year and everywhere whereas Fuerte tends to have more off years. Prior to the ’50s the whole place was avocado orchards. Hi Greg! Protecting vegetables and fruit trees from rabbits, Controlling aphids on broccoli and cauliflower: an experiment with the kids, “Avocado leaves turning brown? Fuerte and Lamb is a good combo too. Reed avocado trees tend to grow more upright than some other varieties, such as Hass or Fuerte. First, they planted the Reeds at ten feet apart, and then after a couple years they interplanted new Reed trees to make the five-foot spacing down the rows. I have only given my Reed some compost in its first year or two and then maintained a wood-chip mulch under and around the tree from then on. So get fruit year round. A change in my neighborhood is that we do have folks now with outdoor dogs and so their food could be a draw. Thank you so much!! The fruit shape can be dependent on the climate the tree is grown in, among other factors. I still want to have a Reed in in a pot. All avocado trees are either Type A or Type B. Is the Reed fruit always super large? Before Reed avocados are ready to be picked, they look ready to be picked. Thank you. So do you think July would be a good time to pick my first one? more vigorous than a grafted variety . It’s about 45 minutes from Encinitas. But Reed avocados do take about 14 months to mature so you wouldn’t be eating those fruit until around July of 2021. But the main reason is that Reeds are the wrong color. ago is doing great! Avocados, like bananas, don't ripen until after they're picked, which makes it easier for farmers to leave them on the vine to grow larger. Long time lurker, first time commmenter. (The exception is with small trees that I’ve watered sufficiently with rainwater all year, which didn’t have any leaf burn.). I had to lop off the top 3’. Regardless, Reed leaves naturally have a narrow and taco-shell shape so don’t worry about that shape. Hello Greg. Exactly right. Here’s why and what to do.”). Should I continue this or go back to wood chips? . Cats are not interested. Can you suggest any way I can protect them. It’s wonderful to watch the new avocados grow and color in unexpected ways. Comparing prices, I paid $1.49 each for organic Hass, and $1.99 each for the organic Reed. Meaning geeks everywhere can get quality avocados grown in California at a rate of 90% of the domestic US supply. It looked happy until late June and now it looks miserable. In my yard, Reed is consistently among the best-looking avocado trees during winter when many of my other trees have leaves with brown tips. If your plum tree doesn’t have any low branches that the rats can jump up to, then you could try wrapping the trunk with something slick such as hard plastic or metal so they can’t climb up into the tree. Jan Boyce will be at the top of my list. Reed avocados get so big that small limbs or small trees have a hard time carrying them; the limbs or trees will bend or lean a lot. If it’s any consolation, my Reed is also stressing under the weight of heavy fruit set this year. The eating experience always reminds me of firm, avocado-flavored butter. LOVE! Just to note, we’re close to finishing the fruit from our Hass tree now (we didn’t have that much this year, only about 70 avocados), and the Reed fruit is nearly mature. I just finished your article. The only thing you want to avoid is something that will mat too much and possibly become hydrophobic, such as a lot of grass clippings at once or a lot of coffee grounds at once. This is the challenge with (second) summer avocado varieties. I have a Reed tree that will be 4 yrs old this fall. Should I continue doing this? It’s not so hard, but it is harder. The closest I’ve ever seen Reed avocado trees planted in a commercial grove is five feet apart. I had a 4 feet tall SirPrize avocado that broke in half during the super windy day in Los Angeles in January 2020. I planted a 5 foot tall, thick trunked Hass in March in a very sunny spot in my backyard, probably getting 9 hours or more of mostly midday and late afternoon west sun. Not on their job profile. I’m so happy to read your posts. Hass is the most commonly consumed avocado on the US mainland. As Eric says, try Subtropica. I would do whatever is easiest with your rainwater. I would also like to give the Reed variety a try but have not found a source for any small plants. So I was hoping you might know who they are? 1 Reed, 2 Mexicola, 1 Pinkerton, 3 large Fuertes and Rest a mix of Hass and Lamb Hass. I think that’s a great idea. Perth Climate is similar to yours but six months in front. Best wishes on your productive garden. I water it about 5g a week. When I write I try to anticipate the questions that I might have as a reader, but that can be hard. Dead wood removal at any time is encouraged. In fact they are light brown. I just purchased a Reed in a 15 galllon pot this week. Is there anything I can do to save it? Need some help what do I love your blog. I’ve always heard Perth has a similar climate. I’m glad to find this site, just in time. For the home gardener, however, the skin color of an avocado is irrelevant. My wife says "they taste like the memory of an avocado." The only challenge I’ve found with mound plantings is that they dry out surprisingly fast and need water relatively frequently. What is a Reed avocado? I have killed a number of avocado plants over the years. From chips and dip to one-bite apps, finger foods are the perfect way to kick off a party. Some others feel this way too, and this is one reason that Reeds don’t find a home on the shelves of most grocery stores. It’s just something to get used to. A nice alternative to Reed is Lamb because it also matures in summer so it complements the Hass spring harvest well. Our very first crop. For new avocado trees that usually means the watering was too infrequent. Die beispielsweise in Peru, Israel, Mexiko und Spanien angebaute Hass-Avocado zeichnet sich darüber hinaus durch ihren nussigen Geschmack aus. I love that idea of adding the tuna salad to the Pinkerton half. I know that rats and squirrels will chew on avocados, but I’ve never seen raccoons or possums with my own two eyes — though I wouldn’t be surprised to see them chewing on avocados too. I have a Reed that I’ve grown from a pit 10 years ago and it’s in a large clay pot. Rather, you have to rely on a touch test—it should give way slightly to firm pressure, but not too much. Unlike Hass avocados, the Reeds don't darken much as they ripen. Hi Greg- thanks for the reply! Although not as thick and hard as the skin of a variety like Nabal, Reed’s skin is shell-like such that it is ideally suited to scooping the flesh out with a spoon. Add mulch. I started slow-drip, deep watering the Hass for a half hour at at time, twice weekly with a shallow watering inbetween since my last post. 2. My first place to check would be the watering. Had many Fuerte last year. Anyway, your 30-percent shade cloth should not be overkill for this first summer. At least not once the summer sun and high temperatures kicked in. In the winter I think it might be able to get a half an hour of morning sun then about 3 hours of south sun around midday. This variety is resistant to salt burn. Lots of flowers and now fruits coming. Continuing to add wood chips is great though because they are so coarse and airy. Unfortunately, anything that drops from your Reed between now and next May will be for the compost pile, as it will just shrivel as you described because it is immature. but i’ll remind myself to wait till the summer (or around this time). I always lived in Northern California and my dad never managed to make a go of avocado trees on our property, but my grandparents and cousins sent us avocados several times a year, and I enjoyed visiting them and seeing them pick the fruit right in front of me. I would never dis it! Some other avocado varieties that bear fruit as early or earlier than Reed include Pinkerton, GEM, Carmen, Lamb, and Hass. The East Coast, whatever its virtues, is an avocado-poor region. fruit. Thank you for the well wishes regarding the fires. Avocados seem to make people smile! In fact, it’s even better in terms of the two having distinct harvest seasons. Do you have another suggestion for the combination or should it be two of the one variety and one of the other? Haven’t even planted it yet and it has 11-12 fruitlets on it. In 2018 my yard reached 113 two days in a row, and the Reed canopy again had the least damage of all of my avocado trees. Today, some of those trees are bearing a lot of fruit, yet I continue to plant new varieties and have to wait out those early years once again. Avocado trees also bounce back from severe pruning, which is essentially what has happened to your tree, as long as they’re protected from sunburn. You’ll surely like the taste of those, and the ones I know are sufficiently productive too. If not, then your tree might be in dire shape. I would contact Del Rey Avocado Company, as I know that they handle Reed avocados: https://www.delreyavocado.com/. For guacamole, avocado toast, warm pesto sauce, or a healthy fat component in baked goods, you need the Hass avocado. The tree itself is very tall. With 15′ x 25′ to work with, I’d plant the trees in their own spaces rather than one hole because they’ll be easier to manage that way and you can allow the trees to spread wider and therefore produce more avocados. Unfortunately, Reed’s flexibility with the heat doesn’t extend far in the thermometer’s opposite direction. Thank you very much for taking the time to put out this information – very helpful. I don’t know of anyone who grows or sells Mexicola in Australia so I don’t know what else to do but just keep asking people if they know a place that will ship world wide or at least to Australia. The Reeds come into season later in the summer than Hass avocados do, and are typically available in September and October. I’ve got a small Reed tree in my yard ( in the ground for 2 years, approx. But we are unsure if our Cannonball is flowering. Hi. I plant REED Avocado about 5 years and produce heavy crops,but the problems is shave of fruit like a pear is not round like the one you have and skin very thin and small fruit 5 to 6 fruits per kilogram .the meat of fruit very butter more than HASS Avocado, my problems is Why my REED avocado is not round and skin is not thick and hard to peel off.My landmark or location is 400 metre above sea level,friend of my grow the same REED with i have at the sea level above 800 metres up and shave of fruit is vary round most avocados grow in Thailand have flowers start from middle DEC.to middle of March most flowers pollination between JAN.thru March ,such as HASS,PINKERTON,,LAMBHASS,,RUSSELL Avocado flowers at same times but fruits pick up is difference time depend on types of avocados. I imagine they would do about as well as any other avocado variety though, which is to say that in a hot place in the summer like the San Fernando Valley you’ll have to be really careful to water enough, but it sounds like you already know that. This year I made the mistake of not watering as much as I should have out of fear that my clay might be overwatered. Varieties by season: The avocado season opens with the Galil variety and is soon followed by Ettinger, Hass and Fuerte and Pinkerton, while Reed is picked last. Not full coastal climate, but definitely cooler than the parts of Long Beach north of the 405. What is your experience or knowledge of growing avocado trees permanently in very large fabric pots? Before filling the holes with compost and planting the trees I did something that I have not tried before. The challenge is that seedling trees take longer to fruit than grafted trees so your tree will probably be pretty big before it fruits. Did you visit the orchard that had the reeds planted 5ft apart? So I don’t prefer to prune my Reed and other summer varieties in September (although I do some minor pruning then and throughout the year). Thanks for all the great info you provide; so helpful. What course of action would you recommend at this point? That would provide the best-tasting avocados for almost every month of the year. In order to automate the deep watering, I drilled a hole in the side of the pipes and inserted a 1/4″ drip tube without an emitter on the end. The main differences in outside appearance between Reed and Gwen are that Reed is bigger, rounder, and with smoother skin. Hi Jerry. My only other thought is that in a place like Banning you will eventually have a challenge on your hands in the summer when it’s 110 degrees and you have avocado trees with roots entirely filling their limited soil volume. What I sometimes do is pop off the stem button. I’m tempted to pick, but I see I should wait. He suggested I do Fuerte and Lamb Hass instead, but your article states Hass and Reed a good combo.