I posted last fall on the many young avocado trees growing in my yard… and their expected demise.
Then we had a mild winter. There were still frosts, however, yet none of the young trees got even a touch of damage. I’m amazed… and starting to wonder if avocados have a greater range than advertised.
That little tree is near a towering water oak, which could explain its escape… but still… even the trees further out were unharmed.
Also, the large totally tropical avocado tree (origin: Thailand) I planted in almost full shade did fine as well:
This is NOT a north Florida avocado! We’ll see what happens in the future. My bet is that as the hardier trees in the food forest take off, the cushioning effect of trapped warm air will increase these trees chances even in rougher winters than the one we just went through.
Time will tell… and there’s really no monetary loss even if they do kick off. Pits are free – and of course, the more things you start, the more chances there are for you to discover either a perfect spot for one of them, or more cold-hardy genes, or both. Seedlings are tough.
Trees from seed = good practice.
9 responses to “Survivor: North Florida Avocado Edition – UPDATE!”
Good practice? I thought the pits from store fruit would not produce fruit themselves.
Many of the avocado trees down south were from pits planted by enterprising gardeners – check out Eddy's tree for one example:
http://www.floridasurvivalgardening.com/2013/03/eddys-avocado-grown-from-seed.html
It could be they are surviving because they are still close to the ground. I think your suggestion that the possibility that as the food forest matures, microclimates will develop and add to the resilience of the avocados is reasonable.
Mick
"Close to the ground" is a good possibility. There's definitely a thermal effect there.
Can you graft an avocado tree? Now I'm even more motivated to start some avocado seedlings this year to plant in the "back 40" (which for me, is about 40 square feet).
Yes!
Well, I'm glad your avocado trees are doing good, so far. Here's to avocado by the gallons in your future!
Hi David
I would like to know if you have purple sweet potato plant for sale (Okinawa sweet potato)
I have a very few. Drop me an e-mail from the link on the sidebar.