Avocado trees ( Persea americana ) are infamous for being susceptible to cold . So what ’s an avocado lover who garden in a cooler area to do ?
Do n’t give up hope ! The respectable news is that there are some frigid - stalwart cultivars available .
Of the three race ( more on this subsequently ) of avocado , the least normally grown one – the Mexican salmagundi – has a act of cultivars that can tolerate frosts .
Some even down to 15 ° atomic number 9 .
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It ’s deserving noting that since aguacate are tropical trees , we are still blab out about passably strong parts of the country . The lowest area of hardiness where you cangrow avocadosis Zone 8 .
If you live in Zone 7 or below , you would need a great greenhouse to successfully originate an avocado tree .
What You’ll Learn
Having conducted lab enquiry on avocado trees for 14 years , I am often demand what assortment will produce in colder area , and I am delighted to provide this template to do that question .
A Quick Avocado Primer
Avocado trees fall into one of three potential subspecies : West Indian , Guatemalan , or Mexican .
Subspecies are a broader classification than miscellanea or cultivar . They comprehend plants ( or animals ) that have developed in response to their natural environment in isolation from other population of the species .
Of the three , the West Indian case is the least patient of to cooler climates , and the Mexican – and some Mexican hybrids – are the most stale hardy .
have ’s look at the avocados you are probably most familiar with first : Hass avocados . These are the single that turn shameful when they are ripe , and are the most popular mixed bag for making guacamole during the Super Bowl .
They are from the Guatemalan group .
Hass is the most ordinarily consume avocado on the US mainland .
However , this type does not like the common cold . They can tolerate temperatures down to about 25 ° F , but they wo n’t be happy . They will drop their flowers , and more dramatically , their leaves .
Limbs can be damage too , but such damage will not become seeming for several month .
In southern Florida , aguacate of the West Indian subspecies are grow .
These have smooth , green fruit and are quite different from the Hass smorgasbord . Because they contain less crude , some people do n’t find them as tasty .
West Indian avocados are sometimes marketed as “ slimcados . ” One advantage of this picky yield is that with its lower oil content , it holds its shape better when sliced . This makes it democratic for use in salads or tacos .
The West Indian varieties are the most cold - sensitive and can suffer life-threatening damage at temperatures under 30 ° F .
avocado pear from the Mexican radical are primarily grow in home gardens in the US – not commercially . Many of them are quite tasty and have the sum welfare of being moth-eaten resistant .
These are not well suited to commercial production . The fruits are thin skinned and are easily damaged . They have a very little menses of ripeness , and they do n’t hang on the tree for very long . You take to eat them as soon as they are quick .
However , if winter temperature in your arena often plunge to 20 ° atomic number 9 or below , and you require to get yummy avocados , your best option is a cultivar from the pure Mexican subspecies .
Can You Grow alligator pear From semen ?
Yep , you sure can . The honest-to-goodness tooth pick trickhas mesmerised kid for years . But you in all likelihood wo n’t get a tree diagram that produces very good fruit . All of the ones that are in commercial production and most backyard examples are from grafted stock .
Pure Mexican Cultivars
The yield from these mixed bag that originate in the northern Mexican highlands are smaller than most of the commercial-grade ace we ’re familiar with . But with their high petroleum content , they taste exceptionally good . Even their thin , placid skins are edible .
The folio typically smell like licorice oranisewhen squelch .
Most varieties of this group can handle stale snap down to around 18 ° degree Fahrenheit .
have ’s begin with the star – the exceptionally cold tolerant varieties that can produce yield in parts of Zone 8 .
1. Del Rio (Pryor)
This cultivar seem to be the most cold tolerant – and the most fabulous relishing – type of the Mexican subspecies .
While these fruit are low , weighing only 3 - 4 ounces , they are reputed to have the richest smack and gamey rock oil content of all the Mexican type .
According to aguacate aficionadoCraig Hepworth , the Florida Fruit Geek , these tree can handle temperature down to about 15 ° F and still develop yield the next season .
The original Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is in Del Rio , Texas . It ’s been report that this tree was frozen back to the major limb when 7 ° F temperatures murder in the 1980s . However , it re - sprouted and grew back into a fruiting tree .
‘ Del Rio ’ was trademarked as ‘ Pryor ’ by cold - intrepid avocado specialist Bill Schneider , who owns Devine Avocados in Texas .
This sort is sometimes sell as ‘ Fantastic , ’ but it is not always the same cultivar .
2. Mexicola Grande
With thin , glossy calamitous skin , the fruit from the ‘ Mexicola Grande ’ variety is easy to skin , with a delicate flavor .
‘ Mexicola Grande ’
A tight turn evergreen , these tree can maturate up to thirty feet tall . One of the unfearing of all the cultivar , tree diagram are reported to permit temperatures into the low 20s .
you could find a grafted ‘ Mexicola Grande ’ tree of one to two - ft - tallfrom Brighter Blooms via Amazon .
3. Opal (Lila)
The ‘ Opal ’ variety originates in Texas . It produces medium - sized green fruits with a creamy savor that are somewhat great than most of the Mexican types .
The name ‘ Lila ’ issue forth from a large commercial nursery that propagated this variety and rename it .
4. Wilma (Brazos Belle)
Trees of this cultivar are vigorous growers .
However , the bombastic ignominious fruit are unusually susceptible to the fungous infection anthracnose ( a fungus that sour the tegument orangeness ) , so they are better suitable to dry climates where there is less humidness .
‘ Wilma ’ uprise in Texas , from cuttings take from a large tree growing in a backyard in Pearsall . Bill Schneider , owner of Devine Avocados took cutting from this Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and promised to name the cultivar after the proprietor , Wilma Lechler .
Brazos Citrus Nursery in Texas produce a genic clone of ‘ Wilma ’ and later changed the name to their own trademark ‘ Brazos Belle . ’
Mexican Hybrids
These avocado trees are crosses of the Mexican with either the Guatemalan or West Amerind subspecies .
They are more stale resistant than the standard commercial-grade varieties but are not well suitable to very cold areas . These hybrids are best arise in Zone 9 or high .
5. Bacon
According to Gary Bender , farm advisor in subtropical factory farm at the University of California Cooperative Extension , the seemingly oddly named ‘ Bacon ’ is the most frost resistant of the democratic loan-blend .
‘ Bacon ’
‘ Bacon ’ produces average - sized , ellipse fruits with a bombastic seed and shiny green skin – and a buttery , creamy grain . No , it does n’t taste anything like bacon , it is named after James Bacon from California , who first cultivated it in 1954 .
These tree can tolerate 24 - 26 ° F temperature for periods of four hours at a stretching .
A 2 to 3 - foot - magniloquent ‘ Bacon ’ tree isavailable from Nature Hills .
6. Brogden
Sometimes spelled ‘ Brogdon , ’ thanks to their thin - skinned , empurpled , oval- to pear - forge fruit with pantry jaundiced soma , this is a popular kind .
The intermediate - sized yield can weigh between 14 and 24 ounce each .
These trees can stomach a hard freeze , but they are not as patient of of long periods of stale temperatures as the pure Mexican varieties .
7. Fuerte
A intercrossed hybridizing of the Mexican and Guatemalan subspecies , ‘ Fuerte ’ was the industry - standard Persea Americana in California before the Hass came on the scene .
First disperse in 1911 in a California glasshouse , it got its name – Spanish for “ strong ” – after a especially laborious rime strike the sphere in 1913 .
Many ingraft avocado tree trees go , but specimens of this especial tree diagram were undamaged . The pear - shaped yield have greenish skins and pale , dull chassis and range from 6 - 12 ounces each . A moderate oil contentedness give them a rich , creamy feel .
8. May
The average - sized , 4 to 5 - ounce , blackened - skinned fruit of this cultivar ripens early . This cultivar is flavorful , with a creamy texture .
9. Winter Mexican
This cultivar exhibits both cold and heat tolerance .
The large , tender - skin , green fruit has a 30 per centum oil color content , pay the firm flesh a plenteous and creamy texture . Cold resistant to 22 ° F , this tree diagram can grow to over 40 foot marvelous in the good weather .
Care Tips for Cold-Hardy Varieties
It ’s important to remember that the cold margin of each of these varieties concern to the mature tree diagram . Young tree will take extra protection to survive cold snaps .
The inhuman - fearless diversity can produce in fond refinement , but they prefer full sun . These tree require well - enfeeble soil that does not get waterlogged , so endeavor to find a situation on higher ground or on a slight slope for planting . They will not tolerate flooding , which can kill the trees .
To plant your tree , prepare a golf hole or so twice the width and profoundness of the root ball .
After planting , piddle in well , and fill in the ground as you water . Mulch around the cornerstone of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , keeping the mulching material 1 - 2 inches away from the stem .
These trees do not ask to be take aim , and they may not need to be watered in the showery months . However , you ’ll want to water during dry spells in the winter .
Even if you have a rime tolerant tree , you should take steps to keep it affectionate on very cold night .
This is particularly true for young trees , which tend to be less broad of cold temperature than matured ones . place a light cover over the top can facilitate protect against low-cal frosts .
grant to Monte Nesbitt , Larry Stein , and Jim Kamas , reference yield specialiser at the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension , putting a heat source underneath the cover can help to relieve the leaves . They suggest using cosmetic lights or a camp lantern . Just remember not to habituate an LED light source , as these do not emit any heat .
While it may seem counterintuitive , continuously spraying body of water on tree to keep them from freeze is a little - fuck secret of experient home nurseryman . As the H2O turn to frappe , it discharge heat , which can help protect the tree against frost damage .
I have a friend with a Hass avocado cattle farm on the cardinal glide of California who has an irrigation system that she can operate from home via the internet when there is a heavy freeze . However , unless you have a large number of trees , you wo n’t want anything that hardcore .
How to Deal with Frost Damage
While you may be used to looking at hardiness zone to set whether plants can develop in your area , many more factor can be involved than just intermediate temperatures .
Is your tree grow in an enclosed country where it will be exposed to reflective heating plant ? Is it by an open trunk of H2O ? If so , these weather can mitigate the stale weather condition , so it may be better capable to defy the common cold .
In direct contrast , if your tree is in a verbose area , it will be more sensible to freezing , which can cause the fruit and leaves to drop . endeavor to found your tree in a sheltered location if you endure in a peculiarly windy area .
What if your avocado tree is not brave out the cold well ? The first sign of frost terms is when the tree miss its leaf . Here are some way of dealing with frost damage .
Whitewash the Limbs
equate to other types offruit trees like citrous fruit , avocado pear tree are particularly susceptible to price from erythema solare , which can fall out when they lose a mountain of their leaves .
To aid protect the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree from sunburn , you should whitewash the limb as before long as potential after the leaf drop with a white interior house blusher diluted to 50 percent with water system .
Prune Damaged Limbs
You will definitely want to prune back deadened tissue paper to keep kingdom Fungi from intrude on and causing damage . However , you should wait until fresh ontogenesis seem before you prune your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
As apprize by Nick Saikovich and Ben Faber at the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources for Ventura Country at the University of California , the amount of pruning take will count on the academic degree of scathe .
Cut Back on Irrigation
When your tree has lost a passel of parting , it will lose much less urine to evaporation than it usually does , and avocado pear are very sensitive to overwatering .
If you provide the same amount of water as before , you are likely to damage the roots and leave them susceptible to root rot . Water as if you were tending a much smaller tree diagram . Irrigate less frequently with smaller quantities of water .
You Can Grow Your Avocado and Eat It, Too
The Mexican avocado cultivar tender hope for cultivator in cooler area .
With varieties that can tolerate temperatures below 20 ° F , homeowners in domain that admit persona of USDA Hardiness Zone 8 can relish the gustatory perception of fresh avocados from their own tree diagram .
What aboutother case of yield treesfor your garden ? Get started with these usher :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL right hand RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Originally published January 3rd , 2020 . Last update August 15th , 2023 . Product photos via A Natural Farm and Education Center , Brighter Blooms , and Nature Hills . Uncredited photo : Shutterstock . With additional written material and redaction by Clare Groom and Allison Sidhu .
About
Helga George , PhD
