Backyard Farming the Natural Way

Our family loves avocados and we use them mostly on our salads.  Therefore, with ever increasing prices of store bought avocados, the prospect of having producing trees in my yard was too much to resist.  Most information on the web about growing avocados, deals with the fun of growing them from seed etc. However, if you are serious about having productive trees in your yard within any acceptable time span, and you desire specific characteristics, you really need to purchase a grafted tree from a reputable nursery. The particular tree I have pictured here is a ‘Brogdon’ variety which is very cold hardy for this northern Florida climate.

This tree is now about 6 -1/2  feet tall, and it was planted from a 3 gallon size at the end of this past winter. It has  grown about 1-1/2 feet since then, but more impressive is the noticeable increase in trunk caliber. It also bloomed nicely at the first of summer, but I removed the blossoms in order to direct the energy towards more growth.

Here is another variety that I just planted called a ‘Russell’ avocado. Except for the fact that this was the only variety available currently in my area (bought from Home Depot), this would not have been my choice. While the Russell is supposed to have very good taste, it is not cold hardy. I would have preferred a ‘Lula’ as another cold hardy variety, but simply could not find one. Therefore, I will have to take measures to keep this avocado covered when the temperature drops below 30F.  This was the size of the Brogdon above when I planted it, so you can get an appreciation for how well it likes it’s new spot!

Avocados like a well drained and loamy soil, so besides not tolerating any standing water, they are fairly tolerant of soil types and do not have many pest or disease problems (the type of plants that I am currently focusing on). Because they have a fairly shallow root system, they particularly like a thick mulch, and will even send their roots up into the mulch.  You can see in the pictures that I have pilled a layer of compost and leaves around the bases of these trees to take advantage of this fact. Avocados also are self pollinating, but to increase pollination, it’s best to plant an ‘A’ and ‘B’ variety – which is what I have in the Brogdon and the Russell.

One of the best places on the web for seeing pictures and reading descriptions of various types of avocados, is the Pine Island Nursery avocado viewer. I am curious to hear what types of avocados any of you folks are growing – or planning to grow.  So long until next time, and post questions if you have any, as I have done a lot of research on growing avocados.

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