Central Florida has many choices for growing avocados
There are many tasty varieties of avocados from which to choose.
You can easily narrow your choices by deciding your most important priority: high oil content or not, cold hardiness needed, and do you have a lot of space or just a little space?
Cold tolerant varieties are an excellent choice for planting in zone 9a of Central Florida: typically near SR50 and north. There's less work to nurturing them past the vulnerable stage.
For cold tolerant avocados (down to 15°), click here.
Avocados behave as self fertile trees in Central FL
Tropical Avocado Varieties
We've narrowed the field to the most popular varieties that are easy to source and that do well in home orchards for Central Florida, especially in 9b:
Interesting facts:
Avocados can take 6-18 months to mature, depending on the cultivar.
Mexican types mature quickest, in 6-8 months, and Guatamalan types take the longest, up to 18 months.
And they don't ripen until 4-5 days after they either drop or are picked off the tree!
Average height of an avocado tree in Florida is 25-40', though some in the tropics have been known to reach 80'. And yes, you can keep them trimmed lower for the home landscape, making the fruit a bit more reach-able.
Haas-like avocados:
dark-skinned varieties with higher oil content
NOTE:
Hass does NOT thrive as well in Florida's humidity as it does in California. Super Hass and Nishikawa both taste EXACTLY like a Haas, and Brogdon and Ore Negro are extremely similar.
Brogdon
Ripens July-Sept.
Brogdon avocados are thin skinned, dark purple outside, and have a superior rich, nutty flavor, very similar to the Hass, but much more hardy.
Fruits usually weigh just under a pound and have a reasonably high oil content. They have not been cultivated commercially however, because of their thin skins.
Brogdon avocados are recognized for being more cold hardy than average, tolerating temperatures to 24-25 degrees on occasion. They are thought to be a cross between Mexican-type & West Indian-type cultivars. The original tree was a seedling started in Winter Haven, FL in the 1940's.
Ripens July-Sept. Type B
Super Hass
Ripens Sept-Oct.
Super Hass looks, tastes, and feels EXACTLY like a Hass, but the tree is more vigorous growing and hardy for FL. It often produces slightly larger fruits than the Hass, weighing as much as a pound or more.
Super Hass has a rich, buttery flavor, high oil content, and a long shelf life. Ripens Sept-Oct. Type A
Haas or Hass
Ripens Oct-Nov.
One of the most widely recognized avocados, the Haas is a dark green, bumpy skinned avocado with a rich buttery flavor. At full ripe, the skin is a purplish-black. Haas produces 4-12oz fruit and has a longer shelf life because of its higher oil content.
Hass is the number one commercial avocado grown in California, as well as in New Zealand. It was propagated and patented from a single seedling that grew out of the Great Depression and produced a funny looking bumpy skinned dark avocado!
Trees can grow up to 30' tall and 20' wide, and often have a good year followed by an 'off' year.
Ripens Oct-Nov. Type A.
Oro Negro
Ripens Nov-Dec.
'Oro Negro' means 'black gold' in Spanish, and is named such for its shiny black skin when ripe, and its excellent, rich buttery taste and creamy texture.
Fruits are an elongated oval shape, a bit larger than Haas, weighing about 1.5 to 2 lbs on average. Ripens a little later than the Haas, Nov-Dec.
Oro Negro avocados are an attractively balanced tree presenting a natural vigor. They may be a cross between the Monroe and Mexican varieties, though it does not present with the typical anise smell of Mexican types.
It was discovered in 1989 as a seedling sprout from a commercial grove in Miami Dade FL. Trees reportedly have no damage at 27-28°, and so may tolerate even lower temps.
Ripens a little later than the Haas, Nov-Dec. Type B.
Nishikawa
Ripens Nov-Dec.
Nishikawa avocados are a very dark, green-skinned Hawaiian variety, with a soft, buttery texture. Flavor is essentially the same as a Hass: high oil content with a rich, nutty taste.
Fruits are an elongated oval shape, a bit larger than Haas, weighing about 1.5-2lbs on average.
Nishikawa avocados seem to have a natural vigor in Florida, and tree growth is remarkably symmetrical for an avocado if pruned properly. They are a mixture between Mexican-type & Guatemalan-type cultivars.
Ripens a little later than the Haas, Nov-Dec. Type B.
Green-skinned avocados:
oil content varies from 8-10% up to 15%
NOTE:
Most of these are considered quite tropical. As in you have far better choices for cold hardiness if you see freezes.
Lula
Ripens Oct to Jan.
If you live in Land O Lakes or further south . . .
Or maybe in Orlando . . . Lula can be hardy to 25°F.
Not to be confused with "Lila"!
Lula is a South FL hybrid, probably a cross of a Mexican & a Guatamalan avocado. Lulu is a vigorous, upright shade tree, up to 30' tall that does very well in Central & South FL.
Very early bearing: fruit ripens from Nov to March.
Heavy producer of medium to large sized pear-shaped fruit w/ a long neck, about 12-24oz according to IFAS. Smooth, green on the outside, greenish-yellow sweet tasting meat on the inside. Rich in flavor and medium-high oil content: 12-16%.
Lula is cold tolerant to maybe 25 degrees and is a dependable, prolific producer of green skinned fruit with a slight neck.
Fruit has a thick green skin and weighs nearly one pound.
Ripens Oct to Jan. Type A
Lula was the most popular commercial variety in Florida prior to the Hass. Trees are vigorous growing and resist disease so well, it is the preferred root stock in both Florida and southern Texas. Guatamalan x West Indies hybrid.
Choquette
Ripens Dec TO MARCH
Choquette is a hardy producer of large, late season green avocados. Often grown commercially.
Dark green-skinned fruits are an oval shape, very large, and usually weighing about 20-40 ounces.
It is a hybrid between Guatemalan and West Indian avocado types and yields an exceptionally abundant harvest. Originated in Miami in 1929.
Oil content is approximately 13%.
Ripens Dec-Mar. Type A.
DAY
Ripens jULY TO OCTOBER
Day avocado is considered a semi-dwarf, beginning to bear at just 3-4' tall. One of the easiest to container grow -- for awhile. Highly productive: 80 fruits on a light year, 3-400 on a heavy year (if planted in the ground).
Day is somewhat cold tolerant, withstanding temps into the mid to low twenties.
Day produces a medium-sized fruit 0.5-1.0 lbs, slightly elongated tapered neck with a thin green skin, small seed, and a medium high oil content of 15-17%. Creamy texture with a rich, nutty taste, excellent for guacamole.
Ripens July to Oct. Type A.
MONROE
Ripens NOV TO JANUARY
Monroe is a large avocado weighing in at about 2 lbs. It's a late season variety, ripening about Nov-Jan.
Somewhat cold tolerant to about 25°.
Fruits are somewhat round, thick skinned, reasonably high oil content. Commercial favorite.
Ripens Nov-Jan. Type B
WURTZ
Ripens MAY TO september
Wurtz avocados, nicknamed "Little Cado" is the only truely dwarf avocado. Very slowly grows to about 8'-10' tall, making it a good candidate to container grow. Sensitive to too much sun as a one to two year old tree.
Needs regular light pruning to create a bushy shape, otherwise it has a somewhat weeping habit.
Wurtz avocados have thin, 'pebbled' dark green skins and slightly elongated, normal sized fruits: 10-12 oz.
Classic rich, buttery taste, approx 16% oil content.
Ripens May to Sept. Type A / partially both A & B.
Cross bred in CA in the 1930's by avocado grower Mr Wurtz. Primarily Mexican and Guatemalan heritage.
Cold tolerant only to about 26°.
SIMMONDS
Ripens jULY TO SEPTEMBER
South Florida's most popular early season avocado.
Simmonds produces large, pear shaped fruits 1.0 to 2 lbs. It has a relatively low oil content, most often used for fresh eating.
Simmonds is a West Indian type, meaning it is NOT cold tolerant at all. Dubbed an "improved Pollock", Simmonds was first propagated by the USDA in 1913 in Miami, FL.
Ripens July to Sept. Type A.
ORDER AVOCADOS:
Tropical avocados are sourced as you order them: please check with us to verify delivery times as these are seasonally available.
There are 3 distinct families of avocados: West Indian, Guatemalan, and Mexican.
West Indian types
West Indian types are a round, glossy green fruit that is low in oil and weighs up to 2 lbs, but are not cold hardy.
Guatemalan types
Guatemalan types are medium sized, pear-shaped pebbled skin green fruits that turn blackish-green when ripe, and are also not cold hardy. Fruits take 10-15 months to reach maturity.
The popular "Hass" avocado is a Guatemalan variety and also doesn't produce as well in high humidity.
Super Haas is an improved Haas that tastes, looks and feels EXACTLY like a Haas/Hass but is a far more vigorous tree.
Mexican types
Mexican varieties are smaller at 8-12oz, have paper thin skins, and can be either green or black when ripe.
They are the most cold hardy of all, with some tolerant of temperatures down to 15° for short spells.
Fruits mature in 6-8 months.