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Most folks who live in California can grow more avocados than they can possibly eat. If you don't have a tree, you should get one. I would highly recommend agai

Most folks who live in California can grow more avocados than they can possibly eat. If you don't have a tree, you should get one. I would highly recommend against any of the varieties listed in this article. Your best bet is Hass -- grown at home it's way better than what you get at the store -- or Reed. Check out your local California Rare Fruit Growers chapter for more rare varieties that do well in your area.

FanaHOVA 2y ago
Where in California are you? Will now buy a Hass tree for my backyard in Redwood City and report back. The avocados are always so bad at the stores.
- barathr 2y ago
  I've grown and grafted Avocado trees in both Northern and Southern California. Hass, Reed, and many other good types will fruit well in Redwood City and virtually all of the Bay Area. The only areas that can't grow Avocados are the Sierras. It's even possible to grow them in Humboldt: https://www.epicenteravocados.com/varieties/version-2-2/ https://www.epicenteravocados.com/varieties/version-2-2/
  - throwup238 2y ago
    What time do they start showing flowers? I want to plant a few here in SoCal but I'm at around 3k elevation and we get an annual March snowstorm that likes to kill off any plant that start to show early.
    - barathr 2y ago
      They usually flower in Spring, whenever that is for you. It's cultivar and temperature dependent. Some varieties like Carmen will even flower multiple times a year (though Carmen isn't one of the more cold hardy types). Bonny Doon is a good cultivar to consider if you get some mild frost each year. If you go below 20 degrees, though, you'd need to protect the tree during the cold snap.
- ipsum2 2y ago
  I have a friend who has an avocado tree in redwood city, squirrels eat all of his avocados before he gets a chance.
  - barathr 2y ago
    Yeah, that can be a separate issue with any fruit tree. There are a bunch of options, but it depends on how much effort you want to put in. (Though all the options are worth it compared to buying fruit from the store.)
  - FanaHOVA 2y ago
    It's definitely hard mode, we already have to have a mesh around the eggplants, tomatoes, etc and have a black walnut tree... We'll find a way :)
- elxavit0 2y ago
  Stanford has avocado trees in the quad, IIRC. Redwood City should work just as well. I need to get my hands on the Gem variety due to 100+ extended summer heat in my neck of the woods. Even then, the leaves might burn without a larger shade tree nearby.
  - barathr 2y ago
    GEM isn't worth growing -- it's not that good of a fruit. Hass does just fine even in high heat. Just plant the tree in a spot that gets some afternoon shade.
amelius 2y ago
Huh, avocados require tonnes of water and California has recurring droughts.
- krasin 2y ago
  > Huh, avocados require tonnes of water and California has recurring droughts. California has abundance of solar capacity deployed, to the point of negative prices of electricity around noon ([1]), which means more electricity is produced more than consumed. California should become serious about utilizing the wasted energy on desalination. While it's important to do desalination responsibly without creating dead patches of the ocean from brine, it's an engineering challenge that has technical solutions, not a miracle that we can't have. 1. http://www.energyonline.com/Data/GenericData.aspx?DataId=20 http://www.energyonline.com/Data/GenericData.aspx?DataId=20 (you might need to specify the date range to see a graph with negative prices around noon)
  - yieldcrv 2y ago
    those negative power prices are doing alot for generating water from mana
    - krasin 2y ago
      > those negative power prices are doing alot for generating water from mana I honestly fail to understand what you mean. Care to rephrase / elaborate?
      - krasin 2y ago
        For instance, it's 9:30am in California, and a lot of coastal locations show negative prices for electricity: https://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/prices.html https://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/prices.html It will be like that until 2pm or so, which gives 4.5 hours to do useful stuff either for free or very cheap (as obviously, the prices will go somewhat up, if demand increases).

FanaHOVA 2y ago

Where in California are you? Will now buy a Hass tree for my backyard in Redwood City and report back. The avocados are always so bad at the stores.

barathr 2y ago
I've grown and grafted Avocado trees in both Northern and Southern California. Hass, Reed, and many other good types will fruit well in Redwood City and virtually all of the Bay Area. The only areas that can't grow Avocados are the Sierras. It's even possible to grow them in Humboldt: https://www.epicenteravocados.com/varieties/version-2-2/ https://www.epicenteravocados.com/varieties/version-2-2/
- throwup238 2y ago
  What time do they start showing flowers? I want to plant a few here in SoCal but I'm at around 3k elevation and we get an annual March snowstorm that likes to kill off any plant that start to show early.
  - barathr 2y ago
    They usually flower in Spring, whenever that is for you. It's cultivar and temperature dependent. Some varieties like Carmen will even flower multiple times a year (though Carmen isn't one of the more cold hardy types). Bonny Doon is a good cultivar to consider if you get some mild frost each year. If you go below 20 degrees, though, you'd need to protect the tree during the cold snap.
ipsum2 2y ago
I have a friend who has an avocado tree in redwood city, squirrels eat all of his avocados before he gets a chance.
- barathr 2y ago
  Yeah, that can be a separate issue with any fruit tree. There are a bunch of options, but it depends on how much effort you want to put in. (Though all the options are worth it compared to buying fruit from the store.)
- FanaHOVA 2y ago
  It's definitely hard mode, we already have to have a mesh around the eggplants, tomatoes, etc and have a black walnut tree... We'll find a way :)
elxavit0 2y ago
Stanford has avocado trees in the quad, IIRC. Redwood City should work just as well. I need to get my hands on the Gem variety due to 100+ extended summer heat in my neck of the woods. Even then, the leaves might burn without a larger shade tree nearby.
- barathr 2y ago
  GEM isn't worth growing -- it's not that good of a fruit. Hass does just fine even in high heat. Just plant the tree in a spot that gets some afternoon shade.

amelius 2y ago

Huh, avocados require tonnes of water and California has recurring droughts.

krasin 2y ago
> Huh, avocados require tonnes of water and California has recurring droughts. California has abundance of solar capacity deployed, to the point of negative prices of electricity around noon ([1]), which means more electricity is produced more than consumed. California should become serious about utilizing the wasted energy on desalination. While it's important to do desalination responsibly without creating dead patches of the ocean from brine, it's an engineering challenge that has technical solutions, not a miracle that we can't have. 1. http://www.energyonline.com/Data/GenericData.aspx?DataId=20 http://www.energyonline.com/Data/GenericData.aspx?DataId=20 (you might need to specify the date range to see a graph with negative prices around noon)
- yieldcrv 2y ago
  those negative power prices are doing alot for generating water from mana
  - krasin 2y ago
    > those negative power prices are doing alot for generating water from mana I honestly fail to understand what you mean. Care to rephrase / elaborate?
    - krasin 2y ago
      For instance, it's 9:30am in California, and a lot of coastal locations show negative prices for electricity: https://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/prices.html https://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/prices.html It will be like that until 2pm or so, which gives 4.5 hours to do useful stuff either for free or very cheap (as obviously, the prices will go somewhat up, if demand increases).