Avocado

How do I choose an avocado variety? There are over 900 named varieties of avocado, how do you pick one? Well for one the selection at commercial retail nurseries is somewhat limited, compared to what is offered at nurseries that growers use. But you do have options. In general, avocado trees are big and need room. ‘Hass’ has an umbrella-shaped canopy, but ‘Reed’ is more columnar and needs less room. ‘Holiday’ is a much smaller tree than ‘Hass’ and “Littlecado’ is a somewhat smaller tree. You can also choose on the basis of when you want to pick your fruit. For example, ‘Fuerte’ is a winter fruit and ‘Reed’ is a summer fruit. That means they taste best in those periods, but they will hold on the tree for a much longer period of time. You can also choose on the basis of taste. Of course, this is very subjective, but ‘Zutano’, ‘Bacon’ and ‘Stewart’ have a lower oil content than ‘Hass’, ‘Pinkerton’ and ‘Reed’. Many consider ‘Nabal’ the best tasting fruit. It’s a summer variety and hard to find in retail nurseries, but sometimes you can order them for delivery later.