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Fruit & Orchards

Zutano avocado fruiting in nursery pot

TheoryOfGravity

11 years ago

Hello,

After 2 years of no fruit on my flowering Hass in the ground, I decided to grow a Zutano in a container to aid pollination. I found a Zutano at Lowe's this afternoon. It has about 5 tiny fruits the size of olives you see in a salad bar. I believe the nursery pot is 5 gallons. Just the standard smaller size fruit trees come in.

Questions:

1. I bought a fuller Zutano already last week (not repotted yet), but it wiser to buy the plant I can see will bear fruit and just help it fill out?

2. Should I not allow the fruit to grow? Will that expend too much of the plant's energy?

3. If it's better to take off the fruit, does it matter if I do that before or after repotting?

4. Would you instead recommend a different B flower variety? The store also had Bacon.

I have the idea of keeping the tree in a container as long as possible, rotating them out as they get too big over the years. I am sure I will experience certain realities as I unfold this plan. ;)

Thanks, I really appreciate your insight on this. I did a search and didn't find related info.

Catherine

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Comments (3)

hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years ago
Well, I prefer Bacon over Zutano, but that's my personal preference. Any reason why they have to be in containers? They will of course do much better in the ground, and depending where you are in S. Calif, as you know, for those of us in San Diego county reasonably close to the coast, we are in "avocado land". Many other areas of S. Calif. can also grow avocados very successfully in the ground. I would leave your fruit on. An avocado will drop the fruit it can't maintain. You'll get more fruit if the tree is in the ground, as well, but then, that may not be an issue for you, if your main focus is to produce Haas. Be sure your Haas is in an optimal spot. 100% sunshine, well-draining area preferably on a slope, don't disturb the roots and leave the dropped leaves as mulch (they actually require that), and a good deep watering once or twice a week, more often if your soil is well-draining and you're getting hot temps. Fertilize every 3 months with a fertilizer formulated for avocados (you'll frequently see it as citrus & avocado fertilizers, as their requirements are very similar).

Patty S.
TheoryOfGravity
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks, hoosier, for corroborating what I gathered together from different areas of the internet to do with my Hass--info I was a little insecure I was getting right or not. I'm in Redlands, CA. The tree is on a corner lot right out in the sun. I have everything but the sloped spot, but my yard is raised about 8" from the sidewalk (the whole house is on a slope). I'm going to post a question about how to prune it since it's getting a little sparse. (Unless I can post that here?) But it did flower this spring.

I need the pollinator in a pot because I don't have the room for it to go in the ground, and I'm using my back yard for a miniature orchard (it's still in infancy). I'm going to be at capacity once I get the pollinator going. Ha. ;)

If anyone doesn't mind answering, my Hass is about 7ft tall and isn't so bushy this year. One side has about a 3.5ft area on the upper half where no branches are growing (one broke off during transport home). I like the over all shape, but the branches near the trunk need more leaves and I'd like to start a branch on that empty section. I fertilized one month ago with Kellog's Organic fert for fruit trees.

Any ideas if you don't mind?
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It totally should, with good care and a crazy pollination game you need to play. Mine flowered profusely from the get go as five gallon trees, however despite trying to cross-pollinate between the two different varieties by hand, I never got any fruit. Some formed, but always dropped off before reaching even the size of a grape. I gave up after 3 or 4 years of no fruit and constant struggle with scale insects during 6 months of year when plants had to be inside in my climate. Pollination is definitely tricky with these guysÃ¢ÂÂ¦ they must be cross-pollinated by another variety that has a different flower type (called A or B). Pollen is only released either in the morning or evening, and the stigma is receptive for a short time as well. You can look all thus up online to find a compatible partner for Haas. Good luck!
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I've been trying this for a couple years (I live in Indiana). Bought two 7' tall grafted trees in early 2016. Brought them inside in October, put them under a 400w HPS light 12 hrs/day and they flowered at the same time in November. I killed the flowers on accident while treating for mites. Then to my surprise plant #1 flowered again in early March. I hand pollinated about 300 flowers and 17 took. The fruit got about the size of a ball bearing and then it warmed up enough to put them outside in April. The fruit all died within 4 days, probably a combination of change in environment and the plant flowering twice in short succession. Also probably lacked enough fertilizer. Now I have both plants outside and tree #2 has flowered and I've gotten about 12 fruits to set (using pollen from tree #1 was more effective). I trimmed off many of the remaining flowers/buds in hopes the tree won't waste any energy on producing more flowers and instead focus on the fruit. Whether or not this tree will produce anything edible is still up in the air but my fingers are crossed. These plants are challenging but that's the point!
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I don't have that variety. Mine do require cross pollination, but if your research states that Wurtz is self pollinating, then you don't need another variety. I have a Zutano seedling that has not yet fruited. It's in ground, 4-5 years old, and taller than me. Since seedlings often produce fruit unlike the parent, I purchased a Jan Boyce to graft on to it. Jan Boyce needs pollination. So does Kona Sharwil, and they will pollinate each other. Part of me wants to see just what that seedling can do, but the smart part of me says, graft Jan Boyce onto it so you will know you have a delicious variety. Enjoy your tree!
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Well, here is the deal....Fuerte is a very large/spreading tree. It is certainly a poor choice for a container. Lamb Hass is a somewhat narrow grower that can get pretty big. I would put them in the ground ASAP. If you were moving next Spring...it might be different. Those are two fine varieties, however. You could probably get fruit from them in a container...if you could keep them healthy. Avocado root systems are quite sensitive...and that size container would not be enough for several years growth.
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denninmi
11 years ago
Lucky you, you can go to Lowe's and find this stuff. We have to mail order and take our chances if we want anything exotic. A couple of the mail order nurseries have claimed to have grafted dwarf avocados that will bear in pot culture in the north, but when looking at the details, they're usually some tiny graft in a one gallon or even smaller pot.

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