Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
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Avocado pollinating and crops
Photo above: Avocado Joey - very buttery fruit, cold hardy variety.
Q: I bought an anise leaf-scented avocado from you, and it is finally quite large and doing great. I live in California, the coldest temperatures we seem to get in some winters is around 25 to 28F, and it never lasts long. The tree might get a bit of frost nipping on the new growth, but it has done very well. It has flowered profusely for the last two years but hasn't set any fruit. What variety you might recommend to help with pollinating?
A: We are glad your avocado is doing great. Anise is one of our favorite varieties, with the wonderful smell of leaves and tasty fruit.
Cold hardiness and flower quality
It is true that cold damage may affect avocado production, especially in setting fruit. To improve the tree's cold hardiness, make sure to provide balanced plant food, especially during the season of active growth. For our avocado trees, we use Sunshine C-Cibus year-round.
If you prefer to use dry (granulated, slow-release) fertilizers, make sure they contain micronutrients, or apply Sunshine Superfood microelement complex once a month.
To improve flower quality (including the ability to set fruit), we recommend a special micronutrient supplement called Sunshine Honey. It contains Boron and Molybdenum - elements that are responsible for setting fruit and for developing fruit (meaning not dropping at the early stage of development).
Cross-pollination and crop
In general, every avocado tree is self-fertile, meaning it can produce some fruit with its own pollen and doesn't necessarily require a second tree for pollination. So even if you don't do anything, sooner or later your tree will set fruit. However, it is also true that the amount of fruit and crop reliability depends on pollination factors. One type of avocado classification is by flowering and pollination behavior - type A or B.
When both types of trees are grown in proximity to each other, their overlapping flowering patterns significantly enhance the chances of cross-pollination. This can lead to improved fruit set and higher yield, making it especially important for commercial production and, to a lesser extent, for home growers.
Therefore, it's advisable to plant different varieties of avocado in your garden - the more, the merrier! The greater the diversity of avocado trees with overlapping flowering periods, the better your crop is likely to be. If you're growing an avocado tree without other avocados nearby, it becomes helpful to have more than one tree with different flowering patterns (A and B) to increase yield in your garden.
Anise Avocado is type B. So to increase your crop, you may consider planting type A variety from the list: Bernecker, Black Prince, Catalina, Choquette, Day, Donnie, Fantastic, Florida Hass, Lila, Loretta, Lula, Mexicola, Mexicola Grande, Red Russell, Reed, Russell, Simmonds, Ulala , Waldin .
To learn more about avocado types, fruit characteristics, cold hardiness and much more, refer to our Avocado Variety Guide - a page with very convenient interactive chart allowing you to quickly sort types of avocado by requirements of your choice (just click on column header to sort data). You may also buy a Book or download a PDF.
Photo above: 15 gal Avocado trees for local pick up. Delivery and installation available!
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Five most popular Avocado varieties
Food Forest
"What is the best variety of Avocado?"
"Do you have the one with small black fruit and bumpy skin?"
"I have avocado with very large green fruit, what variety is it?"
These are frequently asked questions we get from our customers. This basic "classification" by black/green doesn't encompass all the wonderful qualities avocados have to offer. There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content, most superior varieties are equally delicious. First comes first -
The most popular Avocado varieties this year are:
1. Brogdon - red-purple pear-shaped fruit, 7-15 oz. Skin is very thin, yellow buttery flesh. Fruit ripens in late summer-fall. Very cold hardy.
2. Hass - probably the most popular, but this tree prefers drier climate (Florida is humid, so we plant adaptable Florida Hass here). The fruit is dark-colored with a rough and bumpy skin, turns black when ripe.
3. Fuerte - a dwarf and a very cold hardy variety. Everybody's favorite "Condo Avocado": perfect for container culture and small yards. The mature tree in the ground is under 15 ft; 6-7 ft in containers.
4. Oro Negro - Oro Negro means "black gold" in Spanish, which is an incredibly appropriate name for this fruit. This Monroe hybrid (with big size fruit) is crossed with a Mexican type which would explain the black skin. The flesh is rich and buttery with a creamy texture.
5. Winter Mexican - one of most cold hardy varieties, Guatemalan x Mexican origin. Mature trees may withstand temperatures in the mid 20s. Oblong fruit, 12-18 oz, thick green skin. Very vigorous tree, bears heavily and regularly in December-January.
Learn more: Avocado Variety Guide - check this out for interactive chart of Avocado varieties and sort them by flower type A or B, tree habit, fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, season and more!
Photo above: Avocado Hass
Photo above: Avocado Fuerte
Photo above: Avocado Oro-Negro
Photo above: Avocado Winter-Mexican
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Avocado Variety Guide: Snack or Guacamole?
Collector's inspiration
Photo above: It's NOT an egg plant! It's a Red Russell :)
A comprehensive guide to Avocado varieties by: flower type A or B, tree habit, fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, season and more!
Many gardeners who are eager to purchase their first avocado tree often wonder which variety to choose. Most people are familiar with two primary classifications commonly found in grocery stores: Small & Black or Large & Green.
Frequently, we hear customers ask, "Do you have the one I like, the smaller fruit with bumpy skin? Not that big, tasteless, and watery one!" What they may not realize is that this basic (but practical!) classification doesn't encompass all the wonderful qualities avocados have to offer. There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. It's a guarantee! While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content and how "watery" or "buttery" it is, most superior varieties are equally delicious. Or perhaps we should say they are so versatile and distinct in taste that you'll start building your collection of these trees, much like fruit enthusiasts do with mango varieties.
Every garden has unique requirements based on climate, temperature, and property size. These factors must be considered before planning your avocado garden. Additionally, many gardeners may wonder about Type A vs. Type B classifications and whether they need more than one tree to yield fruit. You'll find all this valuable information in our Avocado Variety Guide.
Basic classifications of avocados
1) By flowering pattern and pollination behavior: Type A and Type B
2) By origin: Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian (along with many hybrids)
3) By fruit appearance, texture and taste: Guacamole Avocado ("Smooth skin") and Snack Avocado ("California" or "Hass" type)
4) By growth habit: full size trees, free branching or upright, semi-dwarf low growing, and dwarf ("condo avocados")
5) By cold hardiness: Cold sensitive (requiring frost-free conditions), cold tolerant (able to withstand light frost), and cold hardy (capable of enduring some hard freezes once established)
6) By ripening season: Early or Spring (March-June), Mid or Summer (July-September), and Late or Fall-Winter (October-February).
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What is the best Avocado variety?
Grow Your Own Food
Q: Most trees in my yard were destroyed by hurricane Ian and now I have to start my landscape from scratch. So I decided to plant something useful. Avocado is my favorite. In the stores I see two kinds, large green or small black, but I was told there are many varieties. When I googled the best variety of avocado I found your website. You have quite a selection! Now I don't know which variety to chose. Can you please help? I have room for several trees.
A: Indeed there are many varieties of Avocado (we grow over 50 kinds). Some avocado lovers try
to get as many varieties as they can fit in their yards because every variety
has its unique flavor and texture.
2 main Avocado kinds that we usually see in grocery stores are -
1) smaller black fruit with rich, buttery texture - Mexican and Guatemalan
hybrids
2) green avocado, some can be as large as a small melon, but they have
light texture - West Indian types
There are many hybrids. How to pick the right variety for your yard?
Check out our Avocado variety page and scroll down to see a chart that shows characteristics of fruit, tree size, cold hardiness, and chose the right variety that fits your needs.
Below are just a few picks from our horticulturist - our favorite varieties that we enjoy and highly recommend to others.
Best tasting large green Avocado hybrids:
Bernecker, Beta, Doni, Catalina, Pollock.
Best tasting black or dark green, buttery Avocado hybrids:
Winter Mexican, Brogdon, Black Prince, Day, Fantastic, Florida Hass, Marcus Pumpkin, Mexicola Grande, Nishikawa, Waldin
Dwarf trees (black fruit):
For local customers: see large 15-gal size Avocado trees, delivery and installation available!
Today all avocados are 13% off instantly with no min. order, take advantage of this quick sale and get all varieties you want!
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Top 5 butterfly attractors
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over,
it became a butterfly"
Chuang Tzu (Taoist philosopher)
In the photo: yesterday we watched a butterfly born on one of our Champaka trees!
Q: What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden?
A: If you love butterflies and if you enjoy
having nature around your home, then plant a butterfly garden. Florida is a perfect place to create a year round and
fully functioning butterfly garden. Caterpillars, which transform into
butterflies, require special kinds of plants to feed upon and these plants grow
extremely well in the South Florida and other subtropical areas. Below are the
top five winners that butterflies appreciate the most. Besides, remember That
all yellow flowers are attractive to them, for example Cassias. Butterflies like the Sun and everything that looks like the
Sun!
1. Calotropis
gigantea - Giant milkweed, Arka
2. Odontonema
cuspidatum - Firespike
3. Plumbago
auriculata Imperial Blue
4. Rondeletia
leucophylla - Panama Rose
5. Asclepias
curassavica - Red Milkweed, Butterfly Weed
Read more about Butterfly garden:
The Milkweed and
the Monarch, how to raise your own
Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
Plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds
In the photo: Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike
What is the best Avocado variety? Five most popular Avocado varieties
Avocado Brogdon
Avocado Hass
Avocado Fuerte
Avocado Oro Negro
Avocado Winter Mexican
❓ "What is the best variety of Avocado?"
"Do you have the one with small black fruit and bumpy skin?"
"I have avocado with very large green fruit, what variety is it?"
These are frequently asked questions we get from our customers. This basic "classification" by black/green doesn't encompass all the wonderful qualities avocados have to offer. There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content, most superior varieties are equally delicious.
✅ We will guide you through Avocado varieties like we did with Mango varieties in earlier posts. First comes first -
🏆 The most popular Avocado varieties:
1. Brogdon - red-purple pear-shaped fruit, 7-15 oz. Skin is very thin, yellow buttery flesh. Fruit ripens in late summer-fall. Very cold hardy.
2. Hass - probably the most popular, but this tree prefers drier climate (Florida is humid, so we plant adaptable Florida Hass here). The fruit is dark-colored with a rough and bumpy skin, turns black when ripe.
3. Fuerte - a dwarf and a very cold hardy variety. Everybody's favorite "Condo Avocado": perfect for container culture and small yards. The mature tree in the ground is under 15 ft; 6-7 ft in containers.
4. Oro Negro - Oro Negro means "black gold" in Spanish, which is an incredibly appropriate name for this fruit. This Monroe hybrid (with big size fruit) is crossed with a Mexican type which would explain the black skin. The flesh is rich and buttery with a creamy texture.
5. Winter Mexican - one of most cold hardy varieties, Guatemalan x Mexican origin. Mature trees may withstand temperatures in the mid 20s. Oblong fruit, 12-18 oz, thick green skin. Very vigorous tree, bears heavily and regularly in December-January.
📚 Learn more: Avocado Variety Guide - check this out for interactive chart of Avocado varieties and sort them by flower type A or B, tree habit, fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, season and more!
🛒 Shop Avocado Trees
#Food_Forest
🏵 TopTropicals
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NEW
VIDEO:
ABC7 Fort Myers News:
Butterfly plants at Top Tropicals
Butterfly plants... what can be more romantic and sweet in your garden!
Watch the news segment by Rachel Anderson for ABC-7: Butterfly plants at Top Tropicals.
"...Spring has sprung, and if you're looking to spruce up your
garden, Top Tropicals in Fort Myers has you covered! They have hundreds of exotic
plants, fruit trees, fragrant flowers and plants that will attract
butterflies to your garden!
If you're looking for a Mother's Day gift, plants are gifts that keep
on giving!.."
In the photo: Butterfly plants display in Top Tropicals office. Come and see our large selection of butterfly attractors in the nursery!
Subscribe to our Channel:
Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and blooming!
In the photo: Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle - a garden favorite, hardy, fast growing vine. Jasmine-sweet scented flowers attract butterflies, and hummingbirds, and berries attract birds!
Five most exotic avocado varieties
Avocado Bacon
Avocado Black Prince
Avocado Mexicola
Avocado Reed
Avocado Russel (red)
👀 We introduced 10 most popular varieties in our earlier posts. Here are 5 more - interesting and unusual cultivars.
1. Bacon - A large Mexican variety with dark-skinned medium sized fruits, and a rich creamy flavor. It is very cold hardy, late-producing variety of Avocado tree with exceptional fruit. It is a highly productive tree with a lovely upright and spreading habit. Its dark green, glossy leaves lend an attractive, tropical appeal to the 15-20 feet of heigh. The oval fruits ripen in late fall and into spring. The fruits are easy to peel and have a light, subtle flavor. The tree has angelic sweeping branches which helps keep the tree shorter and easier to pick its fruit.
2. Black Prince - The fruit was large, oval, 16-36 oz, green and slightly pebbly. The fruit turns black couple days after it is picked, ripens and softens. Black Prince deserves its title! The fruit pulp is thick, and has a rich, nutty flavor. The trees grow vigorously. Superior variety for a backyard grower. Harvesting mid-August to mid-September.
3. Mexicola - black fruit, rich butter content, one of the most cold hardy varieties. Mature trees may withstand temperatures in the low-mid 20s.
4. Reed - The fruit is large, weighing over a pound and round in shape. It has a large seed, but plenty of edible flesh. The skin remains green even when ripe. It is described by some as the best tasting avocado, buttery, bold, rich and nutty with an oil content of about 20%. It is a type A avocado, but fruits consistently year after year without other avocado trees around. It can be kept to around 15 feet with pruning. The branches do tend to droop horizontally.
5. Russel (green and red) - easily recognized by its gourd-like shape, large, 24-36 oz and up to 13 inches long! Flesh is yellow, sweet, excellent quality, the seed is small.
📚 Learn more: Avocado Variety Guide - check this out for interactive chart of Avocado varieties and sort them by flower type A or B, tree habit, fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, season and more!
❔ What is your favorite Avocado variety?
Share in comments👇
🛒 Shop Avocado Trees
#Food_Forest #Avocado
🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals
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The Magic of the Avocado
The Magic of the Avocado... Is it a super-food? A super fruit? The
perfect side dish for any meal? Or does the avocado just taste great? If you need
a proof of the Avocado's status as a super-food, here are some of the benefits.
READ MORE >>
At TopTropicals, healthy and tasty avocados are available in a number of varieties, over 30 choices right now! We also have prices as low as $59 and you can always use our newsletter coupons to save even more. Try all the varieties and start or expand your Avocado Super Garden today!
Cat Philimon (a.k.a. Philly Cheesesteak) eating Avocado
Avocado makes everyone happy! It is Cat Philimon's favorite food. We always have to share with him. Otherwise he just helps himself. He knows it's good for you!
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Attracting butterflies
Q: How to attract more butterflies to my garden?
A: Attracting butterflies to your garden can be a fun and rewarding experience. Here are some tips to help you create a butterfly-friendly environment.
1. Choose the right plants: Butterflies are attracted to nectar-producing flowers such as milkweeds, butterfly bushes. Plant lots of bright flowers, especially of yellow and pink colors like some cassias which seem to be the pleasant to butterfly's eye. Use a variety of flowers to attract different species of butterflies. This is a full list of butterfly-attracting plants.
2. Provide food for caterpillars: Butterflies lay their eggs on specific host plants that caterpillars will eat. For example, monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed. Passion flower is also a great butterfly host, but be prepared to sacrifice some leaves!
3. Provide a water source: Butterflies need a source of water to drink from. A shallow dish or birdbath with rocks in it will provide a place for butterflies to rest and drink.
4. Avoid using pesticides: Pesticides can harm butterflies and other beneficial insects. Try using natural methods to control pests in your garden, such as companion planting and hand-picking.
5. Create a sunny spot: Butterflies love warm, sunny spots. Plant your butterfly garden in an area that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight each day.
6. Add a butterfly house: A butterfly house can provide shelter for butterflies during bad weather and at night.
In the photo: Odontonema callistachyum - Lavender Butterfly Bush. Showy bright lavender flowers, butterfly attractor. Blooms in both sun or shade.
In the photo: Tecomaria capensis Apricot - Hammers Rose, Apricot Tecoma, Cape Honeysuckle. Very fast growing, it has attractive, light green foliage and frequent displays of long, tubular flowers that may be apricot or orange at the ends of the stems. Great for a privacy hedge that attracts butterflies!