Benoit Vandangeon

Ben Waimata wrote:I've got about 50 fruiting cherimoya trees, and thousands of seedlings which will be fruiting soon, unless I get around to killing them first. Btw, cherimoya is probably the best example of  a fruit tree that is likely tobe equally good as a seedling as when grafted, and can produce fruit within 4 years.

I would like to grow cherimoya in France ! My tree die in spring, maybe it's because of the wind, the cold winter (but the new leaves appears, and the plant start to die)... I don't know why ?
I will try another location : in Menton (the best climate in France between Monaco and Italy) almost no frost and no wind ! But the maximum temperature in winter is cold (about 13°C average high in winter). I have notice some specimen on the coast, but my garden is 3 km far from the coast. What do you think ? Is there any frost resistant species ? Here in Europe there is only Fino del Jete (from Spain).

Any advice would be appreciate

PS : here are some pictures of my small trees : Acclimatons-cherimoya

Philip Heinemeyer wrote:it got quite cold a few weeks ago and all my avocadoes died! I didn't protect them well enough. Some might sprout back from the roots.
Anyone who wants to try this please remember :Young avocado plants, grafted or not, can handle NO FROST whatsoever.
Those so-called cold-hardy varieties down to - 10 Celsius only have that resistance when they have bark and are big, in my opinion.
I won't give up just yet though....

Hello Phillip,
I am sorry for your avocado. I live in south of France (Nîmes) and all my avocados has been defoliate this year. Hopefully, they will comeback... I not 100% agree with what you say. In my garden small avocado plants can handle frost (-5°C) without damage. But this year the weather was very cold (-9°C), and last a long time with snow (15 cm). On my blog, I post few pictures ( http://www.acclimatons.com ). Temperature is a main factor for avocados. The age of the plant play a role, but maybe not has important has you mention ? In Nîmes even aged avocado trees has sufferer this year (5 meters high, no leafs, brown branches). I have not noticed any difference between mexicola, bacon or fuerte seedings concerning cold hardiness.
Good chance for acclimating avocados in center Bretagne.
Benoit