Zone 8 Avocados

Hello Texas People!

I am looking for an avocado that will survive our winters in the ground. What species have your grown with luck?

Hello Brooke,

I imagine you would need your avocado tree to be next to a pond and covered and warm in the winter somehow, but the soil would still get too cold. It takes 200 gallons of water to produce 1 avocado. I have sprouted a couple avocado seeds for fun, but I'm keeping them in the greenhouse until summer, then display them on the back porch as ornamentals.

I am learning recently that you can manage to grow citrus here but in pots and you still have to bring them indoors during the winter :/

I really wanted a cherry tree, but like citrus, avocado, mango... they just have a hard time surviving, and if they survive they don't produce fruit. We need a very big, temp controlled greenhouse I think ;)

Mulberry, pear, plum, peach, apricot, nectarine, pomegranate, fig, pawpaw and pineapple guava all do well here :)

I am starting a food forest near Fairfield in Freestone County. Whereabouts is your project?

-Forrest

Hi Forrest,

I too have played with avocado pits in the window to sprout a few big leaves, although they do seem to die if I put in a pot. I found some information on Texas species of avocado on the TAMU website.
https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/farming/texas-fruit-and-nut-production-avocados/

A few recommended are Mexican varieties grown in Texas include ‘Brogdon’,  ‘Holland’, ‘Wilma’,  ‘Winter Mexican’ and ‘Lula’. I've kept these names in my phone while visiting local nurseries and big box stores, while they  may have avocados, they aren't the correct species.

I have a great spot kind of close to my house with shelter from the north wind that I do believe would work if I could find the right tree.

Keeping trees in pots is a pain, too heavy to easily move; I want things in the ground. I've had great luck with Freestone and Globe peaches as well as Carolina and Persian limes. Morris plums have also done well. I've tried pawpaw's two years in a row and the guineas are apparently attracted to their roots. Guava sounds interesting. Did you find that locally? I did pick up a pomegranate to see how it fairs.

I'm not a huge cherry fan although I did find the following species on the TAMU website that will maybe help you.

‘Royal Lee’ is a very firm, heart-shaped, red cherry with excellent flavor. It is very productive when planted with another variety for pollination. It needs about 200 hours of winter chill to break dormancy and flower.
‘Minnie Royal’ is used as a pollinator for ‘Royal Lee’. ‘Minnie Royal’ is a medium-sized, red cherry with good flavor. It only needs about 200 hours of winter temperatures below 45 degrees F, compared with the 700 that standard cherries need.

I'm your neighbor in Freestone. Calling all the permies looking to ditch the cities for a country home to Freestone Texas. Forrest and I need some permie neighbors.

Forrest King wrote:Hello Brooke,

I imagine you would need your avocado tree to be next to a pond and covered and warm in the winter somehow, but the soil would still get too cold. It takes 200 gallons of water to produce 1 avocado. I have sprouted a couple avocado seeds for fun, but I'm keeping them in the greenhouse until summer, then display them on the back porch as ornamentals.

I am learning recently that you can manage to grow citrus here but in pots and you still have to bring them indoors during the winter :/

I really wanted a cherry tree, but like citrus, avocado, mango... they just have a hard time surviving, and if they survive they don't produce fruit. We need a very big, temp controlled greenhouse I think ;)

Mulberry, pear, plum, peach, apricot, nectarine, pomegranate, fig, pawpaw and pineapple guava all do well here :)

I am starting a food forest near Fairfield in Freestone County. Whereabouts is your project?

-Forrest

Just as an aside --

You may be able to grow yuzu citrus in east Texas, outside in the ground. It helps to grow it out in a pot and put it in the greenhouse for the first few winters of its life


I know a man in British Columbia grows avocados. He might barely be in zone 9 though. I'll see if I can find the video

So I wasn't able to find him doing a cursory search right now, but this woman is doing so, with a little protection

https://youtu.be/RstJxmgTGzU

Brooke,

That is great information! Thank you! Maybe we will give avocados a shot :)

I got my pineapple guavas from Legg Creek Farm, will see how they do :)

If you bury hardware cloth around your pawpaws it will keep the moles out ;)

Yes, permies come to freestone county!!!

Here he is!

https://youtu.be/D4WCF-nh5V8

Hi Brooke and all of those who replied,

I live in the area and I want to thank you for posting replies on varieties.  I have a farm and I have been using some permaculture techniques for many years.  I've been growing organically since I was in high school.  If you have any more recommendations on fruits of any sort that grow well in the area I'd love to hear about it.  Are there any meetings for permaculture folk to meet and swap ideas in the area?

Thanks,

Bryan

al aric wrote:Hi Brooke and all of those who replied,

I live in the area and I want to thank you for posting replies on varieties.  I have a farm and I have been using some permaculture techniques for many years.  I've been growing organically since I was in high school.  If you have any more recommendations on fruits of any sort that grow well in the area I'd love to hear about it.  Are there any meetings for permaculture folk to meet and swap ideas in the area?

Thanks,

Bryan

You're probably familiar with some of these, but here are my suggestions for plants that you might be able to get away with there. They may need a good microclimate and to be grown out in a greenhouse until larger (and therefore more cold hardy):

Olives
Yuzu Citrus
Sambokan grapefruit
Pomegranate
Loquat
Black Texas Persimmon
Prickly pear cactus
Pineapple guava (should do well)

If you're at the farm scale I would look for wholesale prices. In our region Northwoods Nursery provides a lot of these. I don't know if they'd ship to texas but you can all and ask. One Green World and Raintree are good retail nurseries (very expensive for big plantings) and are very good for figuring out what varieties should work in zone 8. One green world carries a selection of olives hardy to zone 8 for example.

Etsy is another great source for plants and cuttings, including prickly pear pads.

Lastly, if you're not growing it already I highly recommend blue elderberry, as it's very drought tolerant (even more so than black)

I have just found plantingjustice.org, they have much more reasonable prices for things like pineapple guava, and others. I'm in zone 8 as well and am always looking for good options.

My neighbor has 3 massive olive trees here in 7b. Two are arbequinas, one I don't remember but its the one that pollinates the arbequinas. It'sa cold spot but there is a car sized boulder in between them that likely stores a little heat. We get a few weeks in the low 20s every year and they are still kicking. I think they are about 20-30 years old if I had to guess and it's only getting warmer here so... I want to do some too but my neighbor is very generous so for now it's just easier to go pick a few buckets in the fall!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Advocaaaaaados.....

I have not trying to grow outside my zone (7) yet, but I found this article very interesting for future plans....  :)

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/04/fruit-trenches-cultivating-subtropical-plants-in-freezing-temperatures.html

Forrest King wrote:Brooke,

That is great information! Thank you! Maybe we will give avocados a shot :)

I got my pineapple guavas from Legg Creek Farm, will see how they do :)

If you bury hardware cloth around your pawpaws it will keep the moles out ;)

Yes, permies come to freestone county!!!

I know plants can help regulate things in different ways. What companion plants would be good for Avocado if you wanted to create a microclimate approach over time?

al aric wrote:

If you have any more recommendations on fruits of any sort that grow well in the area I'd love to hear about it.  Are there any meetings for permaculture folk to meet and swap ideas in the area?

I've been able to source some unique plants from First Monday in Canton. Helpful hint: take a wagon. :D

I am unaware of any permaculture meetings which means we can set up our own. Anyone interested should send me a purple message with your email and ideas for locale and date. Fairfield used to have market days. Are those still a thing? Fairfield State Park? Mud park in Streetman? Depot X?

I've looked around and there are some markets coming to life in the general area.  I'm close to several towns, Lognview, Tyler, Lufkin, and more.  I'm willing to drive a bit just to hang out and socialize.  Let's get some people together!

Teague has a wonderful farmer's market in a cool spot downtown. They are sometimes done in the evenings with live music

This is one of the nurseries that sells hardier avocados in Texas. They are wholesale only, so you may need to ask for a distributor list. They also developed some varieties.

https://brazoscitrus.com/Products/Fruit/Avocado/index.html

This farm in Florida ships hardy avocados:

https://www.anaturalfarm.com/avocado

As does Four Winds Growers:
https://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/collections/avocado-trees

I believe you need two types for pollination.  Also very specific growing conditions, and the ability to protect from a freeze until they are fully matured trees.

Thanks for these links! Great to know varieties that got their start in Texas and I've definitely bought that brand from local garden centers.  I happened to have bought a Lila type. She's in my well-lit cottage east-facing for the winter in Central Texas.  I use a Blumat gravity-fed ceramic-carrot system from a 5-gallon bucket to feed her and two of my citrus trees. They use very little water so far - we'll see about summer when she's outside. My Sarocco orange I've taken inside every winter except this one just during the one cold snap we've had so far - she was in the garage for about a week. I am VERY new to growing fruit trees.

Kim Goodwin wrote:This is one of the nurseries that sells hardier avocados in Texas. They are wholesale only, so you may need to ask for a distributor list. They also developed some varieties.

https://brazoscitrus.com/Products/Fruit/Avocado/index.html