Re: Dwarf avocados
- To: "M. & L. Doster" ,
- Subject: Re: Dwarf avocados
- From: S* A* O*
- Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 22:12:39 -0800
At 08:44 PM 2/27/00 -0800, M. & L. Doster wrote:
>Yesterday I bought the dwarf avocado cultivar Little Cado. However, I
haven't found consistent information about the cold hardiness of Little
Cado (or other dwarf avocado cultivars for that matter).
>
>Does anyone have experience with cold damage to or cold hardiness of dwarf
avocado trees (Little Cado, Gwen, or any other dwarf avocado)?
>
>Thanks.
>
>--Mark
>Mark Doster
>central San Joaquin Valley, California
>USDA zone 9; Sunset zone 9
Mark -
In general, you might live outside of Avocado territory, though you list
your USDA Zone as 9 (I would have thought it was 8). Even in USDA Zone 9,
there can be occasional freezes that could decimate such a plant. When I
lived in the Valley, I found that the cold, dry north winds were the worst
problem for tender things. So you might have the best luck in a sheltered
spot, depending upon your local conditions. If you find other borderline
frost hardy species surviving in your garden or in a particular situation
in your garden, then try and duplicate those circumstances. Your
'Littlecado' Avocado is recommended as a container plant, some suggesting
that it can be wheeled into a garage or greenhouse during cold periods. It
is also possible to erect a temporary shelter around such a smaller tree
during cold snaps - not always attractive but often serviceable. I did
know one fellow who crafted standing coldframe boxes out of old windows - I
thought they were quite charming and interesting in the garden during their
time.
Here are some web resources you might check out. The Calif. Rare Fruit
Growers is certainly also a good resource for your inquiries.
>From http://crfg.org/pubs/ff/avocado.html:
Wurtz (syn. 'Dwarf', 'Littlecado', 'Minicado') -
Origin Roy Wurtz, Encinitas, 1935. Hybrid. Tree prostrate, difficult
to train, low vigor. Fruit dark green, medium, to 10 oz. For containers
and greenhouse. To 26° F. Season July.
Calif. Rare Fruit Growers Publications
Dwarf Avocado. By Robert S. Fitzpatrick. 1982 #2, p 9
University of California Cooperative Extension for Avacado cultivar 'Wurtz':
http://www.ucavo.ucr.edu/Avovarieties/Varietylist/Wurtz.html
About 'Don Gillogly' dwarf, grafted avocados (Sequim, WA - maybe hardier
than most?!):
http://www.avocadotrees.com/index.htm
Hope this helps a bit.
Regards,
Sean O.
Sean A. O'Hara sean.ohara@groupmail.com
h o r t u l u s a p t u s 710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose' Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
