What variety of avocado would you recommend?

POLL:  What variety of avocado tree would you recommend, and why?  We've made the decision to get one, but need to do some research.  

Normally I would have planned ahead and grown a sturdy root stock seedling and grafted Haas or something to it, but my significant other surprised me with the idea of getting one.  At this point I'm willing to buy one from a local nursery that'll produce soon, rather than wait for 7 years or so.

Good question.  I don't know about their pollination needs etc. per variety.  On the road right now

I don't know about FL, but here in SoCal, there is only one answer - Hass.

Mostly reliable annual crop, high oil content, nutty flavor, thick easy to peel skin.

I'm in Southern California, too and due to the drought, I cut down my 30 foot avocado tree that my mother in law gifted me when we bought our house;she had grown it from seed.  It got some high wind damage one year, my lack of watering limited the fruit, and the squirrels enjoyed them more than we did.  So I planted two Little Cados which are dwarf and has both the  "A" and "B" flowers needed for pollination.  I will be able to protect them from squirrels once I start getting fruit.  They only have one year in the ground, but they did flower last year.  Flavor is "reminiscent of a Hass."

Folks in my neighborhood who have large yards have Fuerte.
Good luck choosing a tree!

Fuerte is another good avocado for California. I grew up with one in the back yard, and have one here 'down on the hill'. Like the Hass, it's been around for a long time and is a proven 'good eat'.  I believe commercial growers don't plant it much these days however for two reasons. First, the skin is much thinner, hence the fruits are more easily damaged when harvesting and shipping. And second, Fuerte is said to set good crops only every other year.

Rue Barbie wrote:I don't know about FL, but here in SoCal, there is only one answer - Hass.

Mostly reliable annual crop, high oil content, nutty flavor, thick easy to peel skin.

We do have Haas trees here in Florida, although I've read it's a slightly different variety, know as Florida Haas.  It's high on my list of choices.  Thanks!

I've had overwhelming feedback on a South Florida gardening page on Facebook.  And appreciate all the response here as well.  I'm taking it all into consideration, and will post here what I decide.  I know John Kohler has done a couple of videos on fruit tree nurseries here in S. Florida, and I'll see what he had to say as well.  I had no idea there were so many varieties before I started looking into avocado trees.

dstack wrote:

Rue Barbie wrote:I don't know about FL, but here in SoCal, there is only one answer - Hass.

Mostly reliable annual crop, high oil content, nutty flavor, thick easy to peel skin.

We do have Haas trees here in Florida, although I've read it's a slightly different variety, know as Florida Haas.  It's high on my list of choices.  Thanks!

There are at least 3 varieties of Hass in Cali too. Perhaps more. The name Hass is the gold standard for avos so growers want to use it as much as they can. In the past I suspect a new variety, even derived from Hass, would have been given a completely different name. But shoppers want Hass, so the growers oblige and add it to whatever they are selling (if the tree is derived from Hass).

In Cali we have Lamb Hass. The story goes (I read this a year ago, so I hope I am remembering it right) that a rancher took many seeds from the original Hass, planted them and selected the few seedlings that were like Hass, but had something different - perhaps fruited earlier. I don't remember. This variety can be found in nurseries, or ordered.

There is also the Carmen Hass, which was from a sport found in a Mexican orchard. It's claim to fame is that it blooms more than once, hence produces more than one crop each year. They are planting many of them in my area. BUT... we common folk have no chance of buying any. Long story. Same thing is happening with the more recent blueberry varieties out of UF not being available to the public, but only commercial growers.

Good luck finding the best avo for your area. Not sure there is a bad one.

Rue Barbies wrote:

dstack wrote:

Rue Barbie wrote:I don't know about FL, but here in SoCal, there is only one answer...

...Good luck finding the best avo for your area. Not sure there is a bad one.

Thanks Rue!