Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] fruit trees

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Douglas Hinds <cedecor@gmx.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] fruit trees
  • Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2012 23:57:25 -0600

On 12/23/2012 11:18 PM, loren luyendyk wrote:

Very interesting thread. From an economical perspective, the issue of alternate bearing is indeed
important to fruit farmers, as it seems that all trees of the same variety in a certain area will follow
the same pattern seasonally. In my experience, avocados (Hass) typically have "on" and
"off" years which is represented regionally, and this trend can affect market price
significantly. An "on" year creates a glut and low market prices, as everyone has a bumper crop
that year. (this trend is more complicated now with the importation of foreign fruit) Alternate bearing
can be pretty extreme with avos, with harvests ranging from 15,000 lbs/acre to 2,000 lbs/acre.

However, if you had Hass avocado trees (the variety is important in a commodity market)
that were unaffected by alternate bearing, you would be a happy farmer. You would have
above average harvests during "off" years and your crop would demand a higher
price, as a result of limited supply. I imagine plant breeders have tried to get
around this one, but I am not sure (anyone know?).

I can tell you this: Any new variety is going to necessarily come from seed, and Hass seedlings are as variable as you can get. I know this from having had access to the UC's experimental groves in Orange County around 1969 where there were hundreds of them in the grove (there were also windbreaks made of Hass seedling planted close together) and not one of them resembled the original Hass (a Guatemalan type avocado that was originally planted in Monte Vista California), although I knew of one father south on Lilac Road, north of Escondido in San Diego County that was identical. Hass seedlings produced avocados in every color and shape imaginable, and some were better (IMO) than the Hass itself. In fact I insisted they save a couple of them (which they did) when they cut that grove down to plant something else.

IOW, it may be better to start afresh. The university used a 50 point criterion to evaluate their original individual trees and as I recall, the Hass failed to meet their ideal in only one of those points (it turns black when fully ripe), but alternate bearing would constitute a second trait that was less than ideal.

D




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page