Rick Cadway hit the jackpot. In 2005, he planted a seed from a typical Hass avocado that he bought at Costco and it grew into a tree that makes world-class fruit.
This is not what usually happens. Usually, when you grow an avocado tree from a seed you get a tree that makes acceptable avocados, or junk avocados, or maybe good avocados. Very rarely do you get a tree that makes world-class avocados.
(See my post, “What kind of avocado tree do you get when you plant a seed?”)
Because of this, it took me a while to acknowledge the quality of Cadway avocados. It was in 2021 that I first visited Rick’s yard in San Diego and he shared the avocados from his new tree with me. Since then I have eaten dozens over the course of four seasons, including some from a tree that I now have grafted in my own yard.
I feel it is time to profile this new variety, starting with the fruit alone:
Cadway tree
But is the variety worth growing? For backyard growers or commercial growers? What’s the tree like?
A tree that makes good avocados is only a start. How many does it make? Does it produce consistently? Does it have cold or heat tolerance? Is it a fast or slow grower? Does it have a compact shape?
As mentioned in the video, the Cadway tree has a B-type flower. Other characteristics of the tree I’ll leave for a profile of the tree, coming soon.
And we have to remember that it’s early in this variety’s development. The Cadway avocado and tree may turn out to have fatal flaws. It’s certainly not perfect.
The lesson
For now, let’s celebrate the fact that Rick didn’t just trash that seed from the Costco Hass he ate 19 years ago.
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Thank you for the great video and article, seems it would be an ideal pollinator for Hass growers and still get some good fruit off of it.
Sounds lovely. What SIZE and shape does the tree grow to? Good for backyards? And is the season more like Lamb or more like Gwen, Haas?
Important questions, John. Thank you for asking, and I’ll address them in my upcoming profile of the tree. I’m waiting to see how the fruitset is on the trees in my yard and the mother tree before I publish the profile in a month or so. But as a taste: tree is a fast grower; probably better for backyards than for farms because it’s a fast grower which means it’s easier, more forgiving to grow; season is about the same as Hass, so it’s a little earlier than Gwen and significantly earlier than Lamb, but it is later than Fuerte and Sharwil.
Where can I purchase a Cadway avocado tree.