I was touring a grove in Ventura County that had some large GEM avocado trees and many of them had respectable crops, but then I came to one whose branches were cascades of new fruit. The other two people I was with also stopped in their tracks to admire the amount of avocados.
And we also noted that it was the only GEM tree in the row that was adjacent to a Bacon.
I’ve seen in other groves that GEM avocado trees make more fruit, at least in some years, when next to Bacon avocado trees. (See here for an example.) Others have also noticed this.
Enjoy the sight of an extremely fruitful GEM avocado tree next to a Bacon:
What should we do with these observations?
GEM avocado trees usually make lots of fruit whether or not they’re near a Bacon tree or any other kind. But they certainly make more fruit in some years when they are near a Bacon, and this is not surprising since Bacon is a variety known to be a good pollenizer for varieties like GEM (A types).
If you have a GEM tree, it can only help to have a Bacon tree nearby. If you have a GEM grove, it can only help to have Bacon trees sprinkled throughout.
You might enjoy reading my profile of the GEM avocado variety.
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I had such a massive fruit set on my GEM but it dropped about 75% at the golf ball stage. It grows near a Fuerte recovering from cut back to the stump that bloomed big but has only one fruit. I trust the GEM tree to know what it’s doing so I am not sad. So many GEM fruit are fattening up to harvest size in September. I sprayed down my GEM and a small Hass religiously during the hot spell and know it stopped scorching and fruit drop. A front yard Hass I didn’t spray down with water suffered and may die. It was already in bad shape. Thank you for your continued reporting on avocados and home gardening.
Sounds like a win win to me… unlike some, I like bacon avos (superior to Zutano, another popular ‘b’ type). And GEM is equal to or better than Hass (leaning towards better…)
Is the timing of the flowering of bacon more in tune with GEM than other B types?
GREAT news. Based largely on your blog I selected young Lamb and Gem to go next to my established Holiday and BACON. The holiday has always flourished, similar to Haas to me. Bacon are great when I can keep the squirrels from eating them first. Pepper spray on trees seems to be working this year. Neem oil and borate have reduced the thrip damage.
Might you say, “the Bacon has brought home the avocados”?
Hey, if puns were good enough for Shakespeare, they’re good enough for you
Good lord what a fruit set!
I topped my bacon and grafted Gem on top. This is the first year and the Gem fruit fell off . The bottom of tree still has bacon. I’m hoping for a miracle next year, The tree is about 10 feet tall now and the gem scions are growing vigorously. I have 9 varieties in my yard.my mature Fuerte is loaded this year. can’t wait …
Thanks for update, Bita. I’m so jealous of your Fuerte!