Most avocado trees make plenty of fruit without other types of avocado trees nearby — when the weather is good. But the spring of 2023 was cool, and that is not good for pollination.
(The photo above shows GEM avocado trees flowering during yet another foggy day on April 28, 2023.)
Therefore, some trees that normally set lots of fruit only set a little in 2023. I saw full groves of Hass and GEM avocado trees that bloomed a lot but set only a little this past spring. Meanwhile, I saw other Hass and GEM groves or single trees in various yards in California that set better crops, and most (not all) of these trees were close to other types of avocado trees.
The influence of cross pollination was inflated during the bloom of 2023.
As one example, here is a video showing the influence of a single Bacon avocado tree (B type) on numerous nearby GEM avocado trees (A types) on a farm in Fallbrook.
The GEM avocado trees in this grove have set very good crops in past years throughout, not only near the Bacon. But this year, the trees far from the Bacon have fewer fruit on average. The influence of the Bacon as a pollenizer appears to have been bigger during this cool spring of 2023 compared to recent warmer springs.
I think the lesson that we can take from the fruitset results in this grove and among other avocado trees during the cool spring of 2023 is that it pays to have more than one type of avocado in your yard or grove, if you have the space.
You may not see the benefits during springs when the weather is warm and most conducive to pollination, but having multiple varieties will pay dividends when the weather is less than ideal.
My post on cross pollination of avocados in my post here.
See more about ideal conditions for avocado pollination here.
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Thanks for another informative post. I’m curious, do Bacon pollinated Gems taste any different than usual?
Good question, Peter. The short answer is no. You would never be able to tell the difference between GEM avocados pollinated by different varieties (or GEM itself).
Hello Greg, a Fuerte should be a good pollinator as well, I would think? Is this correct?