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Old Reed avocado trees
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I'm Greg. My goal is to help you grow food at home, with a focus on vegetables and fruits -- especially avocados -- in Southern California. I write a new "Yard Post" every Friday.
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I’m having issues trying to play the video. It says the server network failed.
Thanks for letting me know, Tim. I think I’ve fixed it now.
Hey Greg, can you post an update video on your lamb Hass and reed combo on your property? Just curious how they look, how big they are now, and what you did (if any) in the way of pruning and shaping them.
Hi Tim,
Sure. Thanks for the request. I’ll try to do that in the next week or two.
Hi Tim,
You can see the Reed and Lamb as of today in this video: https://youtu.be/OOrGe9weLE4
Greg, how old is old? These trees don’t look particularly massive, though I know that Reed trees don’t get as large as some. I recall a tree at my grandparents place that towered over the house. And at del popolo in sf (which is amazing btw) there is a massive tree in their back patio. Curious to know what it took to get those reeds to that size and are they maxed out. And how long before trees get crazy large.
Also, when the branches get crazy heavy with fruit, should they be shored up to prevent damage or groom them to grow straighter?
Hi Dan,
I don’t know how old these trees are because the current owner of the property didn’t plant them and has no records from whoever did. But judging from other Reeds I’ve seen here and there, these trees are about as big as Reeds get.
Reeds are not big for avocado trees. I’ve never seen a Reed even close in size to a Hass or Fuerte of the same age, for example.
One thing to keep in mind about these Reed trees in particular though is that the one on the left just lost its main vertical limb.
I’ve personally found it difficult to prop up Reed branches that are heavy with fruit. When a storm brings strong wind, the prop gets messed up. I’ve settled on shortening branches and sacrificing some fruit in the short term for a stronger branch than can hold a heavy load in the long term.
I wrote last week. Maybe too much.
See your two reed trees makes me feel much better about my single reed. My reed shot straight up about 12′ high. The trunk area foliage has never grown more than 30″-36″ in diameter. The top 30″ this year has branches growing out like a mushroom. A crown about 48″ now. Plus there is one limb about 54″ high off the ground that is laterally growing out from the main tree about 7′.
I’ve braced it to the ground because of avocado weight. I thought this tree had a very weird shape and maybe I was expecting it to look like avocado trees in the commercial farms.
Seeing your two reed trees I feel like my trees doing exactly what it should be doing. Last year I counted 85 reed avocados. I just harvested my first one of these and they are so creamy and soft, the best avocado ever. Thanks you all your guidance. All your responses and answers are very much appreciated by your fans.
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I have one reed avocado tree; it has been doing well for last few years but this year, fruits are not fully pump (like ball shape), it has wrinkle around half of top fruit, meat inside is ok, not creamy as it should be but edible. Can you help? Thanks.
I can’t wait until our Reed tree is like these! It’s 2 yrs old now.
thanks for this amazing introduction, i just tried planting a reed avocado in kebumen, central java, indonesia….and it looks like gonna sprouting soon..