At Least 750 Avocados on One Tree: Estimating a Loaded Tree in March
How many avocados can one tree carry? Earlier this month we set out to count the fruit on one of ours. We will be honest: it was not an exact count. It was an estimate, and the estimate came out at about 750 avocados at the very least.
That is a lot of fruit hanging on one tree, and every one of them is waiting to be picked.
Why not count every avocado?
Because a big avocado tree does not make it easy. The fruit hides behind leaves, clusters deep in the canopy and hangs high where you cannot see it from the ground. Counting one by one, you lose your place long before you finish.
The usual way to get a sensible number is to count a section you can see clearly and scale up for the rest of the tree. It will not be perfect, which is why we say “at least” — a tree almost always has more in it than you spot from below.
Read nextPlanting 400 Hass Avocado Trees: Expanding Our Commercial Mountain Grove
Is 750 a lot for one avocado tree?
It is. The University of California grower handbook says a full-grown, healthy avocado tree in California can open up to a million flowers in a year, yet on average fewer than 200 of them set fruit that holds all the way to harvest. Groves where trees average 500 fruit are described as rare, and 100 or fewer per tree is more common. Those are averages across whole groves, and single trees vary, but they put a tree carrying 750 or more in perspective.
They also show how few flowers make it. Even 750 avocados is a tiny share of the blossoms a big tree puts out in spring; the handbook puts it at well under one flower in a thousand holding to maturity. Bloom, bees and spring weather all have to line up, which we get into in type A and type B avocado flowering.
Is 750 a harvest forecast?
Not quite. A count tells you what is on the tree today, not what will end up in a box. Fruit can still drop, and some will be too small or marked to ship. Our post on the June drop shows how much a tree lets go of on its own earlier in the season.
Avocados also do not ripen on the tree, so the fruit does not all need to come off at once. We judge when it is mature on the branch — shiny versus dull skin is one of the tells — and pick to order from there.
Does a heavy crop mean a light one next year?
Often, yes. Avocado trees tend to alternate heavier and lighter years. According to the handbook, the new shoots that grow from branches carrying a big crop usually do not flower the following spring, so a heavy year leaves fewer flowering shoots for the next one. In one study, 46% of shoots flowered in an on year against 13% in an off year. A poor-setting spring or a bumper set can each start the swing. For Hass, the handbook recommends picking at least a third of the crop before April to help the tree bloom well the next spring. We have watched an old tree ride this cycle in alternate bearing.
How long does it take a tree to get this full?
Years. According to the handbook, grafted trees mostly begin bearing in the third year after planting and reach maximum production around years eight to ten, and a tree that can carry hundreds of avocados has been growing for a long time. We covered the timeline in how long until an avocado tree produces fruit.
One of those 750 could be yours. Our 4lb and 6lb Hass boxes ship free when the fruit is in, and when it is not, the waitlist on either page will let you know it is back. Until the trees are picking again, the avocado scoop, the Hawaiian shirt and our hats ship year-round.
This post is part of our guide to growing avocado trees.
