Plant family: Lauraceae
Plant origin: Mexico, Guatemala, West Indies
Fruit description: The Bacon Avocado is an Early season, Type B cultivar. Bacon has medium-sized fruit with smooth, green skin with yellow-green, light tasting flesh. When ripe, the skin remains green, but darkens slightly, and fruit yields to gentle pressure. It is cold-hardy down to _5°C. An average avocado tree produces about 500 avocados annually. The fruit is very nutritious, high in energy, low in carbohydrates, high in vitamins and minerals.
Flowers: The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 5 - 10 millimetres wide.
Growing conditions: Bacon Avocado trees grow bushy to 5 metres. The tree grows with alternately arranged leaves 12 – 25cm long. The subtropical species needs a frost-free climate with little wind. High winds reduce the humidity, dehydrate the flowers, and affect pollination. When even a mild frost occurs, premature fruit drop may occur, although the Hass cultivar can tolerate temperatures down to _1°C. The trees also need well-aerated soils, ideally more than 1m deep.
It is wise to buy and use anti-rot, which can be used in periods of wet weather to control Avocado Root-Rot caused by Phytophthora.
Uses: Avocadoes have high fat content compared to other fruit. This is especially important as a staple food for those whose diet doesn't include meat fat or dairy foods. Most of the fat is the beneficial monounsaturated fat. Avocadoes are high in dietary fibre, both soluble and insoluble. They are rich in potassium, B group vitamins, and vitamin E and vitamin K.
The flesh turns brown quickly after exposure to air. To prevent this, lime or lemon juice can be added to avocados after they are peeled.
The fruit is not sweet, but fatty, and distinctly yet subtly flavoured, and of smooth, almost creamy texture. It is eaten raw; cooking makes the flesh bitter. It is used in both savoury and sweet dishes, though in many countries not for both. The avocado is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, as substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content. It is an excellent healthy substitute for butter or margarine in sandwiches, bread and crackers.
Avocadoes are commonly used in sushi rolls, in salads, sandwiches, dips such as Guacamole, with eggs in omelette, and is delicious with rice, with chicken, prawns or fish. Substitute avocado for butter or margarine as a healthy alternative spread on mashed avocado alone or mixed with other soft foods such as banana or yoghurt is great for small children.
In several Asian countries, avocados are frequently used for milkshakes and occasionally added to ice cream and other desserts. In Ethiopia, it is common to serve an attractive drink of multiple fruit juices in layers in a glass made of avocados, mangoes, bananas, guavas and papayas.
Avocado oils are used in cosmetics and soaps.
Medicinal uses: There is evidence to show that high dietary avocado intake can lower “bad” cholesterol and increase “good cholesterol” in the blood.
Pollination requirements: Trees are partially self-pollinating, as explained below.
The avocado is unusual in that the timing of the male and female flower phases differs among cultivars. There are two flowering types, "A" and "B". "A" cultivar flowers open as female on the morning of the first day and close in late morning or early afternoon. Then they open as male in the afternoon of the second day. "B" varieties open as female on the afternoon of the first day, close in late afternoon and reopen as male the following morning.
• "A" cultivars: Hass, Pinkerton DWARF, Reed, Rincon DWARF, Wurtz DWARF.
• "B" cultivars: Bacon, Fuerte, Sharwil, Sheppard.
Bacon
Early season, Type B cultivar. Bacon has medium-sized fruit with smooth, green skin with yellow-green, light tasting flesh. When ripe, the skin remains green, but darkens slightly, and fruit yields to gentle pressure. It is cold-hardy down to _5°C.
Fuerte
Early season, Type B cultivar. Fuerte means strong in Spanish, because it can tolerate some cold weather. . The fruit is medium-sized, pear-shaped fruit with a green, leathery, easy to peel skin. The creamy flesh of mild and rich flavour has 18% oil. The skin ripens green. Tree size is 6 by 4 meters.
Hass
Late season, Type A cultivar. One of the most commonly grown cultivars, the Hass produces fruit year-round. Hass trees have medium-sized (150–250 g), ovate fruit with a black, pebbled skin. The flesh has a nutty, rich flavour with 19% oil. Frost tolerant to -3°C. Its tree size is 6 by 4 meters.
Pinkerton DWARF
Mid season, Type A cultivar. The medium-sized fruit has a small seed, and its green rough skin deepens in colour as it ripens. The thick flesh has a smooth, creamy texture, pale green color, good flavour and high oil content. It shows some cold tolerance, to _1°C and bears consistently heavy crops. It has excellent peeling characteristics.
Reed
Late season, Type A cultivar. Reed has large, round, green fruit with a smooth texture and dark, thick, glossy skin. Smooth and delicate, the flesh has a slightly nutty flavour. The skin ripens green. Tree size is about 5 by 4 meters.
Rincon DWARF
Mid season, Type A cultivar.
Sharwil
Late season, Type B cultivar. A large-sized fruit with smooth green skin, it closely resembles the Fuerte, but is slightly more oval in shape. The fruit has greenish-yellow flesh with a rich, nutty flavour and high oil content (20–24%), and a small seed. The skin is green when ripe. It represents up to 20% of all avocados grown in New South Wales. It is a regular and moderate bearer with excellent quality fruit, but is sensitive to frost. Disease and pest resistance are superior to Fuerte.
Sheppard
Early season, Type B cultivar. Early season fruit which is widely grown commercially in Queensland. Very good disease resistance and fruit quality.
Wurtz DWARF
Late season, Type A cultivar. Wurtz is a weeping tree, with big late season green-skinned fruit. It has excellent eating qualities, and disease resistance.
Harvest time A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure from your finger on the stem end.
The avocado is a climacteric fruit (the banana is another), which means it matures on the tree, but can continue to ripen off the tree. Avocados produced commercially are picked hard and green and kept in coolers at 3.3 to 5.6°C until they reach their final destination. Avocados must be mature to ripen properly. Avocados that fall off the tree ripen on the ground. Generally, the fruit is picked once it reaches maturity. Once picked, avocados ripen in a few days at room temperature (faster if stored with other fruits such as apples or bananas, due to the influence of ethylene gas naturally given off by these fruits). Avocados can be left on the tree for several months, but if the fruit remains unpicked for too long it falls to the ground.
Certain cultivars, such as Sharwil, have a tendency to bear well only in alternate years. After a season with a low yield, due to factors such as cold (which the avocado does not tolerate well), the trees tend to produce abundantly the next season. In addition, due to environmental circumstances in some years, small, seedless avocados may be produced
Plant relatives
Special features:
Grown by method: Grafted Pot size: 6 litre
Plant growing Height and Width for pots or in the ground planting: Grows to 3 metres high by 2.5 metres wide if Planted in a Pot. Grows 5 metres high by 5 metres wide if Planted in the Ground.
Shipping plant pot or planter bag size: 6 litre
