If you enjoyed this video, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Growing A Lila Avocado Tree 3:59 Cutting The Avocado Open 6:08 Avocado Taste Test 9:01 Final Thoughts 10:45 Adventures With Dale
@TheMelennialGardener, I don’t know much about Gardening that’s why I subbed to your channel but I do know Scripture tells us when trees will grow…. That’s where I get my information from then I watch shows like yours to see how to actually do these things. Thank you so much for everything you do. Yah Bless you, HalleluYah (Praise u Yah)
Just received my Lila from plant-o-rama 4 day shipping across country. It's about 5' tall and beautiful. Thanks for the great testimonial. ❤ oh, do you have a recommended feeding product you like for avocados. I really trust your opinion.
I was visiting in Florida once and was given an orange picked right off the tree while I was standing there. We peeled it open and WOW! I could not believe the difference from the store-bought oranges I was used to. Nothing beats fresh food right from the plant!
It's like tomatoes. You can't even believe what's at the grocery store and what's off a vine are the same species. But, it's true. People that only buy food from grocery stores don't know what flavor is. You have to grow it yourself if you want the best!
People take decades to bear fruit, so I figure I'm ahead of the game 😆 But seriously, avocado trees are notoriously slow starters. However, now that it's starting to get going I'm optimistic. They're an investment.
I laughed out loud as you proceeded to eat the whole half on camera. That was the best testimonial ever! I’ll be curious to see if you figure out how to stop the fruit dropping. Thanks for all you do and a special thanks for including Dale!!!! Blessings to you all!
I started to lose focus. It was truly that good. This year, I'm going to try giving the tree no liquid fertilizer at all and only use compost and mulch...possibly a small amount of 5-3-3 granular.
I laughed too but I like that you lost focus! This one is almost better that the urine video with that water hose moment… and that MUSIC! Your avocado pit looks like it’s ready to sprout! You should try growing then grafting your current Lila onto its rootstock! I LOVE your videos and have been so motivated in my own yard as a result! Always been a fairly experienced gardener, but because of your God-given talent, I’m receiving my blessing through you! 🥑
I was surprised. There are, literally, no Lila tasting videos on RU-vid, and there is almost no information out there on the variety. I'm shocked, because the fruit had a gorgeous shape, it's fairly large for a Mexican type, the pit released very well and didn't fracture and the flavor was incredible. It's probably a top tier Mexican variety, so I'm confused why it isn't grown much.
Absolutely incredible, thanks for sharing your success! I've really enjoyed watching your avocado tree grow over the years, it gives hope to many of us all around the world trying to grow more cold-sensitive plants. I'm based in the UK, so it's probably not going to be possible to grow an avocado here in my climate, but I will continue to experiment and attempt to push the boundaries of what is normally grown here 👍
I don't know about that. Most of England is Zone 9/10. When you say UK, I'm not sure which country you're in, but if it's England, you very well may be able to. You may need to put a plant jacket over it in the winter and plant it up against a house since your days don't get very warm, but the nighttime temps in much of the UK are workable. It would, at the very least, be an interesting experiment.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks for your reply. Yes, I’m in north west England, roughly a zone 9a/8b. You are right about the cooler daytime temperatures, we also tend to get very wet winters too, so I’ll have to make sure drainage is very good. I’ll definitely experiment with avocados, it’s just sourcing the pure Mexican types that will be difficult as there doesn’t seem to be any UK source for them (that I can find), I do have a grafted Bacon which is a Mexican hybrid, so a little bit less hardy than the pure Mexican types.
@@PeterEntwistleThere are photos of multiple large avocado trees in the front and back yards of homes in London, so I'm quite hopeful you'll be successful. At the time I saw these pictures there was no information to he found if they were fruitful, but they looked gorgeous. Given good drainage your climate could be pretty much perfect, considering the high rainfall and kinda cool native conditions of avocados. Cheers
I'm so happy I selected the Lula. It was a very hard decision with the many varieties to choose from. It came down to cold hardiness and taste reviews. Thanks for further confirming. I made a great decision.
Wow, my highest desire is to grow my own avocado and been babying 2 trees (Hass and Fuerte ) in pots in zone 9 for 3 years now and am finally ready to plant in zone 9 desert, so seeing you eat that first fruit and knowing that next year will be even more and likely even improved taste, was like a personal victory. I can only imagine your sense of accomplishment. Thats one beautiful berry. Ive never heard of Lilas (opal) either but I think I know whst needs to be done now. Thats a game changer. The thin skinned variety i tasted before was watery so you had me drooling watching this. Thank you for sharing that special moment with us.
Because you were so enthusiastic about the Lila avocado I actually bought one too! Mine is 4 years old and since transplanting 2 years ago it has grown and bushed out amazingly well. I have one avocado on it this year and have been watching it grow-can’t wait to try it. I haven’t had the heart to prune it yet but will later this year following the tips on your heavy pruning of yours. My Brogden has done well here in n Fl and will be enjoying the 2nd year harvest this year with about 15 or so avocados. Definitely nothing like homegrown! Viewers make the investment in a grafted avocado tree, you’ll be glad you did. Also I highly recommend IV organics 3 in 1 plant guard which is a wonderful protectant for trees. I use it on the avocado, fig and lemon trees. Love your channel!
Excellent! My Lila tree took forever to hold its fruit. It would always drop them. Last year, it finally held 1 to maturity. This year, it looks to be carrying 5 or 6. It sets a ton of fruit every year, but it doesn't hold them well. I guess it isn't precocious, but it's very good tasting and it is holding more and more fruit each season. It's worth the wait.
A lot of times I like avocado that are not as good as a home grown Hass simply because they taste very different. I just like variety. Thanks for sharing!
Congrats - that is so exciting! I have a hass I’m growing in a container in Birmingham, AL. Appreciate everything you share on your videos, as yours are more informative than most out there.
Good job. More than a year ago, we had our giant avocado tree majorly pruned. With all the rain and cooler temperatures here in SoCal, we are still waiting for any fruit to show up. The tree grew a ton of beautiful green leaves and actually looks almost the same size before it was cut….but no fruit. My family are mad. Lol
I have a “mexicola” avocado tree I purchased and planted in the ground four years ago. The Mexicola type produces smaller fruits that actually turn a dark purple color and you can even eat the skin. Like your Mexican type you’re growing mine is also supposed to be frost proof but here in Central Florida zone 9 my tree starts to flower in our winter months and if I do not protect the flowers from the cold all of the flowers on the tree will die from the cold temps hence no fruit will form etc. I’ve had fruits setting the last 2 seasons (not a lot) like 8 to 12 but darn it, squirrels have gotten to the fruits before they ripen. This winter I plan to “bag cover” any of the fruits that do grow in hopes that we will finally be able to harvest a mature fruit. Really dig your page and knowledge too!
I'm from The Bronx and we only ever ate the true Mexican avocados that are sold at Korean markets. I never saw a Haas avocado until I moved out of state. Now I only see the Mexican type at the Latino markets. Congratulations on growing your own!
Nice video--thanks! FYI, "Opal" is the name Bill Schneider (owner of Devine Avocados in Devine, TX) trademarked for the avocados of this variety that he sells, which he micrografts onto very young Lula seedlings, with the graft union positioned so low (barely above the seed) that it's actually slightly below ground level. His method maximizes cold hardiness because the somewhat less-hardy rootstock is completely underground, and thus protected against hard freezes. A "Lila", although genetically the same as Opal, might be grafted at any height onto whatever rootstock the propagator prefers, so if that rootstock isn't as hardy as the Lila, there's a risk that the trunk could freeze and get killed out from under the otherwise-okay grafted portion. Anyway, your presentation does a great job of demonstrating the good qualities of this variety! The Lila/Opal has been unfairly bashed by claims that it's "rubbery and tastes like grass," but evidently someone was simply reacting to an underdeveloped or unripe fruit.
Thank you! Zone 6, it would have to be in a container. I can just barely squeak by in Zone 8a, and we haven't had a truly bad winter since it's been planted. One day, we'll have a winter that'll fall into the single digits like we had in 2017/2018 and I'll be put to the test.
How wonderful!! I'd love to try this, but in a container. I'm in Zone 8a, but my soil quality isn't very good. And we get moles and voles some years like CRAZY. I've got a Meyer lemon doing well and I'm ready to add a satsuma orange.
Avocado doesn't ripe on the tree as far as I know. We wrap them in newspaper and let them ripen over about a week. Never heard of Lila, we grow mainly Hass over here. Thanks for the video
Avocados do not ripen on the tree, but how long you let them hang will influence the flavor. A Hass avocado picked in June and ripened on a countertop will taste different than a Hass avocado left to hang on the tree until August and ripened on a countertop, if that makes sense.
Thanks for the video. I will try this variety too. I have a variety of avocado developed at UF that is cold hardy to about 14F, has really thin skin, super creamy and yummy but a small fruit and another Haas of some kind I got from the grocery store and it grew into a big tree. I tell you this because I neglect my avocado trees, sadly, and I never fertilize them and they never have dropped their fruit prematurely. So I suspect you're right when you think you're over fertilizing your tree. But I will start pruning as you suggested in another video. I'm going to graft some branches if one of each kind of my avocados to each other next spring to see what happens, lol.
Thanks for your tips throughout the years for protecting citrus in zone 8. Using your methods I've been able to grow citrus in ground in zone 8a USDA for 4 years ✌️✌️
Sir, you might have wanted to plant this Lila further from the house with more space and more exposure to sun. Also, all of those lower branches should have been trimmed off allowing a nice canopy to form without letting it get too tall. You'll likely have more fruit that stays on the tree with fewer lower branches.
Thanks for the review. I've got a lila planted and like you said there are no reviews online of the fruits. So this was great. Now I just need my tree to get a bit bigger. It flowered last year but was still too small to support the fruits.
Thanks for this video. Glad you were able to get that avocado after 5 years. It is a great feeling of satisfaction to finally reap the rewards of all the years of labor. You mentioned the possibility of too much nitrogen for the reason for all your fruit drop on this tree. I was told that it is best to starve avocado trees to have a better bloom and fruit set. (Last fertilization in November and then do not fertilize again until after bloom and fruit set.)
Those are my favorite avocados grown in Florida though they get much bigger there.. In my opinion far surpass the Hass in flavor for their smooth nuttiness... love em!!
Congrats! Here in North Texas I have seen green-skinned, maybe Mexican, avocadoes, especially in stores like Fiesta. Silly me . . . I have always assumed they might be inferior to Haas. I'll rethink that.
Hass avocados represent something like 95% of the market for avocados. Hass are notoriously delicious fresh off a tree in California (so they say), but they're mostly selected for commercial production not due to taste, but due to size and the fact that their skin changes black when ripe. Consumers want smaller avocados, and the skin color change makes it easier to tell when they're ripe. But their size and form make them very prone to damage in shipment. How many store-bought Hass avocados have bad spots from bruising in shipment? A lot of them. Buying specialty types that command a higher price point may lessen the chances that they're damaged since they may be shipped differently.
Congrats 👏 on your Lila avocado. I purchased a Lila avocado plant last year spring and it bloomed profusely but after the frost in April 2023 in zone 8B (Columbus ,Ga) it dropped all the avocados except for one. I can't wait to taste that 🥑 after seeing your experience.
My neighbor's large mexicola avocado tree towers over my backyard, and I like to steal some when they eventually fall onto my side of the fence haha. And I agree, they're so much better than store bought. Looks they're pretty similar to the one that you're growing, down to the thin skin and high oil content. Except the skin is a very dark purple and has a bit of this unique nutty taste to it. I slice them like how you would an apple and honestly it isn't that bad with the skin on because of how thin it is.
Growing up in California in the 60's and 70's there were small orchards of a variety of fruits and even avacados. As a kid we walked through them one time and picked a few, we did'nt know what they were but they were hard and could not break the open without smashing them between rocks. The taste was so so and a bit bitter. So we stuck to picking only the fruits that we were familiar with like oranges tangerines lemons apples and apricots.
Some of the leaves look like they have sunscald. I remember (waaaay back when...) my parents growing an avocado tree from seed. It was planted in a narrow area between the side of the house and the property fence, so it got quite a bit of shade and had to grow up and into then sun. It did produce a lot of avocados when it finally was old enough. I just wish I wasn't the child who refused to taste an avocado until I was 14. I loved it, and the next winter a horrible, rare freeze in CA killed it. :( I've always wanted to try growing it here in NC
I just order mine lila avocado tree will keep indoors until spring to plant outside. I’m on zone 8A Georgia, wish me luck I will follow your recommendations
I am watching your video munching on my second harvest of blackberries. A properly ripe store bought Haas avocado is pretty darn good. I can only imagine how good your avocado tasted. I doubt I’ll ever taste a home grown one but hey I’ve gotten by 58 years without having one In think I’ll manage. BTW Dale is too cute!!
I just ate a Hass last night from the store and it tasted like cardboard. They're so hit-or-miss. I like it when they have the Lamb's and the Fuerte's more. Hass tends to get small brown spots in them. When they're good, they're good, but it's so tough to get good ones consistently. I've truly never tasted an avocado this good. It wasn't even fair.
Congrats on your first avocado! Hopefully you get more in the years to come. Have you ever heard of the Aravaipa avocado and I wonder how it compares to the other cold hardy varieties you mentioned?
Awesome video. One thing that I REALLY want to grow in ground is blueberries, and I failed miserably this year. I killed 3 blueberry bushes that I bought from the nursery. I was trying to grow them in containers but next time I want to try growing them in ground. I watched your tutorial video. I have the sulfur flakes and everything already. I guess I just need to figure out when the best time of year is to plant them, and get a better soil PH test kit bc the soil meter I have doesn’t seem very accurate at all.
I sure did enjoy this...last night I stared at my avocado seed and wondered if I could pull off growing one...but I live in zone 6b. lol Maybe if I get a greenhouse. :)
This is awesome!! So rewinding a few years, any recommendations on what you have learned and how you might have approached this project differently? Do you think given different decisions you would have had a higher yield this year?
surprised you didn't save some sample to share with wifey? I would have wanted the thrill of sharing the taste of triumph. I have a haas tree in north central FL for several years but never fruits. It grew by itself right next to a china berry tree and is v healthy but takes winters hard. Too large to cover but I soak the roots during our common freeze temps in Zone 8 winters.
I am in north Florida and last year I planted two grafted avocados, a Cold Hardy and a Hass. I nursed them through the freezes and while they both set fruit it all fell off. Last month I was using my small tractor to help take out a large window AC from the building they were planted 20 ft from. A large poke berry bush was growing by the window. I lost the avocado in the mass of foliage and ran over it, braking it off the Cold Hardy six inches above the graft, sigh. I have figured out how to sprout avocado seeds and have ten growing. While I can wait to see if the Cold Hardy regrows I will probably just order another one and use both to get cuttings from.
Thanks for the great video!!! That avocado was a beauty for the first one out of the tree. My reed took 6 years to produce tasty avocados. The first few harvests were "odd". But now, 10 years later, yum. I hope next year you triple your crop. It always seems slow, but that tree looks nicely protected next to the house.
UGHH. How I would love to grow Reed. Those giant butterballs just look incredible. If I could only grow one tree, it would be Reed, but it's just impossible here in North Carolina without a heated structure. Maybe one day in another place...
Uhhh avacados..... I gave up on them. Nice to see your success. Glad you missed that hurricane, but the second one looks like it's headed to north NC. Hopefully it stays out of your way
I was saying that the one coming in is missing you and headed to Boston/Nova Scotia. But the one behind that was headed to NC, I just saw a new report that put it further to the north so you may be in the clear
You should look into grafting a brazos belle/Wilma or a joey onto your lila not only do they have a similar frost tolerance 15-18° but they have the same flower and harvest window and are B type flowers and should help you get a bigger fruit set.
Having a B-type is not necessary. The plant already sets hundreds of fruits, so pollination will not increase fruit set. The tree already can't carry the load it sets and drops 99% of them. Eventually, the tree will mature its way out of the fruit drop problem. Managing grafts in a cold climate will be too much effort, because it will negatively affect how I have to prune the tree. I would not recommend a multi-grafted tree in a climate where a tree requires protection.
Really like what your doing and the information your passing along. Do you ever worry about using so many chemicals and synthetics in your garden and the effects on your food, body and soil?
This was very interesting. I wonder if you can make your cover frame bigger, maybe allow more horizontal growth and keep the vertical growth a bit below eaves. I've read that some other fruit trees - I think it was apples - don't like to hold fruit after a hard pruning.
I have a couple of questions for you. First question. Which of your videos do you recommend to learn about pruning figs? I have one in the ground that grows HUGE every year (8' tall, ~10' wide). Production is fantastic. I'm looking to trim it up so it is in more of a tree form vs. a huge bush. My garden is going through a planning change and the fig is located in an awkward spot. I think if I can trim it to more of a tree shape, then it would fit in better. I hesitate to move it due to its size and I've gotten so many figs this year (I have a 48oz container full right now - gonna freeze dry them in the next day or so), that I have been trying to think of a way to keep it where it is. Any suggestions or ideas? Second question. I'm zone 8a - east of ATL. I have 7 citrus, in pots, that I shlep in the house pretty much every year once temps are consistently in the 40s. After watching your video, I'm considering putting them in ground, but I'm chicken, lol. I've had them for 10-12 years and they are inconsistent producers. They're looking pretty rough this year, so I'm thinking if they make it through the winter in house, I'll plant them in ground in the spring. Here's the question: 1) Plant them on the South side of the house - oak tree shade, pretty much dappled sunlight during the day with early morning and evening sun during the summer, full sun during the winter. 2) Plant them on the East side - morning sun until about 2pm in summer and noonish during winter. A little bit of shade in early morning during summer. 3) Plant them on the West side - afternoon sun in summer for about 4 hours or so (6' fence and oak tree hangs over part of this) and about the same sun in winter (oak leaves are gone). They are currently located at a property I own next door and get full sun. They just don't seem to do very well when I put them in full sun areas. (Because of being in pots?). Thanks for any suggestions or ideas you have.
I'm just starting my garden down south in Georgia. After watching you enjoy the heck out of that avocado, I want to add one of these trees to my garden. Can you recommend a good place to purchase one? Thank you for all your wonderful content 😊
Woah, super jealous! We love avocados. Might have to build a huge cold frame to be able to grow Lila 😅 I’m assuming this won’t grow well in a large pot?
