I’ll never forget my first Reed. I was working on Palm Springs selling specialty and tropical produce. As a hot blooded half Latina spitfire you know I was always up to dip my chip in a cool dip so I thought I had achieved all guacamole heights. I’d thought I had sliced and diced my way around all pits with exception of Brad until that first round and green bomb of creamy green fruit of the wood was placed tenderly into my trembling hands. I was warned I was about to turn my back on all other more oval avocados I had held dear since I could smoosh noodles and soft stuff across my high chair tray. My country, my culture, heritage, my chunky silky lifeblood’s true saturation in a bumpy slip skinned pod wobbled in my palm as I dug into my pocket to yank out my melon paring knife and face this king of all burrito’s crowning glories. This was the holiest of holies for guacamole and I never looked back. I think about Reeds each and every day of my life. They are tender like me and despite their short season their richness lingers in the mind long after they have passed the tongue and returned to the ether from whence they came to grace our globe with their name. The wind cries Reeeeeeeed.
The avocado tree in my yard is a Reed. It finally produced fruit all over the tree this year. For over 1o years it just had minimal fruit.. This year it is all over like a Christmas tree! its going to be AWESOME!!!
I have a Reed avocado tree in my backyard in my hometown here in Los Angeles, it has been there since the 70's, imo this variety is one of the best out of all the avocados 👍🏾
I love my Reed avocados. I guess they don't market very well since they're green and round, but man they taste great. Definitely a must have tree in the yard in my opinion. I have one mature Reed tree and two smaller Reed trees.
I have 100 Reeds avocado in my garden. But there is no factory in my village and even no Marketing place. So,we the villagers just eat like any other fruits . Taste is good. 👍
Hello Greg, thank you for this great information! Learn a lot with you. I’m thinking about getting a grafted Hass avocado tree. After watching your video, It looks like the Reed would be better. I have three questions: 1. Do they have dwarf trees or only big trees and how tall do they grow? 2. how many years it will it take to get fruit, 3. Do they give fruit every year? Thank you😊. Sorry for so many questions, but it seems like you’re the person to go to for information.
Hi Bertha, Thanks! Hass and Reed are both top tier avocado varieties to grow in your yard. Let me send you to a few posts on my website to help you make decisions and answer questions: gregalder.com/yardposts/whats-the-best-kind-of-avocado-to-grow/ gregalder.com/yardposts/can-you-grow-an-avocado-tree-in-a-small-yard-space/ gregalder.com/yardposts/how-long-until-an-avocado-tree-fruits/ gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-varieties-for-year-round-harvest/
my son works in a tree lopping company and was given a bunch of these. That's why I am here learning how to cut them and eat. I hope I can grow a tree from the seed.
Hi Greg, I just happened upon your website and was pleased to see that you have information on Reed avocados! We have several Hass trees and added 2 Reeds. I also just got a Sir Prize delivered and will be getting that into the ground today! My question has to do with knowing when to pick Reed avocados. We are just a few miles from the beach on the central coast of California so we rarely get 100 degree weather if at all. I cant tell when to pick the fruit at all. With the Hass, we have so many trees that I will pick 1 or 2 every week starting in late April until I get a taste that is oily enough and know we can pick them at any point from there. The longer they stay on the tree the better they get. I'm just clueless about the Reeds and since we have just 2 little trees, there are not a ton of fruits yet so I don't want to just pick one of 4 off the tree to 'test' like I do with Hass. When do you think our Reeds are ready to pick?
Hi Jenny, I only know Reed harvest information as far north as Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, in terms of coastal locations. Up there, farmers have told me that they start Reed harvest about September, and I've been told that they hang well into December. (This is basically 2-3 months later than San Diego County.)
Greg, reading your website. It seems GEM and Hass have extended tree hang time. What are the other varieties that have extended tree hang time? And also I need to a video that compares all the tree sizes in your collection. I'm running tight on spacing... I need to know how big do these guys get?
For me here 20 mi east of San Diego Lamb, Wertz, Reed and Pinkerton have very good hang time. Smaller varities are Wertz, GEM, Pinkerton, Lamb, and Holiday ,but it is not very precious. Reed can be easily kept down via pruning. FUERTE really wants to spread, Hass also spreads, Bacon grows to the sky. Avoid Sir Prize as it has bad architecture.
Thank you for your kind information . What is the minimum distance required for HASS Avocado From Plant to plant & REED Avocado from Plant to plant in Avocado farming.
There's no minimum. It just depends on how much you want to prune. However, the closest long term plantings of Hass that I know of are 12 feet apart; and the closest long term plantings of Reed are about 8 feet apart.
I know it is relative to local climates and location but would you know the harvest dates for southern California of this variety... i grafted a seedling with lamb hass and would like to graft a reed to the same tree and maybe extend the season a bit but I have a feeling they have very similar harvesting dates
Your feeling is right that Lamb and Reed have very similar harvest seasons. They're almost the same. In most of Southern California, both Reed and Lamb start tasting acceptable in June but not really good until August, and then they last through the end of summer and into early fall. Some people can get both to last even into December, but that's mostly in locations that are closer to the beach and milder. In my location, Ramona, neither Reeds nor Lambs hang quite that long. I made a harvest chart, which shows the seasons of Lamb and Reed being May through November: gregalder.com/yardposts/when-to-pick-avocados/ One reason that it would still be nice to have both Lamb and Reed is because Lamb tends to have off years where the crop is very light so in those years you would probably still have Reeds.
Hi I am in Australia and have a Massive Reed Avocado tree, 40ft tall, makes it hard to harvest. I want to know is how to care for it please. I have lived in this house for 5 years now and inherited it :). love them. I always thought when they are brown they are ready to eat. :) Please message me to let me know. thank you.
Hi Lynda, Check out the article I wrote specifically on Reed: gregalder.com/yardposts/the-reed-avocado-tree-a-profile/ And then have a look at my many other articles about caring for avocados here: gregalder.com/yardposts/list-of-yard-posts/ Let me know there on my website if you have any questions that I haven't already covered. (Sometimes it takes me a long time to get to RU-vid comments.)
Aloha Greg, Thanks for sharing your knowledge and passion with us. I live in Hawaii and planted an Ota about a month ago. Happy to see it growing well. Curious if you’ve heard of or tasted Ota and what your thoughts are on this variety. Mahalo 🤙🏼
After many days of researching Reed avocados on RU-vid and the web, I bought a small grated Reed tree. This is the 2nd year I'm eating the fruit. Just like the 1st year, the fruit tastes watery and no flavor at all. It tastes like the avocados have been soaked in water for so long that all that's left is tasteless water content. I will cut the tree down before it gets too big. If you like creamy, nutty avocados, Fuerte is the best.
Hi. Thank you for all your videos! I live in the bay area and I am currently trying to choose between a Lamb Hass and Hass. I see that you prefer Lamb Hass over Hass. I have a couple of questions if I may ask. Does Lamb Hass produce better over Hass? Which one does better with colder temperatures? Also which tree can hold fruit for longer so that we pick slowly as we need? Also, have you noticed any alternate bearing habit with these? Sorry about all these questions. I just planted a Littlecado and planning on swapping it with either lamb Hass or Hass since I started reading some not so encouraging reviews on the Littlecado.
Hi Mounika, Thanks. I haven't found a significant difference between Lamb and Hass in my yard in terms of cold tolerance, and I don't know of anyone else who has. I don't prefer Lamb over Hass. I like them both. They're different, and one might be better for different people in different situations. If I had to have only one, I would choose Hass over Lamb though. But I have both and I like them both. I wrote a bit more about why I would choose Hass over Lamb in my article here: gregalder.com/yardposts/whats-the-best-kind-of-avocado-to-grow/ Both Hass and Lamb hold mature fruit for a very long time, longer than most other varieties. Lamb alternates a bit more than Hass in my experience, but it is not by any means an inconsistent producer. I think you'll find my written profile of the Lamb tree useful in helping you choose between Lamb and Hass: gregalder.com/yardposts/the-lamb-hass-avocado-tree-a-profile/
Hi Greg, I recently had a Reed avo to eat and I found it to have an eggy taste to it... The flesh was a little hard still but the colour was golden yellow and the seed had a root beginning to sprout...it is getting to the middle of summer here so it is in season... It probably needed a few more days to ripen properly..have you ever experienced an eggy taste to a reed?
Yes, I think I know the taste you're referring to. Sometimes people also call it a "cheesy" taste. For Reed avocados in my yard, if I let them hang on the tree into September or later there's a risk that they'll have that eggy/cheesy texture and flavor. In essence, it's because the fruit is overmature. One indication of that is if the seed has sprouted inside. However, I've found that certain other varieties can hang past the time that the seed inside has sprouted and still taste good. Lamb is that way, for example.
Nice videos!!! That large black fruit you called 'Lamb' looks more like 'GEM"... Lamb/Hass most often has a slight to distict neck... GEM on the other hand is more oval, oblate... Also GEM has a yellow speckling characteristic which this fruit appears to have... Maybe I'm wrong, as there are always enviromental variations--but I just wanted you to know from the person that named both of them--Ha! You are clearly an expert and many follow your lead, therefore might get confused! Cheers, gray
Hi Gray, I never noticed how much that Lamb looks like a GEM, but you're right. I would suspect it too, if I hadn't picked it off my own Lamb tree! Maybe they sometimes look like kin because they share a Gwen mother? Thanks for your recent grafting videos. Tons of insight. Greg
Hi Greg, love you videos. I have a question, what is the most cold hardy Avocado that is being sold in the markets now? I live in zone 8, in Antelope Valley, Palmdale, 93550. I have been growing couple trees from seed, and I have purchased a Hass that is currently in pot. But I would like to experiment with a cold hardy variety to put in ground. Any suggestions? Also if it is a dwarf variety it would be a plus. Thank you
Bacon, Zutano, Mexicola, and Stewart are all widely available varieties that are relatively cold hardy. None of them should be called dwarf, but Bacon and Zutano are usually the most vigorous out of those four.
I'm so sad that there's a lack of vocabulary to describe avocados whereas they're hundreds of words to describe red wine. Greg help us out. Maybe take a look at Sweet Maria to see how they describe all the dimensions to coffee. So here's the typical avocado vocabulary creamy buttery nutty dense green yellow avocadoee taste, quite boring.
