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!
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! 🥑
Can we do the word “Avocado” count? 😂😂😂😂😂 Congrats my friend. You definitely deserve your flowers. You have added so much to our gardening community Thanks
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 was surprised. There are, literally, no Lila tasting videos on RUclips, 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 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'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.
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 ✌️✌️
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 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. :)
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!
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.
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.
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!!
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 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.
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 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.
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 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?
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?
I was watching one of your videos and I saw that you have added a second avocado tree to your orchard. I also noticed that you have it planted in a raised bed. Have you posted a video explaining your decision to plant that avocado in a raised bed, as well as your planting process? I’d be interested in seeing that. If you have posted it and I’ve missed it, my apologies. I’ll see if I can find it. Thanks
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 😊
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
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...
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.
That avocado looks a lot like the avocados that we have in Dominican republic. We have so many different types though, a lot of people have avocado trees in their house grown from seeds (Well we have many trees like mangos, yuca, plantains and banana trees). Some of the avocados are bigger and have a smaller seed, but I can grow that one since it's hardy and I live in NJ. I love everything that you plant, I just have a way smaller lot so I can't grow everything.
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
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 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.
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.
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)
Might buy 2nd avocado tree that blooms with Lila to set fruit ... some self fertile trees do better setting fruit when cross pollinated
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.
Great video and Dale is too cute.
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!
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 apply Sulfate of Potash to my tree.
Langbeinite is also a good source of potash
Can we do the word “Avocado” count? 😂😂😂😂😂
Congrats my friend. You definitely deserve your flowers. You have added so much to our gardening community
Thanks
Five years, one fruit. Yep, we nurturers of the landscape are truly nuts in the best way!
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 grew up with several advocado trees in my yard and there were so many advocados most hit ground and were eaten by possums
first avocado 🥑
It's about time 😂
Great video!
I really love the taste of my Lila avocado fruit, I eat the skin, the skin has a anis (licorice) flavor.
We were able to harvest 4 Lila avocados this year and they were soooo buttery. Creamy is another great descriptive word. So rich.
I was surprised. There are, literally, no Lila tasting videos on RUclips, 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.
Congrats, MG! What a great year you are having in your garden!👍
Cute Adventure with Dale!😃 He's a sweetie!🐕
Thank you! It's good to finally get a win 😅 There is always something new and interesting growing on. Dale says hello 🐕
Good for you. Enjoy. My avocado died in the south texas heat. 😢 maybe I’ll try again.
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 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!
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.
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.
Looks like a bush. 💚
A genuine reaction!!!! Thanks for sharing, loved your response to the flavor, great video!!! It was worth the wait!!
It's been a loooong wait. I've had this tree since 2018. It's been with me through 2 houses.
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.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yes it does 👍🏼
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.
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'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!
Next year you will have lots of avocados. 😊
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 for the review. I look forward to subsequent videos next year.
Loved how you reacted to the flavor and texture of that avocado. You made me smile.
Sounds delicious! I can't wait for my Joey to fruit!
That's supposed to be fairly cold hardy as well. Hope it works out!
I need to plant one of these for sure
Congrats for your first avocado! What a HUGE success! Wish you best! :)
Thank you so much!
A very exciting time! Such a wait and labor of love 🎉 wishing you even more success in the coming years
Thank you so much!!
It’s so nice to see you enjoying your long anticipated fruits and veggies. Thanks for sharing!!
Worth waiting for. Enjoy the flavor. 😊
Thank you!
Congrats! I have avo #1 on my holiday dwarf avocado too this month so very excited to see it mature as well. I share your excitement.
Great video. You convinced me to plant mine on the ground.. First video I have seen from a Lila.
It was so wonderful to share your first avocado harvest! Yes, next year I will consider growing the Lila Avocado in my Zone 6 orchard.
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.
So excited!!! I planted mine last fall after seeing your video. I Got a Lila and Joey. I'll wait patiently 🤩
Thanks for sharing your amazing avocado harvest. Great video.
You're welcome!
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 ✌️✌️
Outstanding! Congrats!
Dude, you did it! I'm a renter and plant my trees in 20 gal containers buried in the ground.
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’m so excited for you great job.
Thank you!
Love the Dale... CONGRATULATIONS on your 1st Avocado 🎉❤
The Dale is the best boy! Thank you!
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. :)
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!
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.
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.
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!!
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.
Yay! Congratulations! 😊👍👍
Thank you for all your educational videos😇 This one moved me to write😁. l loved the tiny little yelp of excitement Dale let out💕
6:18 put some Tabassco sause on. 🤩
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.
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.
Dale is great. You're ok too sometimes.😁
Congratulations to you! Love Dale!❤❤❤❤
Thank you! Dale sends his regards 🐕
Any update on your Lila this year?
Yes please
How exciting for you! Hope you figure out why they are dropping the fruit soo you can have more next year.
@7:31 .. No, it's not Fantastic - Its a Lila 😁
Congratulations! Way to go!!!
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.
Just convinced me to grow one of these
For a pure Mexican variety, it is very good. It is pretty comparable to Hass, which is surprising for a cold hardy avocado.
Congratulations on your first avocado 🥑 😋
❤ Dale.. he's so smart 😊
Thank you! Dale is very observant. But then again, his job is to sit back and watch to figure out how to manipulate us to get what he wants 😄
Good for you! I love avocado 🥑! Congratulations! 😊
Thank you!
great video 🙂
I love Dale.
Your avocado makes a beautiful tree!
Thank you!
Congratulations! worth waiting for!
Absolutely! 100%!
Definitely growing this when I move to Ajijic
Your avocado is beautiful! I planted two avocados this spring, a Mexicola and a Joey. Both Mexican avocados.
We have a Fuerte, Haas and a Stewart . They're great on a piece of toast with a sprinkle of garlic salt.
That sounds good, what bread do you use?
❤❤❤ It looks so good. ❤❤❤
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.
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
Thank you!
Well done, you!
I appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
Great video.
I appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
Always enjoy your informative videos. I also LOVE Adventures with Dale! :)
Thank you! Dale loves all his fans 🐕😆 He's a very good boy.
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?
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?
Woohoo!
I put my satsuma and Meyer into the ground first thing this spring, now I've got to get an avocado for next year, like l.
Nothing better than fresh citrus and avocados.
I was watching one of your videos and I saw that you have added a second avocado tree to your orchard. I also noticed that you have it planted in a raised bed. Have you posted a video explaining your decision to plant that avocado in a raised bed, as well as your planting process? I’d be interested in seeing that. If you have posted it and I’ve missed it, my apologies. I’ll see if I can find it. Thanks
Very cool
Thank you!
Thank you 😊
Thx
You're welcome!
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 😊
Wonderful!!
Congratulations. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
Congratulations!!
Thank you!
Awesome. Great accomplishment!
Thank you!
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
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...
Looks delicious!
Congratulations!!
Well done.
Thank you for sharing this information 🎉🎉
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
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.
That avocado looks a lot like the avocados that we have in Dominican republic. We have so many different types though, a lot of people have avocado trees in their house grown from seeds (Well we have many trees like mangos, yuca, plantains and banana trees). Some of the avocados are bigger and have a smaller seed, but I can grow that one since it's hardy and I live in NJ. I love everything that you plant, I just have a way smaller lot so I can't grow everything.
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
We didn’t miss the last one, unfortunately. Idalia did quite a bit of damage. No more fall corn, most tomatoes destroyed, etc.
Not sure where you got that info from. It’s not going anywhere near North Carolina.
@@TheMillennialGardenerMy sister dodged a few tornado warnings down in Little River. Sorry your crops got wiped out.
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 must see our Avocado tree in South Africa - the size avocados are twice the size of your Haz, I think ours is Lamb Haz
Now I have to figure out where to put avocado tree in my backyard😂.
I think you can put a little plug of beeswax or coconut oil over a blemish or hole and help keep oxygen out. Congratulations to you on your 1st Avo!
I put a piece of scotch tape over it 😂 Didn't work so well. I wouldn't do it again. BUT, there was no oxidation inside, surprisingly.
@@TheMillennialGardener What? No duct tape - "Red Green" style? LOL!
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 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.
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.