Story: Avocado Growing
Episode: Episode 10
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
Air Date: 10th April 2022

• Avocados do well in WA’s unique growing environment. long sunny days, wet winters and dry summers.
• The avocado has a complete flower, but with an unusual behavior known as protogynous dichogamy.
  • Means that the avocado flower has both functional male and female organs in the one flower, but opens and closes twice over a two-day period.
• An avocado tree produces in excess of a million flowers when it starts flowering.
• Trees also seem to naturally have a biennial cropping habit of large crops every second year.
• Hass is considered the best quality hence its grown extensively by orchardists.
• Sheppard is large and creamy in texture and Choquette delivers very big fruit from September to December in Perth.
• Fuerte pear types are great for mid-sized yards.
• The semi dwarf Wurtz and Gwen are the answer to get best results, get a half wine barrel, fill it with the best quality potting mix, water it thoroughly and feed with controlled release plant food every three months.
• They will grow to 2.5 meters tall and wide and produce 30 to 50 fruit per annum.