Avocado - Bacon - cold hardy - Winter ripening
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$89.90 - Regular price
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$89.90
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The Bacon avocado originated as a seedling in Buena Park, California, around 1928, and has become a favourite for cooler areas. Bacon is a very hardy tree, making it an ideal avocado variety to grow in cooler climates, and it copes with light frosts better than most avocados. It forms a vigorous, upright tree and is an excellent pollinator for A types, with the bonus of having fruit ready in winter when not many other avocados are ripening.
The Bacon avocado is easy to identify by its oval shape and smooth green skin, which stays green even when ripe. The skin is thin, shiny and quite attractive. The flesh is pale green-yellow with a light, mild flavour, and the fruit is medium sized, commonly 180 to 340 g each. A great variety for keeping fresh avocados on the table through the winter months.
- Flower Type: B
- Colour when ripe: Green
- Fruit shape: Oval
- Fruit size: Medium
- Seed: Medium to large
- Fruit quality/taste: Good, light and mild flavour.
- Harvest season: Winter
- Type: Mexican x Guatemalan hybrid
- Origin: California
- Tree Habit: upright, vigorous
- Cold tolerance: Good, one of the hardier avocado varieties
Our trees are grafted and will begin flowering in spring. Bacon is a B flowering type. Avocado trees in our climate are self fertile, but produce more fruit if 2 are planted near each other with opposing flower types. In this case, best planted near an A type, like Hass, Reed, Anaheim, Pinkerton, Esther, Hopkins, Mexicola Grande, or any other A type tree.
Avocado care guide
Just arrived? Keep your tree in a sheltered, semi-shaded spot for 2–4 weeks before planting. See our acclimation guide.
1. Drainage is everything
More avocados die from wet roots (Phytophthora root rot) than anything else. Plant on a mound 40–60 cm high (go higher on heavy clay) using a free-draining mix. Never dig a hole into clay; it fills with water like a bucket. Keep the graft union above the soil.
2. Water the root ball, not the calendar
For the first year, the root ball dries out faster than the soil around it. Check 5 cm down and water deeply only when it's dry. In summer that's usually once or twice a week, more often on sandy soil or in a heatwave. In winter, you'll barely need to water.
3. Mulch thick, but keep it off the trunk
Put 10–15 cm of coarse wood chip or bark out to the drip line, with a 10 cm gap around the trunk. Avocado feeder roots are shallow, so don't dig or plant anything around the base, and keep lawn well away.
4. Feed little and often
Give small feeds of a balanced fertiliser (one with zinc and boron) in spring, summer and early autumn. Don't feed in winter. Spread it at the drip line, keep it 40 cm from the trunk, and water it in.
5. Stake and tie it properly
Young avocados need firm support against the wind from the day you plant. Put in two big, sturdy stakes, one on each side of the tree. Tie soft strips of woollen cloth across between the two stakes, looping them around the trunk, at two heights. This holds the tree firmly in the middle, and the soft cloth won't rub or cut into the bark.
Two stakes with soft woollen cloth tied across at two heights. The tree is held firmly in the middle without damaging the bark.
6. Shelter young trees for 2–3 years
A windbreak around a young tree really helps it grow faster. We wrap clear plastic around four tall stakes to make a sleeve around each young tree. Leave the sleeve open at the top and keep it a little below the top of the tree, so the trunk and lower branches are sheltered while the top still gets plenty of sun and air. Windbreak cloth also works well in exposed spots.
Young avocados in our orchard, each with its own clear plastic windbreak on four tall stakes.
Open at the top and sitting just below the top of the tree, so the trunk is sheltered while the top still gets sun and air.
Use frost cloth when frost is forecast (young trees are damaged around -1 to -2°C). Paint exposed trunks with white water-based paint diluted 50:50 to prevent sunburn.
7. Let the tree grow before it fruits
Pick off any fruit in the first 1–2 years so the tree puts its energy into branches and roots. Only prune to remove dead wood or keep the tree in shape.
What's normal (don't panic)
- Old leaves dropping in spring: normal. Avocados shed old leaves as they flower and push new growth.
- Brown, crispy leaf tips: usually salt or fertiliser burn, or dry roots. Flush with a deep watering and ease off on feeding.
- Most flowers and tiny fruit dropping: normal. Avocados produce thousands of flowers and set only a few.
- Yellowing leaves and wilting in wet soil: a root rot warning sign. Stop watering and check drainage.
Want more detail? Read our full Avocado Tree Care Guide or planting in clay soil.
