Growing Lila / Opal Avocado Trees in the Northeast Florida Landscape
Lila / Opal Avocado Trees / Persea americana Origins:
– Lila is a genetic clone of Opal a Mexican Type Avocado, so they are the same tree and have identical genetics but marketed and sold here in Florida as Lila. It is a Type A flowering cold tolerant selection suitable for growing in the Northeast Florida Landscape.
Lila / Opal Avocado Tree Exposure:
– Lila avocado trees should be planted into a full sun or afternoon sun location in the Northeast Florida landscape.
Lila Avocado Foliage and Winter Tolerance:
– smaller medium to dark green foliage is pointed at the tips with an anise scent. Remains evergreen in the winter.
Lila avocado trees have a high cold tolerance known to survive winter temperatures in the mid teens as adult trees. They are more cold sensitive when newly planted or young they will still survive to 28-30 °F. They are a good option for Northeast Florida landscapes.
Lila Avocado Soil Preference / Salt tolerance:
-Avocado trees need well drained soils. They are not tolerant of overly moist soils, avoid planting in areas that remain wet for days after heavy rains, plant in raised beds or berms in areas with a high water table. when planted into well drained soils avocados are well suited to the native sandy soils of Florida and do not require amendment at the time of planting.
– low salt tolerance not suitable for coastal gardens.
Lila Avocado Size Variance and Growth Habit:
– Lila avocado trees are considered a dwarf selection and will grow from 10-15 ft if left untrimmed. They can easily be kept to half that and would make an ideal selection for container planting in cooler climate areas where you may need to protect them in the winter. They will produce fruit best when kept to an open center by removing the central leader where sunlight can penetrate into the branch structure. This helps keep the trees fruit where you can easily reach it, keeps get sunlight and air circulation into the inner branch structure and helps with any pest / leaf treatments you may need.
Lila Avocado Tree Growth Rate:
– Avocado trees are considered a moderate to fast growing plant selection. Once established into the landscape expect 1-3 ft of foliage growth in a season. Lila avocado is going to be on the slower side of that range.
Lila Avocado Tree Blooms and Fruit:
Lila avocado trees follow the type A flowering schedule. Individual blooms will open as female the morning of their first day remain open for a few hours close up and open again until the afternoon of the next day where they will be functioning as male flowers.
– Lila avocados are medium to large sized green fruits that are 6-12 oz with a round pit in the center and a somewhat thicker skin. They have a rich nutty flavor and a high oil content.
All avocado fruit ripens once it has fallen from the tree or has been picked. Once your Lila avocado tree fruit has reached mature size you can pick them and let them ripen indoors at will and leave them on the tree until you need them! If the fruit wrinkles up after letting them sit to tipen the fruit was not ready leave them on the tree longer and try again.
Begin harvesting your Lila avocado tree from September to October here in Northeast Florida.
Avocado Water Requirements:
– Although much more durable once established in the landscape, regular water is necessary to get the plant rooted and growing on its own after being planted in the ground from an S & J Nursery container. Use supplemental irrigation when planted in full sun or in extremely sandy soil.
– Water generously during droughts at least once or twice a week for best results if
planted into an non irrigated garden location.
Care of Lila Avocado Trees in the Northeast Florida Landscape:
– Its always best to trim an avocado just after harvest but here in NE Florida with the later blooming and later harvesting avocado trees like Lile / Opal you may want to wait until spring to do any trimming and shaping to avoid new growth sprouting before a freeze after pruning. It wont be the end of the world if that happens you may just end up having to do a little cleanup pruning in the spring on leaves or stems that didn’t make it. Make sure to fertilize at the same time you prune and water well for the next few weeks to ensure the tree has everything it needs to get growing.
– Avocado trees will need good water during the establishment period and
supplemental irrigation during dry spells or particularly hot dry summers, especially when planted into sandy soils.
– Fertilize your newly planted trees every other month through the year with a good tropical plant food or a slow release poly coated plant food such as Osmocote. This is especially important on newly planted and younger trees. Once the trees are well established and have been growing for a few years in your landscape you can reduce that to once a season, or 4 times a year.
– Keep the area below the foliage free of grass and other vegetation that will compete for nutrients. Mulch thickly in a circle around the tree under the foliage canopy being sure to keep it thinner not letting it pile up right at the base of the trunk. Start with at least a 4 ft wide circle on a young tree and you can keep expanding the mulch bed area to the foliage line as your tree grows. Arborist chips are ideal, you can also use other options like leaf litter from surrounding landscape trees, pine straw or pine bark all good sustainable options that will both help regulate soil moisture and break down into nutrition for your trees.
Bacon Avocado | Hardy to 24-26°F
Brazos Belle | Hardy to 15-18°F
Brogden Avocado | Hardy to 15°F
Choquette | Hardy to 22°F
Fantastic | Hardy to 15°F
Florida Haas | Hardy to 18°F
Fuerte Avocado | Hardy to 26° F
Hall Avocado | Hardy to 20°F
Joey Avocado | Hardy to 15°F
Lila Avocado | Hardy to 15°F
Lula Avocado | Hardy to 25°F
Marcus Pumpkin | Hardy to 20°F
Mexicola Grande | Hardy to 18°F
Monroe | Hardy to 25°F
Nishikawa Avocado | Hardy to unknown 25-28° F
Oro Negro Avocado | Hardy to 25-28°F rumor has it much lower
Pancho Avocado | Hardy to 15°F
Thompson Red | Hardy to 24°F
Winter Mexican Avoacado | Hardy to 18°F
Wurtz Avocado | hardy to 24°F