Flowering Dates and Overlapping Flowering Periods of Selected Avocado (Persea americana) Cultivars in Homestead, Florida

Abstract

The synchronous dichogamous flowering behavior of avocado trees promotes outcrossing and improves yields of many commercial avocado cultivars. To optimize cross-pollination, complementary cultivars (designated as Type A or B) must be planted in close proximity to each other. For a number of Florida avocado cultivars, the period of flowering is not known, making recommendations for planting arrangements for Type A and Type B cultivars difficult. From December through April of 2011 and 2012, trees of 14 avocado cultivars in several Homestead groves were monitored during their flowering period. ‘Arue’, ‘Donnie’, ‘Nesbitt’, ‘Peterson’, ‘Russell’, and ‘Simmonds’ began to flower during January, whereas ‘Bernecker’, ‘Beta’, ‘Brogdon’, ‘Lisa’, ‘Loretta’, ‘Miguel’, ‘Reed’, and ‘Tonnage’ did not begin flowering until February; most cultivars were done flowering during early April. An example of overlapping flowering periods of complementary flowering types includes ‘Tonnage’ (B-type) and ‘Donnie’ (A-type) and ‘Bernecker’ (A-type) and ‘Miguel’ (B-type).