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Dying Avocado Tree

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NeatGifts starts with ...
I am an American retired in the Philippines. I was aware that there were no Hass avocados in the Philippines before moving here and didn't want to be without one of my favorite fruits. I brought about six seeds with me from California. One seed was a Reed and the others, Hass. I didn't want to risk failing in getting them to grow so I took them to a local nursery. Turns out they didn't do such a good job themselves. Only two seeds grew. One Reed and one Hass. I put the Reed in a somewhat shaded area and after two years it is about 10' tall and looking great. On the other hand I put the Hass in an all sun area that used to be surrounded by water. In two years time the Hass reached about 9' but it has been attacked by bugs and Caterpillar. The caterpillars almost ate all of the leaves before I got them all off. Things went good for the next 6 months or so until I noticed the bark about mid way looking dark and small slits in it. One limb fell off and looked completely dry inside. Today the other tall branch looked as bad as the other before it broke off. I decided to cut just below the damaged area and hope for the best until I started doing some reading. Now it seems from what I have read so far that this may be root rot and there is nothing I can do to save the tree. I'm hoping this is not the case and there is something I can do because there are just no Hass seeds in this country. What if I transplant the tree near the Reed? Any suggestions?
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NeatGifts
Philippines
27th January 2012 3:38am
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jakfruit etiquette says...
Get your hass grafted onto potted Avocado rootstock asap. Probably local rootstock is a bit tougher. You could also bud/graft onto part of the reed at your place.
First you are sure it is root rot.
Root rot in Avocado is commonly treated with phos acid trunk injections. Composted chicken manure is also effective against phytophora root rot.
In the subtropics, a good pile of woodchips/leaf litter around each tree(keep clear of the trunk) that is permanently rotting down can inhibit root rot fungi
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27th January 2012 7:02am
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Brendan says...
Hi NeatGifts, the seed from a Hass avocado will NOT produce a Hass tree, same for Reed.
What you'll get is a tree that 'might' be half Hass, half root stock variety, or an unknown variety.
Also, they usually take 8 to 10 years to bear, some seed-grown avocados never bear.
Try to buy a grafted tree.
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Brendan
Mackay, Q
27th January 2012 7:58am
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NeatGifts says...
Thanks jackfruit etiquette and Brendan.
I was just saying to my wife last night we need to try grafting, attaching a small bag of dirt to one of the limbs or transplanting the tree. Maybe all three.

I did a lot of reading about bringing seeds here to the Philippines before we moved here. The prospects didn't look good from what I understood (which wasn't much) but if you know me, not much detoured me from trying anyway even when others say can't be done. You might be surprised at how often they can be wrong.

I did read something about what trees will fruit and those that wouldn't. I still don't understand that one. What happens if I graft the Hass to the Reed? What variety will I end up with? Will these trees fruit from seeds or not?

Brendan, as I said there are no Hass from what I know here in the Philippines. The variety of avocado here has a very thin, shiny, smooth and bright green color. I don't know what the name of the two varieties I see here but neither have any taste and I don't like the consistency of the fruit's meat. It is just kind of pasty. If you close your eyes and taste it you won't know what you just put in your mouth. Not like when you eat a Hass and everything around you just fades away and you go to this land of bliss with the sounds of ummmm... coming out of your nose. Oh, did I say I love Hass?

Anyway, I would love to see these two trees survive and help to beautify my property but by the time they fruit if they do fruit I will be 65 years old.

Wish I could get a seedling but there doesn't seem to be a way to do that from here.
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
28th January 2012 1:51pm
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NeatGifts says...
On a side note, when I first arrived here in the Philippines and put avocado slices in my salad my extended family was shocked and speechless. Then they just thought I was weird. Well I am a little weird but on the other hand I never thought of putting avocados in a shake or ice cream as they do here. There is also corn, cheese and sweet potato (ubi) flavored ice creams here in the Philippines.

After telling my family here all the ways we eat or prepare avocados in the US they all scrunched their faces. Boy do I miss Subway!

When I tell them about the Hass I get this look of unbelief. Not a whole lot of variety of anything here. I could be the first to grow Hass in the Philippines.
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
28th January 2012 2:07pm
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Jason says...
If you are at sea level it will probably be too warm for a Hass or Reed, unfortunately the more Tropical races of Avocado don't have the same flavour so what you are doing is worth a shot
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Jason
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28th January 2012 2:43pm
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Mike says...
Latitude 17 rather than 7 is the last place guatemalan and gx good tasting avos can grow and hass is even less heat tolerant.There are some good tasting hawaiin (WI X) types but these are not in the philipines or australia.Your area is famous for its lansones,durian,jackfruit and many others.You might just have to do wothout good avos.
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Cairns
28th January 2012 3:00pm
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jakfruit etiquette says...
Any Hass seed from a commercial orchard might be influenced by other(pollinator) varieties. Still you are likely to get something resembling Hass. Grafting onto Reed(or rootstock) will not have any changing effect on your seedlings fruit.
Are you aware of Philippines rare fruit forum in yahoo groups rarefruit-ph@yahoogroups.com
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29th January 2012 12:46am
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NeatGifts says...
No!!! Mike don't say it's so!

I know the heat is different here from Southern California but that is where I first discovered Avocados. Originally coming from the mid-West I had never even heard of this wonderful fruit. As a letter carrier I came across a house that had this really wide tree with all these strange, hard, green fruit all over the tree and the ground. When I got back to the office I asked a few people what they were. Everyone looked at me strangely and said you don't know what Avocados are?

I couldn't wait to get home to buy one. They were like 10 cents each back then. From the moment I tasted it my first thought was there must be something wrong with this fruit cause nothing that taste this good can be good for you.

Back to the problem at hand. I use to buy Reed from a farmers market in Riverside, California from a really nice couple that grew them at a near by farm. Southern California can get really hot. I remember 116 degrees one day. Some summers the humidity can be very high also. After my first encounter with Avocados, I learned that all the trees I came across in Rosemead (where I worked) were Hass.

I don't know what the sea level is where I live now but I have been here for over two and a half years and the weather is almost always the same. It is usually between 36 to 41 Celsius during most of the day and cooling down in the late afternoon when it commonly rains.

I have read a lot about how Hawaii has really gotten into the Avocado export business in a big way. Seems farms in Cali exports a lot of it's produce to other countries and those other countries exports a lot of it's produce to the US. I think much of the US gets it's avocados from places like Mexico. I believe Hawaii sells a lot of is't avocados to the mainland.

As far as the local fruits here in the Philippines are concerned. Lansones are okay but difficult to eat. Durian unlike they say not only smells bad but taste bad to and it has more cholesterol than most anything else. Jackfruit stinks. Now if you talk about mangoes. I love mangoes (depending on the variety). Fruits us Americans are use to are slowing making their way to the grocery stores and markets here but are priced way too high. $8 for a pint of strawberries that are not even worth looking at let alone eating is a problem.

Most imported fruits that the locals are not use to seeing soon fade away due to no one buying them. It would be very interesting to introduce better tasting varieties of avocados to the market to see what would happen. I am also trying seedless watermelon and some vegetables I haven't seen here.

Sorry this post is kind of long. I get carried away sometimes. I am enjoying the responses.
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
29th January 2012 1:02am
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NeatGifts says...
Hello jakfruit etiquette,

Thanks for the link but it isn't working. I've tried clicking on it and I have tried copy and paste.

Let me know if this thread is not for this forum.

Today wasn't a good day to go out but I had intended to take pictures (probably tomorrow) of my Reed and troubled Hass trees and post them here.

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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
29th January 2012 1:22am
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jakfruit etiquette says...
Sorry that was the email address for you.
Try groups.yahoo.com/group/rarefruit-ph/
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29th January 2012 8:26am
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NeatGifts says...
Okay j e, Thanks for the link. I joined that group.

Here are some pictures of my Hass and one of my Reed. To give a good mesure of the Reed. I stand about half way up and I am about 5'6" tall. The Hass is now about half the size it was only a few months ago at about 5'.

If I am not mistaken, there are about 15 different varieties of fruit trees. I don't know how many fruit trees in all. We are still planting. Besides the Hass the other problems are bugs eating leaves and some of the bananas take turns with a common infection. We still end up with more bananas we can eat.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Picture: 2

Picture: 3

Picture: 4

Picture: 5
 
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
30th January 2012 1:52am
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amanda says...
Neat Gifts...is that your soil in pic 4 and 5..? If so..it looks awful for Avo's IMHO? What's the clay content?

(and waht happens to it in monsoonal rains?)
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amanda19
Geraldton, 400km North of Perth
30th January 2012 3:08am
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Original Post was last edited: 30th January 2012 3:10am
NeatGifts says...
Yes Amanda, it is the soil around the Hass. The best description I can give you is with a little history of the area. I planted the tree in an area that needs shade. The ground was used as a dike for fish ponds. The soil is sandy. Not knowing much about avocado trees I planted the Reed in a shady area and the Hass in direct sunlight. In the beginning it grew very quickly. The drying problem began just about two years after planting. I should also mention that the ponds were emptied shortly after planting of this tree.

The first photo is of the Reed and the next 4 of the Hass. I cut the Hass (#3) just under the rot to see if the problem could be cut away. Long shot I know but I had to do something.
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NeatGifts
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30th January 2012 4:09am
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NeatGifts says...
I should say that we had 11 mango trees surrounding the ponds. They love this soil. Our mangos are in demand. The growers tell us it is because of the sandy rocky soil.

The five years I have been traveling to this area and the past two and a half years I have lived here I have not experienced any monsoon like weather. Most days are the same as the last. Cool mornings, hot afternoons and cool (light rain many times) nights.

The typhoons hit the middle and Northern parts of the Philippines not down here in Mindanao (Davao City).
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
30th January 2012 4:21am
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amanda says...
Well..all i can suggest is that the soil looks awful to me..I would be getting major organics in to it. Have u seen any healthy avo's growing nearby? Have u had the soil tested? Have u checked out the soil they are growing in and asked the locals?

I wouldn't compare mangoes to avocados myself..? Perhaps Hass is not for your climate there?

So u have no monsoonal weather - no wet or dry season?

What bugs are eating them? Can u post a pic?

That soil doesn't really look sandy? (but I am a west aussie...lol)

What's the drainage like? Have u done a soil drainage test?
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amanda19
Geraldton, 400km North of Perth
30th January 2012 4:52am
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Kathy says...
NeatGifts:
Here's a link to problems with avocados (in New South Wales) - different problems may occur in the Philippines.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/120012/avocado-diseases.pdf

Kathy

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kathyturner
Maleny, Qld
30th January 2012 8:00am
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Brendan says...
Hi NeatGifts, don't forget avocados like lots of organic matter & mulch, but must be kept away from the trunk.

I use these plastic rings for that reason, see pic.

Btw, that's a Lamb Hass.
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Picture: 1
  
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Brendan
Mackay, Q
30th January 2012 9:28am
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BJ says...
Brendan, Quick Question: I know Lamb-Hass is a semi-dwarf and have heard that the fruit are of hass quality with better keeping life. I'd like to know what semi-dwarf is likely to mean in actual height terms? I have a spot about 3.5-4m from a brick retaining wall - do you think its likely the roots will be too dicey for that spot?
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Theposterformerlyknownas
Brisbane
30th January 2012 10:04am
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Jason says...
You can expect Lamb Hass to grow to a slightly less height than Hass and be more narrow. They say in the same orchard Hass will do 8x8 meters and Lamb Hass 7(high) x 5(wide) meters in comparison
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Jason
Portland
30th January 2012 1:11pm
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NeatGifts says...
The caterpillar shown may not be the one that was eating our tree but it looks very similar. I treated the tree and watch it more closely for insects now. I haven't seen the caterpillars in a long while now.

I agree with you Amanda. The soil does look like nothing could grow in it but so does some of soil in Southern California but there are all kinds of fruit trees everywhere not to mention avocados. Maybe like you where I come from the (Northern Illinois) the soil is very rich. It is dark and smells sweet. I can also tell you from when I was a toddler it taste good to.

In describing the area around my avocado trees, I mentioned the other fruit trees. I am not comparing avocados to mangos or other trees.

As far as the weather is concerned here, it rains just about every day. There is a dry season now and then but it usually doesn't last long. If you look at a long term forecast it seems to never change.

The soil on our lot is doesn't look so sandy but when it rains you don't see water building up on the ground except where the ponds were and it doesn't set there very long either. There are so many rocks of all sizes you can't dig with a shovel.

This tree is about 3 feet from the ground level so the water doesn't stay near the trunk of the tree.

As far as the local avocado tree on this lot. It does very well but is not a desirable fruit. It is quite tasteless. If you close your eyes while eating it, you may not know what you are eating.

As far as the local people are concerned. This is a very different culture. You can't use conventional experiences to understand the hows and whys. Filipinos are a great people in general just like everyone else in the world but just really different. One example..... When most of us see something new like a fruit we haven't seen before, we want to try it with an open mind. That isn't the way of the local Filipinos. This reaction to new things may be different in the North (Luzon) but not this part of the Philippines. Some of it has to do with Filipinos relationship with the rest of the world. Luzon is more of an international region. Mindanao isn't.

I like what Brendan did with his tree. Now if I can only save mine. Then I will use what I have learned here on this forum.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
  
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
30th January 2012 1:12pm
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amanda says...
Sounds like an interesting place NeatGifts :) Hope the avo's work out for you...(I was curious about the soil in the pics - it just looked sort of dense looking - if that makes sense)

Must admit though..some of the avos I have eaten in near parts up that way were are pretty tasteless...now I know why..(after what Mike mentioned...)
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amanda19
Geraldton, 400km North of Perth
30th January 2012 1:29pm
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NeatGifts says...
It is a very interesting place. Adjusting isn't easy at all. I am not at all excited about the soil but the weeds love it. I have to pay someone to clear the property every month if I don't spray an herbicide.
Here is a picture of the local avocado. I cut this one up for a lunch salad. It is really tasteless.
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NeatGifts
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30th January 2012 5:21pm
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Mike says...
NeatGifts Reed and Shepard grow okin Cairns and may be a chance and the hawaiins are also a chance.That caterpillar is a saturnid in the family of atlas,hercules,silkmoths and emperor gums.They can wipe out kgs' of foliage.Try the caraboa mangoes,lonkong instead of lansoneand arancillo durians as they are more to western taste.The volcanic soils of Davao region would be as rich as the 'glacial' soilsof Illinois.
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Cairns
30th January 2012 5:23pm
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NeatGifts says...
I don't know. This picture doesn't seem to want to upload. I'm trying again.
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NeatGifts
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30th January 2012 5:23pm
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NeatGifts says...
Sorry the last picture didn't upload. I'm not sure Mike if that is the exact same caterpillar in the picture that I found on our tree a few times but it just about whipped it out once. I picked 8 caterpillars off before they could eat the whole tree. That was a long time ago as I stated earlier. They have no longer been a problem.

From the pictures of the tree did you have any idea what is going on with it?

As far as the local Philippine fruits are concerned, I am not impressed with most of them. I do like the tangy Tambis variety, our own mangos and of course some of the bananas. The bananas here are great. By the time we get bananas in the US they are tasteless because they are picked and shipped green. I don't know of any Americans that like most fruits of the Philippines. Only a few are in American grocery stores and those are not often purchased. Before having our mangos I would not eat mangos. I am not saying there is something wrong with fruits of the Philippines. I believe it is what you are brought up on for the most part. Other than durians, it's all fruit.
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NeatGifts
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30th January 2012 5:53pm
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Mike says...
The hass has so little chance of survival that it may always be on life support.I can't tell what wrong with it other than 'exposure'.i have seen americans eat jackfruit,white guavas,chikus and even starfruit so they can be trained as can australians.What you grow up with shapes your taste for the rest of your life.I would prefer the sweeter plain cloured philipine mangoes to the turpsy but colourfulamerican ones.
Back to avos.They need shading for longer and loads of mulch with a bit of natural fertiliser.Shepard is the most heat tolerant of the rich creamy ones so if you can get that type it would be good.If they get phytophthera they will be hard to save but copperoxychloride can batle most other fungal diseases.
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Cairns
30th January 2012 6:17pm
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NeatGifts says...
Okay Mike, I will defer to you on the technical aspects of this but as far as the American taste in general I think that I know our taste in most things better. Some people will eat anything but in general there are some things my countrymen just won't eat. For instance, we don't like to eat anything with the finished product having eyes. nose and a mouth. Basically we don't anything with the head still attached.

It is said that within a half hour of landing here in the Philippines most Americans will be sick from eating something. After reading this warning a number of times before coming here I decided I would be very careful not to eat anything I have not seen before at least until I was here for a few days. Just so happens as quickly as my soon to be bride could, she wanted me to taste Mangosteen. I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I ate a small piece. It was like eating the worst thing you have ever eaten in your life. I was sick the rest of the day. The embarrassing part was I found out later that my underwear was given one of the family members to wash. If you know what I mean. It was my desire to try the durian because of all that I had read about it. For some reason I thought in pie form it might be okay. I almost threw up as quickly as I put a small piece in my mouth.

I don't know if you have ever watched the cable show "Bizarre Foods" but I have seen the host eat the strangest things. The only thing I have ever seen him unable to eat was durian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IvNyev0kc8

Our mango trees are the Mango Cebu. In the US I ate a lot of what they called Mexican mango or Manila mango. They are tart and sweet like ours. Some of the other fruits you mentioned we do have in American grocery stores but they are very expensive so most people just pass on them. I like starfruit and passion fruit but no one buys them for what the grocery stores want. The locals here tell me I need to learn how to eat their foods. As I enter my mid 50's I am not going to try and learn anything.

Thanks Mike for the science of my problem. I have never shied away from a challenge. We are going to do what we can for these trees. My wife suggest we try to shade the tree and I like your idea of piling on the compost. I am not sure where I am going to get natural fertilizer though. I see this guy walking his cows but I never see droppings and no one in the family seems to like this guy so I don't want to ask for any.

I appreciate the information about other varieties but I don't know how I would be able to get anything other than what is here. The locals don't seem to know there are other varieties other than the two they know of.
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
31st January 2012 12:28am
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Jason says...
I would have thought the Philippines would still have good (seeded) watermelons available.

You'll get used to the tropical flavours of Durian and Jackfruit, best way is just force yourself to eat it everyday, sooner or later you'll love it. I bet if you try and feed a local a bit of blue cheese they would throw an even bigger fit than you have over Durian :).

Why bother with Avocados if you can eat the more mild tasting lychees, rambutan, mangosteens etc. In any case I agree with what the locals are telling you, time to stop being an American and start thinking and eating like a local, your diet will be better for it. In so many things in life the American way is the wrong way imho, that's something worth learning and accepting :)

p.s. The type of Avocados grown in Florida and coastal Mexico would grow well for you but they don't taste so good either. The best Avocados grow either up high on mountains in cool (but not cold) climates or in similar Temperate sea level climates


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Jason
Portland
31st January 2012 12:58am
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Original Post was last edited: 31st January 2012 1:01am
Mike says...
NeatGifts Australian and US societies are pretty similar including foods and fruits eaten.Avocadoes would evoke disgust in people until the 60's here and they are a food inherited from the US.If you can eat papaya,tangerines,lychees and persimmons then the sweet,simple taste of mangosteen should not cause that reaction unless you ate the skin.I ate a whole durian yesterday and it wash delicious but like wine and blue cheese it is an acquired taste.Try jackfruit and you might be surprised.
In the garden,papaya,tangerines,pineapples,bananas,sugar apples,sweet potatoes,snake beans and taro can be grown and are acceptable to most palates.Back to avos they need to be well drained, the mulch 12 inches at least from the trunk and NPK fertiliser will be available in the city.Hawaii has a few companies that ship trees including avos overseas but it might be expensive but worth a look.The philipines now has the all the pine island dragonfruit types from florida and they also would be worth looking out for.
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Cairns
31st January 2012 1:25am
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NeatGifts says...
I don't agree with forcing yourself to eat foods that you don't like. At the same time I don't agree with not attempting to eat foods you are not accustom to. I always say, "try it, you might like it" but The only people I have ever head suggest going out of your way to become accustom to foods and cultural ways that you don't like or believe in are Filipinos. It may be this way because in America there is every culture and people in the world. Even though, I had never heard or seen a durian before coming to the Philippines. The stinkiest food I have ever eaten was chitlins. It smelled awful but my family from the South made it look so delicious I had to try it despite the smell. Well, the smell may not have been as bad as the taste not to mention the thought of eating intestines of a pigs and seeing the way it is processed before cooking.

I have and still introduce foods American's are accustom to, to family members here in the Philippines. Most they like. Some just doesn't make any since to them but only a few have disgusted by anything I have given them. The reaction I got from blue cheese was, it is a little bitter but good. I think it depends on what you do with things like blue cheese.

Exotic fruits do not do well in the US. None of them. Americans eat pear, apples, melons, peaches, plums, persimmons, avocado, oranges, grapes, grapefruit, mango, tomatoes, bananas, pineapple. berries, keewee, pomegranate and figs. I believe I have named just about all of the fruits we generally eat. There are a few exotic fruits like starfruit and passion fruits that we eat rarely but it the main group I mentioned are expensive enough. The exotic fruits are really expensive. You will not find durian in American mainstream grocery stores. You have to find a small Asian store for frozen durian and mangosteen. I have not see any jackfruit, chickus, lansonies or any fruits like those anywhere and I have been all over the US.

There are always exceptions to every rule. I have known some American's that eat things that most people won't eat. I knew a guy that told me that if it moves he will eat it. That is not me. I will eat most any vegetable but I won't eat every kind of meat or fruit. At my age I have been able to observe this to be the general custom of most Americans of all back grounds.

One thing I have noticed is that people develop a preconceived view of the world and the people in it. I find this to be particularly so in regards to Americans. It is sometimes amusing when I hear people telling me what Americans like and dislike and they have never been to America.

Please don't take the Americans choices of fruits and the fruits we reject in any way to put down what those like in their country. It is also in no way a rejection of Filipinos and what Filipinos eat. If you exchange the people the result is still the same. We like (people) what we are accustom to for the most part. Some things we both may like the first time we eat them that come from the others culture or country but I don't agree with the notion that you must eat what the people eat where you live. "When in Rome..." just doesn't work for me.

Well, I could go on for a long while on that subject (I just did didn't I?) but to the matter at hand. I called my brother in law over today to ask him to build something to protect the Hass. He is very creative. He makes native hand bags and other such gift items. He also does most of the handy work we need. His suggestion was to put 4 post around the tree. Then he will attach some tree limbs around that and put coconut leaves over the tree. This way we can control the amount of sun light that reaches the tree. We will also do many of the other suggestions here in this forum.
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NeatGifts
Davao City, Philippines
31st January 2012 5:32pm
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Mike says...
The fruits you mention are the same ones predominantly eaten in Australia.I agree you should not force yourself to eat fruit you find offensive but mild sweet fruit are worth a try.Allyou need for avo shade is 4 posts and cloth or hessian wrapped around or even as you suggest palm leaves over the top especially in the April toJuly period.
Americans are perhaps a bit more intraspective and less world savvy than is typical of western countries.Maybe this is a product of being a 'superpower'.
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Cairns
31st January 2012 9:53pm
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NeatGifts says...
Here is a picture of what my brother in law did yesterday. If it isn't enough I may get some black screening to put around the sides. Hope this picture uploads.

I agree with you Mike that Americans are less world savvy then a few other westernized countries in many areas of life and we are okay with that. I do believe this is by design. America's and American's view of ourselves is built around our constitution and our rich Christian history. We take the "First Amendment" as God given. It has flaws and problems but I believe most Americans will fight to the death to protect those core beliefs from anyone, government or individuals. Without going into a lot of detail, what that means for the most part is we are very protective of who we are and the dream America sets for itself and its people. It's all about "us" and the our place and importance in the world.

Regardless of if this is wrong thinking or not it is what it is and America as a nation is not only the most powerful country in the world it has been that way longer than any other country in world history. We have many problems but I will take that history over anyone else's any time. In general most American's don't travel. Most don't leave their home town. Some of us just have to see what the world has to offer. That's why I am here but the more I travel the more I can appreciate where I come from.

I'm not sure what you mean by "mild" fruit. In trying to speak for American's in general I don't think it is about the mildness or sweetness of a fruit. I believe it is more on the texture, smell and how the fruit looks. As an example, as I stated earlier, American's in general unlike (it seems) most of the rest of the world... won't eat any animals with the head still on it when it is served at the dinner table.
I have found that my own personal taste is a little different from many of our people. Even though we like the same fruits for the most part, I prefer them to be tangier. I love sour but sweet fruits. I don't like just sweet with no tang. That is why I don't like things like apple mango or very ripe fruits. I don't know of any fruits in the super market that is gooey, sticky, slimy or any other ...ie. The down side for us because of this attitude has become the cause of our fruits not having any taste. Americans don't want to see fruits with blemishes of any kind. So the growers pick the fruits and vegetables young,(green) before any spots or anything else happens to them while growing. You have to hunt for organic produce grown locally to get tasteful food. Ever eaten a strawberry that has no taste? Or tomatoes that have no taste? I venture to suggest that if we were into durian, in a short time ours probably wouldn't have a smell or taste.
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1st February 2012 9:43am
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scanman58 says...
I don't know if you get notifications regarding this thread still but I am very interested to hear what ever became of your Haas experiment. I too love these wonderful fruit and would love to be able to grow them or at least buy them. I ate them daily in the U.S. for 2 decades and they are by far my favorite fruit. I love the bananas, pineapple and mangoes here but those are all sweet fruits. Haas avacado is just very unique in flavor and also health benefits. My father and Grandfather spent much of their lives in southern california and knew several members of the Haas family and know a lot of the history behind the fruit. Anyway my Dad tells me that the best way to get haas to acheive what we want is to get grafts from fruit bearing haas trees and graft them on to a local variety here in the philippines due the the local varieties being acclimated to the conditions here. The fruit bore from the grafted part of the tree would be Haas avacado and the rest of the tree would be the original species. We can then take the seeds from the fruit from the grafted part and plant those to get haas trees. They would still not be likely to produce fruit (I think?) but we could then graft from the original tree we grafted to, then would have a tree that grows nothing but haas variety. that would give us another tree to graft from. I am by no means an expert and would love to learn more about if this is a viable way to go or not from those with more expertise. The obvious hurdle would be getting the grafts from the USA to the philippines. I think this could be accomplished by bringing them in checked baggage. It would make sense to check with the department of agriculture first but of course the customs check in Manila is pretty lax so if you have a balikbayan size box as one of your checked bags you could probably walk right through without concern. Since this is not an invasive type of species though it might be pretty easy to get clearance from the Dept of agriculture. ..I am confident the grafts would survive a flight from california (where my family lives and where I'm sure I could get grafts) if they were wrapped in some damp material and then plastic and with some temperature protective insulative material to keep them from freezing in the cargo hold on the trans-pacific flight. I'm willing to try this on my next trip to California (not sure when) and would like to communicate with anyone who is interested in this idea. I am very passionate about this fruit and would love to have it as a staple food again. I plan on living the rest of my life here and I am 56 now so presumably lots of time to work on this....Steve
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scanman58
Tagbilaran
20th June 2015 12:27pm
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