{"product_id":"bacon-avocado-tree-persea-americana-bacon","title":"Bacon Avocado Tree - Persea americana Bacon","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost avocados sulk or die where winter brings frost. Bacon comes mostly from the Mexican race, the hardiest of the avocado groups, and an established tree rides through several degrees of frost that would scorch the leaves of a Hass and could kill a young Reed. That brings home grown avocados within reach in frostier parts of the Sydney basin, the lightly frosted inland districts of New South Wales, the Perth hills, and sheltered gardens in Adelaide and Melbourne.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBacon fruit is medium sized and oval, with thin, smooth, mid green skin that does not darken as it ripens, and the flesh is milder and lower in oil than Hass: pleasant in salads and on toast, but lighter and less buttery. It is an early variety, usually ready from late autumn into winter. The tree also tends to start bearing young, and as one of our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/advanced-trees\"\u003eAdvanced Trees\u003c\/a\u003e it arrives with a good part of that wait already done.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSiting it on the cool edge of avocado country\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHardy for an avocado is not the same as hardy. Give Bacon the warmest spot you have: full sun, a north facing aspect if possible, and ground where cold air drains away overnight rather than pooling. Avoid the bottom of a slope or a hollow beside a solid fence, which are the first places to frost. For its first two or three winters, cover the tree with frost cloth on clear, still nights, because young growth is far more tender than the wood of an older tree. Shelter from strong wind matters too, as avocado limbs are brittle and wind strips the flowers. Drainage is not negotiable. Phytophthora root rot thrives wherever soil stays wet, and roots left sitting in cold, waterlogged ground over winter are the first to give way, so on clay raise the planting on a wide mound and work in gypsum. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/frost-tolerant-plants-australia\"\u003efrost tolerant plants\u003c\/a\u003e covers more ways to work with a cold block.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere Bacon falls short\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBacon does not hang on the tree for long once mature; leave it too late and the fruit drops or the flesh loses quality, so pick steadily through the season and ripen fruit indoors. The tree is upright and vigorous, and left alone it gets tall, so shorten the tallest leaders each spring once the frosts have finished, never straight after the winter harvest, because the soft shoots a cut provokes are the first thing frost burns. Avocado foliage, bark, fruit skin and seed carry persin, which is toxic to birds, including pet budgies and cockatiels, as well as to horses, goats and rabbits. Keep aviaries and poultry pens clear of prunings and windfalls, and pick up dropped fruit wherever a dog might chew on the seed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eA Type B partner for a frosty garden\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBacon has Type B flowers, which open in the opposite daily rhythm to Type A varieties, so it is a useful partner for the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/hass-avocado-tree-persea-americana-hass\"\u003eHass Avocado Tree\u003c\/a\u003e in cooler districts where Hass on its own can set poorly. The \u003ca href=\"\/products\/avocado-reed-persea-americana\"\u003eReed Avocado Tree\u003c\/a\u003e is also Type A but needs a much warmer climate than Bacon does, so in a frosty garden Hass is the more sensible companion. Feed from early spring, but in a cold district stop by late summer so the last flush of growth hardens before the first frost, water deeply through flowering, and keep coarse mulch thick over the roots but pulled back from the trunk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 90L, at $599.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/when-to-plant-trees-and-shrubs-australia\"\u003ewhen to plant in Australia\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"90L","offer_id":67672132845937,"sku":null,"price":599.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/bacon-avocado-tree-persea-americana-bacon.jpg?v=1791524469","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/bacon-avocado-tree-persea-americana-bacon","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}