Avocados ~ Where To Find Them

Many people tend to think of avocados as a tropical food but, although it does like warm climates and many cultivars come from Mexico, most of our avocados in the U.S. come from Florida and (especially) California. Avocados also grown in a few other states, like Hawaii and the Southwest, such as Arizona, Texas, etc.

Mature avocados growing on the p. americana tree. Photo by avlxyz.

If you live in these areas you may be able to find an avocado grove nearby or pick them up at your local farmer's market. If you're really lucky you might have these prized fruit trees growing in your own backyard.

Not in one of these areas? Well, although they won't be "borrowed" from your neighbor's tree, you can find them for sale at almost any grocery store.

The trees require specific growing conditions (ample sunshine and well aerated, deep, saline soil) and the fruit doesn't tolerate frost very well, so they are unlikely to grow well (or at all) in areas that have cold weather, lots of cloudy days, or different soil properties. This means that most of us will have to get our avocados shipped in from other areas of the country. Although avocados are grown in the U.S. we also get imports from Mexico, Peru, and Chile.

The flavor of imported avocados are often similar to those grown in the U.S., especially Hass varieties, but shipments have farther to go and may be delayed at at customs, resulting in avocados that are near their peak of ripeness by the time they reach the store. In my experience bins of overly ripe avocados become a pretty common issue during winter months.

If you want to stay "country-local" look for California or Florida-grown varieties (or buy Hawaiian-grown avocados if that's where you live). This may be harder in the colder months, when U.S. production slows down.

Can I Grow It?
Unless you live in one of the regions mentioned above, probably not. While it's easy to sprout the seeds to start a plant indoors on a sunny windowsill, don't expect to grow your own avocados in your kitchen. The tree rarely produces fruit when kept as a houseplant.

Avocado plant grown at home from seed.
Photo by axlape.

Of course, if you've got a green thumb and you're determined you can always give it a try ~ keep it happy with a proper soil mixture, use good watering practices, plan to re-pot it frequently as it grows, and set it outside in the sunshine during the warm months. Just be aware that it takes require 4-6 years of growth to begin producing fruit and it will probably need other avocado trees nearby for adequate pollination.

Also, if you are able to coax an avocado from a tree you started from seed, it may not resemble the fruit you'd expect. Typical propagation of avocado plants usually involve growing rootstock seedlings and the use of grafting methods to ensure high quality fruit. Needless to say, this involves a bit more skill and dedication than growing a plant on your kitchen windowsill.