Overview

Embark on the rewarding journey of growing your own fruit with a bacon avocado tree. This particular offering is a vigorous, 1-foot tall, grafted live plant, ready to thrive in your home garden. The Bacon avocado, scientifically known as Persea americana ‘Bacon’, is a popular choice among home growers due to its excellent flavor, medium size, and relatively cold-hardy nature compared to other avocado varieties. Grafting ensures that your tree will produce fruit true to the Bacon variety and often much sooner than a tree grown from seed. Known for its smooth, green skin and creamy, buttery flesh, the Bacon avocado is a versatile fruit, perfect for salads, guacamole, or simply enjoyed on its own. This grafted avocado plant is an excellent addition for anyone looking to enjoy fresh, homegrown avocados.

The Bacon avocado is a Type B avocado, meaning it has a specific flowering pattern that pairs well with Type A varieties for optimal pollination and fruit set, though it is also known to be partially self-pollinating. Its upright growth habit makes it suitable for various garden sizes or even as an indoor avocado tree in a large container. With proper care, this young tree will mature into a productive fruit-bearing specimen, providing you with a bounty of delicious and nutritious avocados for years to come. Growing an indoor avocado tree allows enthusiasts in cooler climates to enjoy this tropical fruit.

Key Benefits

Choosing a Bacon avocado tree for your garden or indoor space brings a multitude of advantages, from the delicious fruit it produces to its suitability for various growing conditions.

• Delicious Homegrown Fruit: Enjoy the rich, creamy flavor of your own fresh Bacon avocados. This variety is celebrated for its excellent taste and smooth texture, making it a favorite for culinary uses.
• Grafted for Faster Fruiting: As a grafted avocado plant, this tree is genetically identical to its parent, guaranteeing true-to-type fruit and significantly reducing the time until it starts bearing avocados compared to seed-grown plants.
• Relative Cold Hardiness: The Bacon avocado is known for its improved tolerance to colder temperatures, making it a great choice for areas with occasional light frosts. This makes it a prime candidate for those interested in a cold hardy avocado.
• Versatile Growing Options: This tree can be grown outdoors in appropriate climates (USDA zones 8-11) or successfully cultivated indoors in a large pot, allowing gardeners in diverse regions to enjoy fresh avocados.
• Medium-Sized Fruit: Bacon avocados are a convenient medium size, making them perfect for single servings or small families, and easy to incorporate into various dishes.
• Attractive Foliage: Beyond its fruit, the bacon avocado tree features attractive, glossy green leaves, adding an ornamental touch to your landscape or indoor plant collection.
• Rewarding Gardening Experience: There’s immense satisfaction in nurturing a fruit tree from a young plant to a productive mature specimen, providing fresh, organic produce right from your home.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Caring for your bacon avocado tree requires attention to several key factors to ensure its health and productivity. Sunlight is crucial; avocado trees thrive in full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. If growing indoors, place your tree near a bright, south-facing window or supplement with a grow light to provide adequate illumination. Lack of sufficient light can lead to leggy growth and reduced fruit production. When considering growing avocado at home, light is paramount.

Watering should be consistent but careful. Avocado trees prefer consistently moist soil, but they are highly susceptible to root rot if overwatered. Allow the top 1-2 inches of soil to dry out before watering again. Ensure your pot has excellent drainage if growing in a container. For outdoor trees, deep watering once or twice a week during dry periods is usually sufficient. The ideal soil for a grafted avocado plant is well-draining, slightly acidic to neutral (pH 6.0-7.0), and rich in organic matter. A good quality potting mix designed for citrus or fruit trees works well for container-grown plants. Fertilize regularly during the growing season (spring through fall) with a balanced fertilizer formulated for citrus or avocado trees, following the product’s instructions. A young indoor avocado tree will benefit from a slower release fertilizer.

Protect your young cold hardy avocado tree from strong winds and frost, especially during its first few years. While Bacon avocados are more cold-tolerant than some varieties, temperatures below 28°F (-2°C) can still cause damage. If a frost is expected, cover outdoor trees with a blanket or move potted indoor trees to a sheltered location. Pruning is generally minimal, focused on removing dead or diseased branches and shaping the tree for good air circulation and light penetration. Watch out for common pests like mites, scale, and mealybugs, and treat promptly with appropriate organic or chemical controls.

Size & Details

This offering is for a healthy bacon avocado tree, approximately 1 foot tall from the base of the soil to the tip of the highest branch. It is a grafted tree, which means it will bear fruit sooner and more reliably than a seedling. The tree is shipped in a plastic bag or appropriate nursery container to protect its root system during transit, ensuring it arrives ready for planting. While it is currently 1 foot tall, with proper care, this tree can grow to a mature height of 15-20 feet if planted outdoors, though it can be maintained at a smaller, more manageable size through pruning, especially when growing avocado at home in a container. Expected time to first fruiting is typically 3-5 years for a grafted tree, depending on growing conditions.

The Bacon avocado is a medium-sized fruit, usually weighing between 6-12 ounces. It has a smooth, thin green skin that remains green when ripe, distinguishing it from varieties like Hass. The flesh is pale yellow-green, with a rich, creamy texture and a mild, nutty flavor. This variety is known for its relatively small seed, leaving more delicious pulp to enjoy. The tree has a moderate growth rate and an upright, spreading canopy.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this bacon avocado tree get? A: This grafted tree is currently 1 foot tall. If planted outdoors, it can reach a mature height of 15-20 feet, but it can be kept smaller with regular pruning, especially when grown in a container as an indoor avocado tree.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: The Bacon avocado tree is suitable for outdoor planting in USDA Zones 8-11. In colder climates, it can be successfully grown indoors in a large pot, moved outdoors during warm months, and brought back inside before frost.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: Your grafted avocado plant requires at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day to thrive and produce fruit. If growing indoors, a bright, south-facing window or supplemental grow light is essential.
• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: Your bacon avocado tree will be carefully packaged and shipped in a plastic bag or nursery container with its root ball protected, ensuring it arrives healthy and ready for planting.
• Q: How often should I water my bacon avocado tree? A: Water thoroughly when the top 1-2 inches of soil feel dry to the touch. Ensure good drainage to prevent root rot. Consistency is key, especially for a young cold hardy avocado.
• Q: When can I expect fruit from this tree? A: Since this is a grafted tree, you can typically expect it to start producing fruit within 3-5 years, much faster than an avocado grown from seed. Patience is a virtue when growing avocado at home.
• Q: What kind of soil does it prefer? A: Bacon avocado trees prefer well-draining, slightly acidic to neutral soil (pH 6.0-7.0) rich in organic matter. A good quality potting mix for fruit trees is recommended for container growing.
• Q: Is the Bacon avocado variety truly cold hardy? A: The Bacon avocado is considered a relatively cold hardy avocado variety compared to others, tolerating temperatures down to about 28°F (-2°C) for short periods. However, protection from severe frost is still recommended for young trees.
• Q: Can I prune this tree to keep it small? A: Yes, you can prune your bacon avocado tree to manage its size, especially if you’re growing it in a container. Pruning also helps shape the tree and encourages better air circulation.
• Q: What’s the best time to plant this tree? A: For outdoor planting, spring or early summer is ideal, allowing the tree to establish before cooler weather. Indoor planting can be done year-round.