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When it comes to overall yield, very few avocado cultivars come close to Choquette, which stands out as a highly productive workhorse. In fact, Choquette is one of the most important commercial avocados grown in Florida.
So if you are interested in growing one of the most productive avocados in Florida, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Choquette Avocado:
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Table of Contents
- Choquette Avocado Tree Characteristics
- Choquette Avocado Flavor Profile
- Choquette Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
- Choquette Avocado History
- Choquette Avocado Tree For Sale
- Conclusion
Choquette Avocado Tree Characteristics
The Choquette Avocado Tree is a Flowering Type A Avocado. In other words, the female flowers open in the morning and male flowers in the afternoon. In order to maximize Choquette’s fruit production, the tree should be planted near a Flowering Type B Avocado with a similar fruiting season.
This includes avocado cultivars such as:
Choquette’s fruit production consistently ranges from good to heavy. However, Choquette is also known to exhibit alternate bearing tendencies, typically alternating between heavy and good yields every year.
The avocados themselves are medium to large-sized, oval fruits that usually weigh between 1.5 – 2.5 lbs. It is not uncommon for Choquette Avocados to reach sizes upwards of 3 lbs and lengths of 6+ inches. By the same token, the fruit’s substantial size also contributes to Choquette’s stellar flesh-to-seed ratio.
The Choquette Avocado is a Guatemalan X West Indian Hybrid.
Similar to other Guatemalan X West Indian Hybrids like Lula, Hall, Monroe, Kampong, Monroe, and Marcus Pumpkin, Choquette is moderately cold tolerant to temperatures as low as 25°F. This makes Choquette a great option for those in USDA Hardiness Zones 9B and above.
Finally, the Choquette Avocado Tree has a vigorous growth habit.
Choquette Avocado Flavor Profile
The Choquette Avocado’s smooth green skin is glossy and extremely easy to peel away from the fruit (with little to no sticking).
The fruit’s bright yellow flesh is firm and silky smooth, almost butter-like.
When harvested prematurely or very early in the season, Choquette will not have the medium levels of “oiliness” that the fruit is capable of developing. Instead, the fruit will have a much higher moisture content and easily fit the “watercado” stereotype that is often associated with the variety.
At its peak (when harvested in Dec/Jan), Choquette contains a mild nutty and subtly sweet flavor that is slightly reminiscent of Monroe.
That said, even when correctly harvested and perfectly ripened, I often find that Choquette is on the blander side of the flavor spectrum when compared to other varieties within its flavor class and season (i.e. compared to Lula, Hall, Monroe, Simmonds, and Marcus).
(Image Credit: Serendib Farms)
Even if one enjoys and appreciates West Indian Avocados, I believe that there are much better options (like those mentioned above). Additionally, if you have a preference towards Mexican Avocados that are much higher on the oil spectrum, I can guarantee that you will not like Choquette.
Choquette Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
Choquette Avocados are considered a mid-to-late season avocado (October – January).
Note: According to the Official Florida Picking Schedule, Choquette can technically be picked as early as September. However, I highly encourage those growing Choquette to allow the fruit to continue maturing on the tree until December/January to maximize its flavor.
Picking in September = 100% Watercado
That being said, the best time to pick Choquette Avocados are when they are mature on the tree.
From a color perspective, Choquette maintains its smooth, light green skin even when ripe. Consequently, my usual approach involves first checking if the fruit is full size and then attempting to gently remove it from the tree.
However, when in doubt, I have developed a repeatable process that has worked great for me:
- Starting Oct 30, pull a single fruit off the tree and allow it ripen for 3 – 8 days (at room temperature)
- Delicately create small indents all around the fruit using your fingers.
- If you detect a mixture of hard and soft spots, the fruit is not yet ripe.
- Conversely, uniform softness (not super soft) throughout the fruit indicates that it is ready for consumption.
- Delicately create small indents all around the fruit using your fingers.
- Taste the fruit – is the taste or consistency off ?
- If the fruit tastes great, the rest of the avocados on our tree are ready to be harvested
- If the fruit tastes sour/foul/rancid, wait 1-2 weeks, and repeat the process with another single fruit
- Fruit that are picked too early will often become black/inedible.
After confirming that the avocados on our tree are mature, we can begin developing our ‘avocado pipeline.’ This involves picking some fruit to ripen on the counter for more immediate use while also placing others in the refrigerator to be used later. By adopting this approach, we can ensure a continuous supply of ripe avocados.
Choquette Avocado History
The Choquette Avocado was first propagated by Remi Choquette Sr. in Miami, Florida, in 1929 and fruited for the first time in 1934.
Since then, Choquette has remained a popular cultivar for commercial growers, thanks to the tree’s fantastic yields and the fruit’s large size.
Choquette Avocado Tree For Sale
Having been around for close to a century due to its productivity, the Choquette Avocado is a popular and common cultivar in the nursery trade.
That said, if you are unable to find a Choquette Avocado at a local nursery, they are available for sale on FastGrowingTrees.com, which is an online nursery that provides a wide selection of tropical trees, shrubs and plants.
Not only does FastGrowingTrees ship quickly, but they also offer an optional 1 Year Warranty (which is always nice).
Conclusion
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