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I’m not easily shocked, but let me tell you… I’m honestly SHOCKED that Kampong Avocado isn’t regularly carried in every Florida nursery, especially considering that the cultivar is over 100 years old!
The Kampong Avocado is hands-down one of the best all-around avocados to grow in Florida. Not only is this cultivar a highly productive flavor bomb, but it is also incredibly late season!
With that being said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Kampong Avocado:
Table of Contents
- Kampong Avocado Tree Characteristics
- Kampong Avocado Flavor Profile
- Kampong Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
- Kampong Avocado History
- Kampong Avocado Tree For Sale
- Conclusion
Kampong Avocado Tree Characteristics
The Kampong Avocado Tree is a Flowering Type B Avocado. In other words, the female flowers open in the afternoon and male flowers in the morning. In order to maximize Kampong’s fruit production, the tree should be planted near a Flowering Type A Avocado with a similar fruiting season.
This includes avocado cultivars such as:
However, if you don’t have additional room for a second avocado tree, don’t stress! I have observed that Kampong can set a good number of fruit without the assistance of a pollinating tree.
Kampong’s fruit production consistently ranges from good to heavy. However, it’s important to note that Kampong can exhibit alternate bearing tendencies, typically alternating between heavy and good yields every year.
Fun Fact: The alternate bearing tendency is a common characteristic of varieties with Guatemalan heritage.
In really productive years, I have seen Kampong set more fruit than what one would expect from a Monroe.
The avocados themselves are medium, oval-shaped fruits that typically weigh between 1.0 – 2.0 lbs. Kampong does have a larger seed, resulting in a decent flesh-to-seed ratio.
The Kampong Avocado is a Guatemalan X West Indian Hybrid.
Similar to other Guatemalan X West Indian Hybrids like Lula, Hall, Monroe, Choquette and Marcus Pumpkin, Kampong is moderately cold tolerant to temperatures as low as 25°F. This makes Kampong a great option for those in USDA Hardiness Zones 9B and above.
Finally, it should be noted that the Kampong Avocado Tree has a vigorous and spreading growth habit.
Kampong Avocado Flavor Profile
The Kampong Avocado’s dark green skin is easy to peel away from the fruit (with little to no sticking). I particularly appreciate Kampong’s thick skin, which helps prevent diseases from damaging the inside of the fruit.
The fruit’s bright yellow and soft flesh has a buttery and creamy texture (5 stars out of 5 stars), with enough firmness to maintain its shape, reminiscent of what one would expect to find in Catalina or Oro Negro. And for a Guatemalan X West Indian Hybrid, Kampong has a respectable amount of oil.
Between the texture and oil content alone, Kampong is pure creamy avocado goodness.
From a flavor perspective, Kampong has a distinct nuttiness that reminds me of almonds and walnuts, with occasional hints of hazelnut, very similar to Fuerte. Additionally, there is also a “canistel-like” flavor present that can also sometimes be found in cultivars like Catalina or Oro Negro.
Overall, the flavor is good to excellent and is definitely far superior to a supermarket-bought Hass. In the realm of other late-season varieties, when judging strictly on flavor, Kampong outperforms Monroe, Choquette, Lula (which I personally rate very highly), and Hall.
Kampong Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
Kampong Avocados are considered a late-season avocado (December – March).
What I truly appreciate about Kampong is not only that it’s a late-season variety, but also that it extends well into the late season. Having the ability to consistently pick delicious fruit until March is a true treat and a very unique characteristic, especially when our options at that point in the season are typically very limited.
That being said, the best time to pick Kampong Avocados are when they are mature on the tree. In terms of color changes, Kampong maintains their smooth, dark 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 Dec 1 (I personally like waiting until Jan), 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.
Kampong Avocado History
The Kampong Avocado was first propagated in Coconut Grove, Florida, in the early 1900s.
Despite its capacity for commercial-grade fruit production, Kampong never gained traction as a commercial avocado cultivar in Florida. This is partly due to its larger seed size and also because it falls outside the traditional avocado season for Florida commercial growers, which typically runs from July to December.
However, Kampong still has a place as a wonderful avocado cultivar for homeowners.
Kampong Avocado Tree For Sale
Despite its stellar flavor, Kampong Avocado is a rare cultivar not commonly found in the nursery trade.
I am honestly surprised by the lack of awareness surrounding this cultivar because it’s definitely in my top 3!
If you are interested in Kampong but unable to find one at a local nursery, your next best option is checking out Lara Farms Miami (not sponsored). They are one of the only legit places online where you are getting exactly what you are paying for.
Lara Farms has over 30 varieties of avocados available. They do ship!
Conclusion
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If you have any questions regarding anything mentioned in this grow guide, please comment them below! This way, others can also benefit from the answer to the same question. For any other questions or growing tips that you think may be helpful, feel free to use the contact form and drop me a line.
Thank you for reading! 🙂
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