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When I interviewed Tom from Sleepy Lizard Farm, who has 10+ years of experience growing 300+ avocado trees, I asked him that out of all the avocados he grows, which one was his favorite.
Tom quickly and without hesitation answered, “Lula.”
And while Lula does have its drawbacks, there’s no doubt that it is one of the most flavorful and rewarding avocados that one can grow in Florida. In fact, Lula is definitely a Top 3 Avocado for me 😊
With that being said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Lula Avocado:
Table of Contents
- Lula Avocado Tree Characteristics
- Lula Avocado Flavor Profile
- Lula Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
- Lula Avocado History
- Lula Avocado Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
- Conclusion
Lula Avocado Tree Characteristics
The Lula 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 Lula’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:
Speaking of fruit production, Lula’s fruit production consistently ranges from good to heavy. That said, Lula Avocado Trees have been observed to sometimes exhibit alternate bearing patterns, producing a good/heavy crop in one year followed by a poor/fair crop in the next.
The avocados themselves are small to medium-sized pear-shaped fruits that typically weigh between 0.8 – 1.5 lbs. However, Lula’s large seed means that the fruit has a poor flesh-to-seed ratio.
The Lula Avocado is a Guatemalan X West Indian Hybrid. Similar to other Guatemalan X West Indian Hybrids such as Hall, Choquette, Kampong, Monroe, and Marcus Pumpkin, Lula is moderately cold tolerant to temperatures as low as 25°F. This makes Lula a great option for those in USDA Hardiness Zones 9B and above.
Lula Avocado Flavor Profile
Cutting into Lula Avocado’s glossy green, gritty skin will reveal a buttery yellow flesh that is remarkably rich, creamy, and dense, lacking any unwanted wateriness (surprising for a Florida Avocado). In terms of texture, Lula’s flesh is smoother than the popular Hass variety, owing to its impressive 10%-15% oil content.
When it comes to flavor, Lula offers a nutty taste akin to Hass.
However, Lula stands out with a unique sweetness similar to Day and Malama, contributing to a well-balanced fullness that is not commonly found in other avocados.
By the same token, relative to other popular varieties grown in Florida like Choquette or Brogdon, Lula definitely boasts both a superior flavor in addition to having a much higher oil content.
To be honest, my only complaint about Lula is that the poor flesh-to-seed ratio means that there is not enough to go around for everyone 😊
Lula Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
Lula Avocados are considered a mid-to-late season avocado (October – February).
With that being said, the best time to pick Lula Avocados are when they are mature on the tree. Despite their extended harvesting period, it is advisable to allow the fruit to remain on the tree for as long as possible. I have observed that Lula Avocados harvested later in the season consistently exhibit higher overall oil levels.
While determining an avocado’s maturity can be difficult and require some trial and error, I have developed a repeatable process that has worked great for me:
- Starting Oct 1, 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 another month 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.
Lula Avocado History
The Lula Avocado was initially propagated in Miami, Florida, by George Cellon in 1915. George named the fruit ‘Lula’ after his wife, Lula Cellon.
Since then, Lula has become extremely popular not only for its excellent fruit quality but also for being a rootstock that is fairly salt-tolerant. This is one of the main reasons why Lula is commercially grown in Texas.
The Lula Avocado is speculated to a seedling of Taft Avocado.
Lula Avocado Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
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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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