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What if I told you there’s a uniquely delicious avocado cultivar that produces a boatload of avocados while also boasting excellent cold tolerance?
As you might gather from this grow guide’s title, I’m, of course, talking about Mexicola Grande 😄
Not only can Mexicola Grande withstand temperatures as low as 17º F, but it also offers a uniquely delicious flavor you simply won’t find in many other avocado cultivars.
With that being said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Mexicola Grande Avocado:
Table of Contents
- Mexicola Grande Avocado Tree Characteristics
- Mexicola Grande Avocado Flavor Profile
- Mexicola Grande Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
- Mexicola Grande Avocado History
- Mexicola Grande Avocado Tree For Sale
- Conclusion
Mexicola Grande Avocado Tree Characteristics
The Mexicola Grande 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 Mexicola Grande’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:
Mexicola Grande’s fruit production consistently ranges from good to heavy.
Despite having ‘grande’ in its name, the avocados themselves are small-sized fruits that typically weigh between 0.25 and 0.75 lb. And while Mexicola Grande is a smaller avocado, the fruit can grow to be 2 – 3 times larger than the regular Mexicola Avocado.
Furthermore, despite Mexicola Grande having a medium-large seed, it boasts a fairly good flesh-to-seed ratio.
Mexicola Grande is a pure Mexican Avocado. Similar to other Mexican Avocados like Brogdon, Poncho, Lila, Mexicola, and Joey, Mexicola Grande is highly cold tolerant and able to withstand temperatures as low as 17º F, making it one of the hardiest avocados available.
By the same token, Mexicola Grande is a great option for those who are in USDA Hardiness Zones 8B and above.
Finally, the Mexicola Grande Avocado Tree has a vigorous, upright, and spreading growth habit. And because Mexicola Grande is a a Pure Mexican Avocado, it’s leaves also posses a pleasant anise aroma 😃
Mexicola Grande Avocado Flavor Profile
The Mexicola Grande Avocado features glossy black, paper-thin skin that’s edible but not ideal for scooping. Additionally, the seed’s husk tends to stick to the flesh, which can become bothersome rather quickly.
Slicing into the fruit reveals pale yellowish-green flesh that’s not very thick but has a high moisture content and contains mild amounts of fiber. However, Mexicola Grande’s oil content, ranging from 18% to 20%, contributes to a buttery texture, making it excellent for guacamole!
From a flavor perspective, Mexicola Grande tastes like a Mexicola but with some enhancements.
Specifically, it offers a slightly richer and nuttier flavor, along with more prominent sweetness and anise elements, creating a complex and delicious tasting fruit.
Despite its delicious flavor, it’s challenging to wholeheartedly recommend Mexicola Grande. In addition to the thin skin, mild fiber, and seed husk sticking to the flesh, the fruit can also sometimes suffer from uneven ripening.
However, if you can overlook these drawbacks and have a strong desire for a delicious avocado with anise-based undertones, then Mexicola Grande might be worth considering—just be prepared for what to expect!
Mexicola Grande Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
In Florida, Mexicola Grande Avocados are considered an early season avocado (July – August). However, when grown in California, Mexicola Grande’s season ranges from October – January.
Like Mexicola, Mexicola Grande Avocados tend to have a relatively short season, during which the majority of the fruit matures all at once on the tree, rather than maturing successively over several months. In other words, the fruit has very little hang time and will drop from the tree once it is fully mature.
Therefore, the best time to pick Mexicola Grande Avocados are when they are mature on the tree. From a color perspective, this is when the majority of the fruit has transitioned to a deep-purple, almost black, color.
That said, Mexicola Grande can occasionally have issues with uneven ripening when left too long on the tree.
However, this can be easily mitigated by harvesting the fruit when approximately 75% of its surface is covered in deep-purple or black coloration. This same harvesting guideline can also be applied if you have strong wildlife pressures and need to harvest the fruit sooner rather than later.
And 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:
- After the majority of the fruit has transitioned to a deep-purple color, 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 likely ready to be harvested
- If the fruit tastes sour/foul/rancid, wait another week and repeat the process with another single fruit
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.
Mexicola Grande Avocado History
The Mexicola Grande Avocado was initially propagated by the University of California.
Originally, the tree was designated by the planting name ‘3-1-1.’
However, it is now commonly known as Mexicola Grande—a name bestowed by a nursery that has stuck—due to the fruit’s resemblance to a larger Mexicola Avocado.
Mexicola Grande Avocado Tree For Sale
Fortunately, Mexicola Grande is common in the nursery trade.
That said, if you are 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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