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The Poncho Avocado (also called Pancho) checks a lot of boxes that people care about:
✅ Great Production
✅ Early Season
✅ High Cold Tolerance
However, as with any cultivar of avocado, the Poncho Avocado does have its fair share of drawbacks that one should consider prior to purchasing a tree.
With that being said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Poncho Avocado:
Table of Contents
- Poncho Avocado Tree Characteristics
- Poncho Avocado Flavor Profile
- Poncho Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
- Poncho Avocado History
- Poncho Avocado Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
- Conclusion
Poncho Avocado Tree Characteristics
The Poncho 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 Poncho’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:
Poncho’s fruit production consistently ranges from good to heavy. The avocados themselves are very small-sized, pyriform-shaped fruits that typically weigh between 0.25 and 0.5 lb. Due to the smaller fruit size and larger seed, Poncho Avocados have a terrible flesh-to-seed ratio.
Furthermore, Poncho is a pure Mexican Avocado. Similar to other Mexican Avocados like Joey, Lila, Brogdon, Mexicola, and Mexicola Grande, Poncho is highly cold tolerant and able to withstand temperatures as low as 15º F, making it one of the hardiest avocados available.
By the same token, Poncho is a great option for those who are in USDA Hardiness Zones 8B and above.
Finally, the Poncho Avocado Tree has a vigorous and upright growth habit.
The canopy itself is also comprised of dark green leaves that have a pleasant anise smell to them 😀
Poncho Avocado Flavor Profile
The Poncho Avocado has smooth, bright green, and thin skin that when peeled away will reveal a pale yellow flesh that has a smooth and mildly creamy texture. While the oil content is not as high as one would expect to find from a Mexicola or a Brogdon, it is still decently good enough to make guacamole out of.
From a flavor perspective, when evenly ripened, Poncho has a strong “avocado flavor” with both a mild nuttiness and a slight sweetness that compliments the overall flavor. Relative to other avocados that I’ve sampled, I would say that the flavor is closest to either Fantastic or Lila.
And while there is nothing inherently wrong with Poncho, I personally wouldn’t go out of my way to seek out the fruit or to plant a tree.
That is because Poncho simply doesn’t match my avocado flavor preferences (I like more nuttiness, more creaminess, etc.). However, it’s important to remember that everybody has different taste buds and that Poncho may taste like the best avocado in the world to you!
Poncho Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
Poncho Avocados are considered an early season avocado (June – August).
However, if possible, it’s best to wait and harvest the fruit closer to July. This is because harvesting Ponchos earlier in the season can result in the fruit having problems with uneven ripening.
Additionally, we should avoid harvesting Ponchos too late in the season due to the fruit’s sensitivity to high temperatures, which can result in circular cracks developing on the bottom of the fruit.
Translation: Poncho Avocado can be a real drama queen 😀
That said, the best time to pick Poncho Avocados are when they are mature on the tree.
From a color perspective, Poncho changes very little during the maturation process; the fruit will remain a light green and can sometimes develop a very light red blush as well. As a result, I usually check if the fruit is 1) full size and then 2) see if I can gently remove the fruit from the tree.
If both of those conditions are true (along with the fruit being in season), then Poncho should be ready to harvest!
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:
- Starting June 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 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.
Poncho Avocado History
Unfortunately, there is very little to no information regarding Poncho Avocado’s origin.
However, we do know that Poncho originated from Texas and also goes by the name “Pancho.”
Poncho 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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