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If you’re seeking a late-season, cold-tolerant avocado with a century-long proven track record of producing A LOT of fruit, look no further than the Winter Mexican Avocado.
And while Winter Mexican has its fair share of flaws (which we’ll discuss in a bit), it also has enough desirable characteristics (as mentioned above) to still be worth considering planting a tree in some circumstances.
With that being said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Winter Mexican Avocado:
Table of Contents
- Winter Mexican Avocado Tree Characteristics
- Winter Mexican Avocado Flavor Profile
- Winter Mexican Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
- Winter Mexican Avocado History
- Winter Mexican Avocado Tree For Sale
- Conclusion
Winter Mexican Avocado Tree Characteristics
The Winter Mexican 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 Winter Mexican’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:
Speaking of fruit production, Winter Mexican’s fruit production consistently ranges from good to heavy. The avocados themselves are small to medium-sized, pear-shaped fruits that typically weigh between 0.75 – 1.2 lbs.
Despite the Winter Mexican Avocado Tree having a more vigorous growth habit, the tree does produce a proportional amount of fruit relative to the tree’s size. And while the fruit does contain a medium-sized seed, the fruit still maintains a favorable flesh-to-seed ratio.
The Winter Mexican Avocado is a Guatemalan X Mexican Hybrid. Similar to other Guatemalan X Mexican Hybrids like Wurtz, Bacon, Hass, Florida Hass, Lamb Hass, and Super Hass, Winter Mexican is highly cold tolerant and able to withstand temperatures as low as 22º F, making it one of the most cold hardy avocados available.
As a result, Winter Mexican is a great option for those who are in USDA Hardiness Zones 9A and above.
Winter Mexican Avocado Flavor Profile
Slicing into the Winter Mexican Avocado’s slightly bumpy and glossy skin will reveal pale yellow flesh. The fruit has a firm, smooth, yet very creamy texture, reminiscent of slightly softened butter that easily melts in your mouth.
As a result, Winter Mexican earns an A+ rating from a texture perspective.
The flavor of Winter Mexican is somewhat mild, with a slightly nutty and sweet taste. However, I would consider Winter Mexican’s overall oil content as “average.” Between the fruit’s mild flavor and lower oil content, I have personally been underwhelmed by the Winter Mexicans that I have sampled.
That is because one of the major selling points of owning Mexican/Mexican Hybrid avocados is their high oil content, which is inherently lacking in Winter Mexican. So while Winter Mexican may receive top marks in areas like cold hardiness, fruit production, and even fruit texture, in my opinion, the fruit falls way short in flavor relative to other avocados in the same class.
As a result, I wouldn’t personally plant a Winter Mexican.
Instead, I would much rather opt for Brogdon or Mexicola, both of which offer similar levels of cold hardiness and production but have more of those desirable “traditional” Mexican Avocado flavor characteristics.
Winter Mexican Avocado Season (And When To Pick)
Winter Mexican Avocados are considered a late-season avocado (December – January).
That said, the best time to pick Winter Mexican Avocados are when they are mature on the tree. From a color perspective, this is when the fruit has transitioned to a deep-purple, almost black, color.
Note: If you have problems with wildlife, Winter Mexican Avocados can be picked when the black color covers at least 80% of the fruit.
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 Dec 1, after 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 ready to be harvested
- If the fruit tastes sour/foul/rancid, wait a 1 – 2 weeks, 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.
Winter Mexican Avocado History
The Winter Mexican Avocado was first propagated in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1922.
Winter Mexican Avocado Tree For Sale
Due to its 100+ years of proven cold tolerance and fruit production capabilities, the Winter Mexican Avocado has become a common and popular choice among homeowners living in areas that experience occasional freezes.
As a result, they are relatively common in most garden nurseries.
With that being 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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