Rootey Tootey - Citrus Fruitey!!!

Grower and the Public are invited to see, taste and hear about the citrus fruits and trees that make an industry and an iconic fruit in this State.  There are two separate days, One for Growers and One for the general Public.  Note the two different days and Pick your  special day.

 

Citrus Growers - Current and Future

Date: December 14, 2018

Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Contact: Jasmin Del Toro: 559-592-2408 ext 1151

Sponsor: Lindcove Research and Extension Center

Location: Lindcove Research and Extension Center

Event Details

Citrus growers and other Ag professionals are invited to attend the Citrus Fruit Display and Tasting on Dec 14, 2018. You can discuss new low seeded citrus varieties with Dr. Mikeal Roose and ask UC advisors Craig Kallsen and Greg Douhan your citrus questions. In addition to taste-testing fruit, there will be a walking tour at 10:00 AM starting with a presentation of the Citrus Clonal Protection Program by Dr. Georgios Vidalakis, continuing on to the demonstration orchard with Dr. Tracy Kahn who will discuss varieties and a tour of the new lemon variety trial by Dr. Roose.

Directions: Take Highway198 east to Mehrten Drive (approximately 15 miles) and follow the signs to our Event. The University of California, Lindcove Research and Extension Center is located at 22963 Carson Avenue, Exeter, CA.The Conference Center is located at the end of Carson Avenue on the right. If you have any questions please contact Jasmin Del Toro at 559-592-2408  ext 1151 or jzdeltoro@ucanr.edu

 

 Grower day schedule of events 2018

 Public

Date: December 15, 2018

Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Contact: Jasmin Del Toro: 559-592-2408 ext 1151

Sponsor: Lindcove Research and Extension Center

Location: Lindcove Research and Extension Center

Event Details

The general public is invited to join us for a family friendly Citrus Tasting Event. You can see and taste more than 100 citrus varieties that are grown at Lindcove Research and Extension Center. Take a bag of fruit home for $10. Choose from Cara Caras, Navels, Mandarins, or assorted citrus from 4 bins located in front of the Conference Center. The Master Gardeners as well as UC Cooperative Extension Advisors will be happy to answer questions from home gardeners and citrus connoisseurs.

Directions: Take Highway198 east to Mehrten Drive (approximately 15 miles) and follow the signs to our Event. The University of Lindcove Research and Extension Center is located at 22963 Carson Avenue Exeter, CA. The Conference Center is located at the end of Carson Avenue. If you have any questions please contact Jasmin Del Toro at 559-592-2408 Ext 1151 or jzdeltoro@ucanr.edu

 Lindcove Fruit Display Tasting-home owners 2018

citrus cornucopia

Which Avocado Tree Is It?

Of the many known varieties, they fall into three broad categories based on whether they are of the Mexican, Guatemalan or West Indian races of Persea americana, the avocado specie and the crosses that occur between these races. For example, ‘Hass' has the thick skin of the Guatemalan but turns black like a Mexican. Generally speaking, California varieties have been the result of crossing between the Mexican and Guatemalan races. West Indian race varieties are not common here because of their generally lower cold tolerance. There are lots of factors approaching the identification of an avocado and its origins, and here is a brief run down on those that need to be considered.

Grafted?

Is it a grafted tree, or is it a known variety with known characteristics which the tree can be compared to? Look for the change in bark texture at the base of the tree where the graft was made.

Leaf characteristics

When you crush the leaf, does it have an anise smell (Mexican) or not?

Is the leaf edger smooth (Hass) or wavy (Zutano)?

Is the color of the new leaves red and turn green (Mexican) or are green (Guatemalan)?

Canopy shape

Is it columnar (Bacon, Reed) or umbrella (Hass)?

Is the mature tree big (Hass) or under 20 feet in height (Holiday, Littlecado, Gwen)?

Fruit

Is the fruit round (Nabal), pear shaped (Fuerte), thin necked (Pinkerton) or broad shouldered (Lamb-Hass)

Is it thick skinned (Guatemalan) or thin skinned (Mexican)?

Is it green when ripe (Guatemalan) or black (Mexican)?

Is it big (more than 16 ounces; Daily 11 is 5 pounds) or small (Mexicola is 5 ounces)?

When is fruit maturity; winter, spring, summer or fall?

The combination of all these factors go into describing a variety and distinguishes it from other varieties. When varieties have mixed parentage, they will take on those characteristics of each parent, so often the lines of either Mexican or Guatemalan get blurred.

avocado varieites

Where to Look for Infornation about Avocado Varieties

There are something like 1,000 named varieties of avocado. Big, small, green, black, purple, round, pear-shaped, winter, summer, fall harvest, anise smelling leaves, all kinds of distinguishing features. A homeowner once called to ask about the ‘San Marcos' variety of avocado and we viewed images of this tree and fruit and finally figures out it was a ‘Bacon' that was planted on San Marcos Pass and had adopted the new name because they didn't know what to call the avocado tree in the backyard. So there are a lot of trees that are misnamed for known varieties.

If you want to find out the name of an unknown tree in your backyard, there is a convenient online source of information at Avocado Information at UC Riverside. There is an online list with photos of avocado varieties at:

http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/VarietyFrame.html#Anchor-47857

And a variety database you can use to search by name at:

http://www.ucavo.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/Panorama.cgi?AvocadoDB~form~Search

There's also a list of unreleased varieties at:

http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/UnreleasedVarieties.html

One of the best sources of variety information is the CA Avocado Society Yearbook where most varieties were listed for registration. Some of the descriptions are online, but in many cases it's necessary to go to the original paperback version

http://www.avocadosource.com/CAS_Yearbooks/CAS_Yearbooks.htm

Yearbooks can be found at many UCCE offices in Southern California, UC Riverside and Davis libraries, many Southern CA public libraries and from interlibrary loan.

avocado fruit

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