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November 10, 2005
Winter Gardening
Master gardener Tony Kienitz was with us this afternoon to answer listener questions about winter gardening. (And by the way, I'd love to hear what you're planting these days! I just put in some sweet peas...)
We got a note from a listener who works in the Botany & Plant Science Department at UC Riverside to correct Tony's information about "mating" avocados:
Dear Ms. Felde,
I was listening to your show on 11/10/05 and overheard Tony Kienitz
suggesting that in order to get good fruit set on a Hass avocado tree,
you would need another Hass to pollinate it. This is not entirely true.
There are 2 flower types in avocados (type A and type B) that are
distinguished by the time of day in which they open as female and (then)
male flowers.
It is generally believed that in order for optimal pollination, you need
to plant both an A and a B flower type avocado tree. Hass is an A flower
type, examples of B flower types include the infamous Bacon that you
referred to on air, as well as Zutano, Sir Prize, and Fuerte.
For more examples of A and B flower types, and much more information
regarding flowering and avocados in general, please feel free to visit
our website at: http://www.ucavo.ucr.edu/
Otherwise, I enjoyed that segment of the show immensely and may just
plant some fava beans and thyme myself.
Sincerely,
Eric Focht
Botany & Plant Science Department
University of California
Riverside, Ca. 92521
Posted by Kitty Felde at 4:21 PM
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In theory I'm planting Tulips.
Posted by: Doug on November 11, 2005 10:23 AM
