Catalina Avocado. A Flower
Catalina Avocado. Click to enlarge
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The treeFrom the perspective of a Cuban-American, Catalina is the standard against all other avocados are compared to. It is indeed a good tasting, creamy avocado. One thing worth mentioning is the if you can not consume the whole fruit, it can be stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours without significant deterioration of flavor, color or consistency. The flavor is a bit on the sweet side.
I have a mature tree at home. One of the peculiar things about Catalina is that the leaves are rounder than most avocado trees, so at at times it could give you the appearance of an almond tree. It is a robust and fast growing trees. I planted this tree a year after a Simmons and Monroe and the trunk is almost three times the diameter of the other two. To keep it in check I have to do serious pruning every year. The fruit matures in late summer in the 1.5 to 2 lb range. I use the seeds of the Catalina for seedlings due to the strength of the young trees..
I hear stories of Catalina trees having 1000 fruit and being very productive in Cuba. I suspect that 200 miles to the north, soil fertility and a few degrees less of temperature make the difference. The Catalina is not as productive in South Florida as it was in its place of origin. Still it is worth the time and effort to have a tree around. I have my tree next to a Monroe, B flower, and it produces a decent amount of fruit every year. Taking into consideration the heavy pruning I do from keeping the tree from overtaking every thing else in my yard is not bad. Unlike other trees that pruning makes them not flower in the pruned areas, the Catalina blooms, profusely and it sets fruit in the pruned areas.
March 31, 2012. Seems like 2012 will be a good year. My Catalina is setting a lot of fruit. I predict 200 lbs of fruit or more. Not bad for a 7 year old tree. At the risk of repeating myself, Monroe and Catalina make a good mix. Every day that passes, I'm more convinced that is not only A or B, is also variety, and another multitude of variables.
October 1, 2012. My Catalina tree had a good year. Some fruit drop but I most have harvested 75-100 fruit. The quality was good but not as good as other years. The excessive amount of rain is to blame. See pictures below. They look rounder than the picture from the Pine Island viewer but this late season fruit tends to be rounder It gets to a point that stop growing, I happen to like the flavor better of the late fruit.
February 15, 2014: The Catalina at home is in the final stage before expanding the inflorescence. I think it should be flowering in a couple of weeks. I grafted a Catalina in the grove last week. I will be removing the one at home since it grows so large every year and I need the space for potted trees.. Not sure how it would do since the Monroe is not there this year.
April 20, 2014: What I suspected, the Catalina Tree at home has set a lot less fruit this year because the Monroe tree was not next to it. This goes to show that Monroe B and Catalina A make a good pair.
June 25, 2014: Catalina hides the fruit well but I don't see a lot of fruit. May be 30-40% of the total of last year crop..
July 18, 2014: The tree is dropping a lot of the little fruit it has. It is becoming more apparent the Catalina needs pollenization and is really missing the Monroe.
March 28, 2015: The Catalina tree at home is a few days away being in full bloom. I did top worked a tree in the grove and by new year if should be producing.
August 28, 2015: The Catalina tree at home set a tremendous amount of fruit, without a pollinator. Two branches where so loaded that I had to cut them, afraid they would fall on my neighbors pool. Each branch had at least 50 avocados. This tree is holding at least 200-250 avocados. Seem like the Catalina is one of these trees that the tree as to be an adult 8+ years to produce well. My tree is now 18" in diameter at the base. I do not fertilize much.
September 22, 2015: I have at the grove two Catalina trees. One is a Catalina grafted on a Catalina seedling. I'm very curious to see the development of the tree. And I have a tree that I top worked with Catalina, This tree did set 4-6 fruit on its first year of flowering. I suspect id the amount of trees in the area and the good balance I have of A and B trees. At some point I will cut the Catalina at home as it is a huge tree for a yard.
The treeFrom the perspective of a Cuban-American, Catalina is the standard against all other avocados are compared to. It is indeed a good tasting, creamy avocado. One thing worth mentioning is the if you can not consume the whole fruit, it can be stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours without significant deterioration of flavor, color or consistency. The flavor is a bit on the sweet side.
I have a mature tree at home. One of the peculiar things about Catalina is that the leaves are rounder than most avocado trees, so at at times it could give you the appearance of an almond tree. It is a robust and fast growing trees. I planted this tree a year after a Simmons and Monroe and the trunk is almost three times the diameter of the other two. To keep it in check I have to do serious pruning every year. The fruit matures in late summer in the 1.5 to 2 lb range. I use the seeds of the Catalina for seedlings due to the strength of the young trees..
I hear stories of Catalina trees having 1000 fruit and being very productive in Cuba. I suspect that 200 miles to the north, soil fertility and a few degrees less of temperature make the difference. The Catalina is not as productive in South Florida as it was in its place of origin. Still it is worth the time and effort to have a tree around. I have my tree next to a Monroe, B flower, and it produces a decent amount of fruit every year. Taking into consideration the heavy pruning I do from keeping the tree from overtaking every thing else in my yard is not bad. Unlike other trees that pruning makes them not flower in the pruned areas, the Catalina blooms, profusely and it sets fruit in the pruned areas.
March 31, 2012. Seems like 2012 will be a good year. My Catalina is setting a lot of fruit. I predict 200 lbs of fruit or more. Not bad for a 7 year old tree. At the risk of repeating myself, Monroe and Catalina make a good mix. Every day that passes, I'm more convinced that is not only A or B, is also variety, and another multitude of variables.
October 1, 2012. My Catalina tree had a good year. Some fruit drop but I most have harvested 75-100 fruit. The quality was good but not as good as other years. The excessive amount of rain is to blame. See pictures below. They look rounder than the picture from the Pine Island viewer but this late season fruit tends to be rounder It gets to a point that stop growing, I happen to like the flavor better of the late fruit.
February 15, 2014: The Catalina at home is in the final stage before expanding the inflorescence. I think it should be flowering in a couple of weeks. I grafted a Catalina in the grove last week. I will be removing the one at home since it grows so large every year and I need the space for potted trees.. Not sure how it would do since the Monroe is not there this year.
April 20, 2014: What I suspected, the Catalina Tree at home has set a lot less fruit this year because the Monroe tree was not next to it. This goes to show that Monroe B and Catalina A make a good pair.
June 25, 2014: Catalina hides the fruit well but I don't see a lot of fruit. May be 30-40% of the total of last year crop..
July 18, 2014: The tree is dropping a lot of the little fruit it has. It is becoming more apparent the Catalina needs pollenization and is really missing the Monroe.
March 28, 2015: The Catalina tree at home is a few days away being in full bloom. I did top worked a tree in the grove and by new year if should be producing.
August 28, 2015: The Catalina tree at home set a tremendous amount of fruit, without a pollinator. Two branches where so loaded that I had to cut them, afraid they would fall on my neighbors pool. Each branch had at least 50 avocados. This tree is holding at least 200-250 avocados. Seem like the Catalina is one of these trees that the tree as to be an adult 8+ years to produce well. My tree is now 18" in diameter at the base. I do not fertilize much.
September 22, 2015: I have at the grove two Catalina trees. One is a Catalina grafted on a Catalina seedling. I'm very curious to see the development of the tree. And I have a tree that I top worked with Catalina, This tree did set 4-6 fruit on its first year of flowering. I suspect id the amount of trees in the area and the good balance I have of A and B trees. At some point I will cut the Catalina at home as it is a huge tree for a yard.
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September 7, 2020: I have not been keeping up on Catalina. The tree at home and the top worked tree in the grove both lost to the hurricane Irma in 2017. The only survivor is the Catalina on Catalina shown in the picture of September 2015. A small tree that was planted between two vigorous trees, as result growing very slowly. Finally this year set 10 fruits. To my amazement I find that the fruit taste very different from the tree at home, actually better. The tree at home produced a very oily fruit with a canistel like taste that I really did not preferred. The fruit from the grove, is much better, creamy, lighter in a way. I measure my preference to where I go to get fruit to eat at home. Every day I'm, going by this tree to take one fruit for home. Eat 1/2 with the meal and save the other 1/2 for avocado toast in the morning. Even the shape of the fruit is different. Is less round, bigger seed. That has always been my theory, the terroir imparts a lot of the fruit taste and character. My home is probably the only house in Dade County that is not on rock. I have clay soil, heavily compacted and deep. Last time we dug at 15 feet we still had clay. Probably I'm on an ancient waterhole.
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Catalina Avocado
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Catalina Avocado Leaf
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Catalina Avocado Foliage end of September. Reminds me of Guatemalan varieties like Queen with rounded leaves
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Catalina Avocado
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