Oro Negro Avocado, Flower type B, Race unknown. Dry weight 26% oil 13-15%
Oro Negro Avocado, linked to Pine Island Nursery
Most other web pages repeat what is in the Pine island Avocado Viewer about Oro Negro. See bellow. I got my bud-wood for the top-worked trees from Mike Hunt who has the original tree in Homestead Florida and I thank him for it, he is a real gentleman. I have tasted the fruit and it is of excellent quality plus very appealing, when it ripens it turns to a shinny black almost like patent leather. I have asked other people who have tasted it and they all agree on its quality. To my question if they would pay more for an Oro Negro, the answer was yes every time. I predict that Oro Negro will be the first avocado in Florida to be marketed by cultivar name, (if productions is decent, a fact that remains to be tested) moving away from the general term "Florida Green Avocado" At this time, February 2012 I have 2 trees that were top-worked with Oro Negro and five trees I got from Pine island Nursery in 2010, they do make good trees. The top-worked trees are flowering now and I may have a good amount of fruit in 2013. I will not let them carry a lot of fruit this year.
On the issue of origination of the variety, I found a document from East Africa and they have a picture of Oro Negro in that document it is unclear if we have two separate varieties or if it is one. Here is the link to the PDF file for those who like to get deep into things. In actuality there is little know about this fruit.
say it is a cross of Monroe with a Mexican variety, could be, looks a bit like a Monroe, flowers and the fruit matures at about the same time. If that is the case it has genes from the tree mayor gene pools. On the other hand there is no anise smell to indicate Mexican genes. If you find out additional information, Please let me know.
As to cold hardiness. I heard from someone in California, that she heard from somebody, that the tree took it to 17 degrees. Not very scientific. This past December we had our yearly freeze, Temperature dropped to 29-28 for a few hours, all varieties in the grove got burned except the Oro Negro.
March 18, 2012 Out of the two top-worked trees one is not pushing flowers, only leaves. The other has very little flowers, I will doubt if it could set any fruit. The five trees I planted in May 2011 are not flowering either just flushing vegetation. This could be a juvenile issue with this avocado. We may have to wait for next season to get fruit.
March 23, 2012 Temperature is up. The tree that had some flowers seems to be developing like a second flower flush. There are a lot of flowers coming even though the first flowers that came out are almost gone. I saw some set fruit from the first flower flush, 5-6 let's see if it can hold it. The other top worked tree that had no flowers is staying that way, just like the trees planted in May 2011 there are no flowers.
Up date: June 20, 2012. This tree is taking all the advantage of the 7 year old Waldin root system, its huge. I notice that quite a bid a fruit has dropped, The tree is holding about 10-12 fruit from the second flowering. Not as much as I was anticipating, probably is using all resources to grow vegetation.
September 7, 2012. The tree that had 10-12 fruit now has about 4-5 left. I'm disappointed, on the other hand It may be a juvenile thing after top working a tree. I have see it before, Is growing a lot of vegetation. The other tree, the one that had no flowers this year ,was about 15 ft tall I pruned to about 10 ft, some times, that helps. The 5 other trees I got from Pine Island are growing slowly and only one is holding one fruit. It does not seem that we would have much to report for the next 10 months or so.
November 21, 2012. Please go to the Tropical Fruit Forum where I posted a report on the first picked fruit. Look for my post of today. In a few days I will prepare a more detail report.
On the issue of origination of the variety, I found a document from East Africa and they have a picture of Oro Negro in that document it is unclear if we have two separate varieties or if it is one. Here is the link to the PDF file for those who like to get deep into things. In actuality there is little know about this fruit.
say it is a cross of Monroe with a Mexican variety, could be, looks a bit like a Monroe, flowers and the fruit matures at about the same time. If that is the case it has genes from the tree mayor gene pools. On the other hand there is no anise smell to indicate Mexican genes. If you find out additional information, Please let me know.
As to cold hardiness. I heard from someone in California, that she heard from somebody, that the tree took it to 17 degrees. Not very scientific. This past December we had our yearly freeze, Temperature dropped to 29-28 for a few hours, all varieties in the grove got burned except the Oro Negro.
March 18, 2012 Out of the two top-worked trees one is not pushing flowers, only leaves. The other has very little flowers, I will doubt if it could set any fruit. The five trees I planted in May 2011 are not flowering either just flushing vegetation. This could be a juvenile issue with this avocado. We may have to wait for next season to get fruit.
March 23, 2012 Temperature is up. The tree that had some flowers seems to be developing like a second flower flush. There are a lot of flowers coming even though the first flowers that came out are almost gone. I saw some set fruit from the first flower flush, 5-6 let's see if it can hold it. The other top worked tree that had no flowers is staying that way, just like the trees planted in May 2011 there are no flowers.
Up date: June 20, 2012. This tree is taking all the advantage of the 7 year old Waldin root system, its huge. I notice that quite a bid a fruit has dropped, The tree is holding about 10-12 fruit from the second flowering. Not as much as I was anticipating, probably is using all resources to grow vegetation.
September 7, 2012. The tree that had 10-12 fruit now has about 4-5 left. I'm disappointed, on the other hand It may be a juvenile thing after top working a tree. I have see it before, Is growing a lot of vegetation. The other tree, the one that had no flowers this year ,was about 15 ft tall I pruned to about 10 ft, some times, that helps. The 5 other trees I got from Pine Island are growing slowly and only one is holding one fruit. It does not seem that we would have much to report for the next 10 months or so.
November 21, 2012. Please go to the Tropical Fruit Forum where I posted a report on the first picked fruit. Look for my post of today. In a few days I will prepare a more detail report.
OcNovember 29, 2012 Finally I was able to taste an Oro Negro from my tree. The fruit has a few scabs that did not affect the inside. I picked two fruits back on Nov 21. One I had to throw away due to Anthracnose wounds. In a summer where we had over 100 inches of rain this type of contamination is to be expected, specially If you do not spray. Most of my Monroes are blemished as well. We have been eating Monroes for a few days, they are great. Oro Negro is a lot creamier. Exactly as I remember a couple of years ago. The fruit a bit smaller, seed a bit bigger but great creamy taste, the skin pulled away with no effort. Should make excellent guacamole. A most in a late fruit avocado collection. The fruit in this picture was picked about 50% black it got blacker as it ripened. I was afraid to let it go 100% black and loose it to rodents or resident Peacocks.
My wife had the last word at dinner tonight."Much better than Monroe we had yesterday" and that is what counts.
December 18, 2012. My Oro Negro tree is dropping the little fruit it had. I was hoping the fruit would hang on the tree at least until January. Does not seem like is going to happen. Scab damage on the rest of the fruit is heavy. Yesterday it was brought to my attention about a similar fruit on a Monroe seedling here in South Dade. I have a fruit and seems very close to my Oro Negro. It appears this may be a frequent happening in Monroe seedlings. In summary, next year would be crucial in the evaluation process of Oro Negro. I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed at this variety so far. With the Monroes being a proven variety, covering the same period of maturity, less susceptible to disease and exceptional quality; I would be hesitant to recommend this variety at this time for So. Florida, for So. California may be a good variety since they have less rain and humidity=less scab and anthacnose also seems to be very resistance to cold temperatures. Probably next year I could gauge the production aspect of this variety better as my trees will be past the juvenile stage.
March 28, 2013: Very encouraged by what I saw today. My top worked Oro Negro Avocado tree is 15 feet tall as is setting a lot of fruit let hope it keeps it. Also there are a lot of closed flowers yet to open. It has at least two more weeks of flowering. This is its second flowering after it was top worked, usually a more reliable measure. See Pictures in the album bellow dated today.
April 14, 2013: This tree has a long flowering period it still has a lot of flowering to go. Continues to set a lot of fruit, dozens, in its second flowering after top working. Let's hope it can hold 40-50. The tree is like 20 ft tall, nice, clean and healthy.
June 21,2013: Some of the fruit is dropping saw quite a bit on the ground on the South Facing tree. The other tree inside the row has a lot less fruit which tells me this tree needs spacing and lots of son to produce.
August 4,2013: The tree continues to drop fruit. May be typical of the variety. It did the same last year. If I compare this tree with a Monroe of same size, the Monroe is holding 3 times more fruit. This year the fruit is cleaner because I have sprayed more, you can see the copper on the picture. Jury still out on this variety.
September 28, 2013: This variety continues to disappoint, the tree is not holding a lot of fruit for its size. Fruit most be close to if not a bit over a pound. This tree can support 50-100 fruit but it has about 15. One is beginning to turn black so maturity seems to be the same as Monroe. Fruit is a lot cleaner than last year. It has been sprayed regularly. So far I have not seen qualities for commercial production or even for homeowners.
October 3, 2013: A few days ago I noticed a small change of color in a couple of fruits. Turning dark. I visited the tree today and in fact I found the larger fruits starting to turn black. See today's picture. This is kind of early, and unexpected. The dust like material on the surface is copper fungicide. I would like to taste the fruit without scab damage this year.
October 7, 2013: Checked the fruit today. Continues to get black. Picked, probably too early, Let's see what it taste like. All these late varieties seem early this year. The fruit is 22 oz, around the same size fruit that I picked last year around mid November.
October 20, 2013: The fruit picked in October 7, is now ready. This year the Oro Negro looks a lot better and cleaner, no scab damage.
November 14, 2014: Fruit is beginning to get completely dark in the tree. The tree looks beautiful, the cleanest tree in the grove. Is has about 20-25 fruits. Very little for a tree this size. A lot more than last year. The fruit seems smaller than last year, but I did fertilize less in this section. Definitely a Thanksgiving avocado. See today's pictures.
November 22, 2013: Started testing for oil content in Oro Negro Avocado. Picked on November 21, 2013 at 19.2 oz and tested next day, this fruit was allowed to turn black in the tree almost 90-95 % Two samples were done and the average dry weight was an incredible 26% This translates to 11-13% oil. This is the mid season range of a Hass.
December 1, 2013: The tree has 20-30 fruits. They are hard to see because of the heavy Oro Negro vegetation. The fruit is now turning black. Some are 40-60% and going fast. I think Oro Negro can be picked starting Mid November and probably to Christmas. Last year the tree dropped most of the fruit after mid December.
December 16, 2013: Fruit is beginning to drop. It seems that as soon as the fruit gets 90-100% black it drops so you need to be alert. Also this year the fruit seems to have a shell like skin which makes it hard to predict when they are ready to eat. if you let it get too soft it would be way over ripe. This is a bit better than last year that fruit was dropping by mid December. This year the tree got less fertilizer and seem like it can hold the fruit a bit longer. None the less this tree is huge and will need pruning soon.
December 22, 2013: Heard from a fiend in Texas and says his Oro Negro fruit is beginning to turn black. It seems that the range of mid November to the the first days of January are a good picking range for this fruit.
December 28, 2013: Oro Negro deserves a bit more coverage during the season, as we are finding out new information. The fruit holding in the tree is not dropping in mass. It is typical for any tree to drop fruit. The fruit in the tree now is 80-90% black, they can be picked like that and they finish darkening. It takes several days after picking to get the fruit ripe, 7-9 days. A good quality in a fruit. I have picked some recently in the 24-25 oz. range. I will do another dry weight test soon to see if the fruit improves within the season. The picking period seem to be longer than anticipated. I picked the first fruit in October 7 and no doubt it will have fruit next week and may be longer, Three full months of good tasting avocados. I do agree some people may object to the extreme creaminess of Oro Negro and would probably prefer Monroe. Some friends beg for Oro Negro, others for Monroe. A friend near San Antonio, Texas reports the his Oro Negro has began to turn black in the middle of December. So conceivable it could be a January February fruit in Texas.
February 27, 2014: This is really a nice looking tree, beautiful vegetation. The tree flowering process moved very quickly probably reacting to high day temperatures. It will have open flowers in a few days, flowering a bit uneven but that provides for a long flowerings season. I hope this second fruiting season will give us a better idea about production. So far my impression is that the tree for its size produces about 25% of a Monroe of similar size. That will make it a curiosity for non-commercial production.
April 17, 2014: The Oro Negro seems to be setting less fruit than last year. On the other hand the Monroe is setting a lot of fruit. I keep asking myself why would any one want an ON if you can cover the period with Monroe?
May 24, 2014: Another negative for this variety is that looks like a clear alternate bearer. My larger tree, Starting from not a very productive year 2013, this year the tree has very little fruit. The smaller tree that is 2013 had only 4 fruit seems to have more this year. Also there is a juvenile period on smaller grafted trees, the 3 gallon trees planted in 2010, have not set any fruit, I heard from other people they experience the same thing.. With my experience with the variety, I don't see why anyone would want to grow this instead of a Monroe.
July 4, 2014: Seems like my larger tree is holding more fruit than I thought. Nothing like a Monroe but may be 40-50 % of what a Monroe same size would carry. The foliage of this tree tends to hide the fruit.
October 14, 2014: It is in fact holding a lot of fruit. This is the first year this tree is carrying to its fullest potential. The tree hides the fruit well in its think foliage. the fruit looks very clean as well. Drier summer and regular sprays. We can be six weeks to see the first ON beginning to turn black.
October 21, 2014: The fruit is smaller this year, probably due to less rain we had this summer. Some fruit is beginning to get dark, I think a bit earlier than last year. I pull two fruit to see how they ripen.
December 12, 2014. No doubt this fruit came this year a bit early but it seems to be taking its time turning completely dark in the tree. The quality is very good and creamy. Some of the earlier picked fruit did not ripen evenly but now they are, Some fruit have mark that appeared to be insect bites from when the fruit was smaller creating an unevenest on the skin. does not seem to affect the inside. NO scab this year since the tree is located in the late variety section and we had a good spray program this year. Like I predicted early on, this fruit is already selling by name at some locations.
April 2, 2015: Oro Negro Avocado is in full bloom right now.
April 7. 2015. Check the blog for Oro Negro questions
August 10, 2015: My Oro Negro tree is a full adult tree I did set fruit, If I had to estimate the amount of fruit set I would have to say its about 1/2 of my Monroe's trees. A well developed Monroe is just as good or better then Oro Negro, same maturity period etc. The fruit has a different color in and out. May be a couple of percent more oil, but in my opinion the Monroes has a better taste. If you have space, and like the novelty or have an acquired taste for the Oro Negro, by all means grow a tree.
September 24, 2015: I spent some time around the Oro Negro today. I took a photo next to my pick up to show the tree size. Also pictures of the fruit on the tree. I have said in the post of August 10 that I thought fruit set was 1/2 of the Monroe but it is more like 1/3. The fruit is clean this year probably because of the spray program. Recent rains and heat has the fruit very large for this time of the year, In all probability the will start turning dark earlier.
October 23, 2015: Oro Negro is beginning to turn black on the tree. No fruit drop. All the trees are doing so. To my surprise so is the Kahaluu, this trees and fruit look identical. I have to deal with the reality that I may not have a Kahaluu or they are one in the same.
December 12, 2015. The Oro Negro trees are holding the fruit well and the turning black process seems slow. Very little fruit drop. People who love creamy avocados Catalina style and taste love this, friends continue to say is the best I grow. The other group that likes lighter avocados say Don Carlitos is the best.
December 19, 2015: No doubt Oro Negro is having a great year. Decent production, good quality, holding quite a bit of fruit late. With the rain and hot temperatures we have been having the fruit is getting bigger while darkening. We had so much water that this is the first time I see skin breakage while on the tree. See today's picture.
January 19, 2016. Most fruit is off, there are still some, not a lot.
October 30, 2016: I have neglected to report on this tree this year. Seems like my larger ON produced about 40% of the Monroe trees, still decent for a home environment. Fruit is clean but seems a lot smaller than last year.the fruit started to turn black in Mid October and earlier. Earlier than last year. The size I can understand since the OR is in my late fruit section and I have basically cut all nitrogen for the last 12 months to see If I can hold the fruit longer on the tree. Seems to be working with Monroe and Buck not sure about ON
21 Oz + Oro Negro Avocado fruit
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Oro Negro Avocado Fruit
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Oro Negro Avocado Fruit
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