Well, I prefer Bacon over Zutano, but that's my personal preference. Any reason why they have to be in containers? They will of course do much better in the ground, and depending where you are in S. Calif, as you know, for those of us in San Diego county reasonably close to the coast, we are in "avocado land". Many other areas of S. Calif. can also grow avocados very successfully in the ground. I would leave your fruit on. An avocado will drop the fruit it can't maintain. You'll get more fruit if the tree is in the ground, as well, but then, that may not be an issue for you, if your main focus is to produce Haas. Be sure your Haas is in an optimal spot. 100% sunshine, well-draining area preferably on a slope, don't disturb the roots and leave the dropped leaves as mulch (they actually require that), and a good deep watering once or twice a week, more often if your soil is well-draining and you're getting hot temps. Fertilize every 3 months with a fertilizer formulated for avocados (you'll frequently see it as citrus & avocado fertilizers, as their requirements are very similar).

Patty S.

Thanks, hoosier, for corroborating what I gathered together from different areas of the internet to do with my Hass--info I was a little insecure I was getting right or not. I'm in Redlands, CA. The tree is on a corner lot right out in the sun. I have everything but the sloped spot, but my yard is raised about 8" from the sidewalk (the whole house is on a slope). I'm going to post a question about how to prune it since it's getting a little sparse. (Unless I can post that here?) But it did flower this spring.

I need the pollinator in a pot because I don't have the room for it to go in the ground, and I'm using my back yard for a miniature orchard (it's still in infancy). I'm going to be at capacity once I get the pollinator going. Ha. ;)

If anyone doesn't mind answering, my Hass is about 7ft tall and isn't so bushy this year. One side has about a 3.5ft area on the upper half where no branches are growing (one broke off during transport home). I like the over all shape, but the branches near the trunk need more leaves and I'd like to start a branch on that empty section. I fertilized one month ago with Kellog's Organic fert for fruit trees.

Any ideas if you don't mind?

Lucky you, you can go to Lowe's and find this stuff. We have to mail order and take our chances if we want anything exotic. A couple of the mail order nurseries have claimed to have grafted dwarf avocados that will bear in pot culture in the north, but when looking at the details, they're usually some tiny graft in a one gallon or even smaller pot.