Please stop spreading this falsehood, @Richard. That’s only true of the Guatemalan botanical group (“race”), and hybrids thereof. The Mexican group typically ripens in 6 to 9 months (depending on cultivar), even in marginal areas like the Sacramento Valley of northern CA. I did a pretty thorough job addressing this claim the last time you made it in a similar thread:
And Marta, who actually has experience fruiting Mexican and hybrid avocados in zone 9 in northern CA chimed in to agree:
As far as these go, I have only limited experience:
Unfortunately, “Bacon” is a Guatemalan or hybrid, and it does indeed ripen about a year after flowering. I haven’t tested a Bacon graft outside here, but out of a couple dozen Bacon seedlings I’ve tested, they have died back far sooner each winter than, for example, Duke or Mexicola Grande seedlings. So I don’t recommend Bacon based on that limited experience.
My Joey graft in the greenhouse had plenty of flowers this year, but was too small to hold any fruit. Next year it could maybe hold a few, but maybe not. So I’ve never had the fruit. I tested one graft outside in 2021/2022 winter that appeared to survive 16°F with most stems green and buds alive, but the rootstock was a Hass seedling that was killed even grafted low, so the graft died when it started budding out in spring. I didn’t test another one outside this last winter. I have a handful of Joey seedlings I started this year from a grower in Gainesville, but they won’t get tested outside in the ground until 2024/2025 winter, and that will give a better hint of whether it’s a worthy seed parent for cold hardy breeding, though not necessarily the cultivar’s own hardiness.
My Fantastic graft in the greenhouse was added this year, but is a runt and needs to be regrafted. I don’t have any further experience with it.