Are we headed for the 500 baht avocado? Adios to green bliss ...

[TheCruncher]

Looks like the best way to eat avocados in Thailand is to fly to California, buy a few Hass avocados (superior in taste and flavor to the giant green ones), bring the seeds back, plant them in wet soil or suspend in water using toothpicks and a couple months later, got seedlings.

It doesn't take a genius to grow a tree in a warm climate with almost unlimited rainfall, yet...

555

You do know that most of Thailand is in a severe drought don't you? And many areas of Thailand are not lush green tropical forests but harsh dry scrub land plateau like Issa.

California has experienced a more severe drought in 2015 than Thailand, 555

The solution to drought is something called "irrigation".

Either cached rainwater or underground, you know--something called a "well"?

May be the above mentioned is one of the reasons why avocados are so expensive this year.

[sirineou]

121 replies concerning the price of avocados ! I did not realize avocados were that important to people,

as far as I know JT has two threads ruining, one is about the high price of avocados in Thailand and the other is about going back to the states on the cheap.

I wonder if the two threads are not related

[OMGImInPattaya]

Looks like the best way to eat avocados in Thailand is to fly to California, buy a few Hass avocados (superior in taste and flavor to the giant green ones), bring the seeds back, plant them in wet soil or suspend in water using toothpicks and a couple months later, got seedlings.

It doesn't take a genius to grow a tree in a warm climate with almost unlimited rainfall, yet...

555

You do know that most of Thailand is in a severe drought don't you? And many areas of Thailand are not lush green tropical forests but harsh dry scrub land plateau like Issa.

California has experienced a more severe drought in 2015 than Thailand, 555

The solution to drought is something called "irrigation".

Either cached rainwater or underground, you know--something called a "well"?

Of course...but Thailand doesn't have a Central Valley Projject to make its desert bloom. So it's actually not a very good place, for the most part, to grow avocados at scale (as you suggested).

[Pacificperson]

Plan B:

[Pacificperson]

Got it "Egg Fruit" or " Yellow Sapote " or " Canistel "

And the Taste is wonderful A bit like a Roast Pumpkin that is very sweet

With 5 seeds we will have 5 Trees

They are horrible. Why anyone would want to eat a fruit that tastes like egg yokes is beyond my comprehension.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Plan B:

No really a problem...imported aussie cados are available most of the year for 69-89 baht a piece. During the Thai season, 3-4 piece bags of local ones are 99 baht. I use them in salads and for toppings to my Mexican dishes...not as a main ingredient or for dip so don't need to buy more than one or two at a time.

Also, I just recently discovered that a friend of mine in Issan who has a small farm grow avocados. She has about a dozen or so trees (one gives 400 kilos a season) and she has promised to send me a crate at harvest time (June/July). ?

[seeker108]

Just a quick note on avoado prices in the states. I just came back from 1+ years and was in both California and small town Georgia. Not US avocado season most of the time I was there and so most were imported from Mexico or points farther south. The most I paid was about 35 baht for very nice Haas type avocados but almost never paid that much. Usually I paid between 12 and 18 baht for single avocados at your typical slightly more upscale chain grocery stores like Kroger or Ralph's. But mostly I was able to buy them when the stores had an abundance of avos that were getting right to the perfect ripe point and was paying as little as 35 or 36 per bag of 6 avos. That means 6 baht per avocado (as recently as 2 weeks ago). These were not your biggest avos, nor the smallest - a bit less than the size of my fairly large fist. So I am not quite sure where the idea of 200 baht avos in the states came from. Single organic avos were about 50% more but I would often get the bags with organic in them at the same 35 baht price but only 5 of them since they were a bit bigger. BTW, my most recent understanding of avos is that you need not necessarily buy organic as no one sprays because they are naturally resistant to pests. Waste of money for the farmer to buy the chemicals.

I am about to head out on a search for good avos here in Chiang Mai starting with the big local fruit markets. If anyone can tell me where to find the best avos that most resemble Haas I would greatly appreciate a PM about this. Or if any of you Chiang Mai folks are growing them I would love to buy yours on a wholesale scale basis when you have them. I am always making lots of avocado/coconut smoothies for myself and family and friends.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Central have 3 advocados for 99 baht most of the time.

[Jingthing]

Central have 3 advocados for 99 baht most of the time.

Not true. Not most of the time. Not now.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Central have 3 advocados for 99 baht most of the time.

Au contraire...sometimes...and up to 6 if theyre local ones. Today at Big C Extra (Pattya) they were 89 baht a piece. Foodland has them for 79 baht.

[Jingthing]

Seasonal.

[watcharacters]

 

That is good news for me
We have some land in Isaan
I was hoping to grow them on the Rice paddy Humps
I have 20 odd seedlings ready to plant next rainy season
Then I was planning to irrigate from a pond during the dry season

But I have also found they are Toxic to cows if they eat to much of the Plant leaves or fruits and will kill them
So I'm not sure what the go is now

Advos are toxic to all animals, except humans.

That's a good thing. You can breed out the individuals too stupid to eat too much of them.

Most smart animals might eat them once and get sick. And never eat them again.

555

 



My dog loved the ones that dropped from our neighbors over hanging tree. Woe be to anyone who tried to take one away from him.

Edited February 7, 2016 by watcharacters

[ExpatOilWorker]

Central have 3 advocados for 99 baht most of the time.

Not true. Not most of the time. Not now.

I must bow in the dust, it is no longer 99 baht, but a whopping 109 baht, but is it RIGHT now!

[Jingthing]

Not at the Pattaya Central Food Hall for well over a month now.

Also those are Thai cados. Sometimes OK. Often crap and inedible.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Not at the Pattaya Central Food Hall for well over a month now.

Also those are Thai cados. Sometimes OK. Often crap and inedible.

Well, you want you cake and eat it also?

They are rock hard when you buy them, but ripe very nice after a few days. Perfect for guacamole.

[Jingthing]

Not at the Pattaya Central Food Hall for well over a month now.

Also those are Thai cados. Sometimes OK. Often crap and inedible.

Well, you want you cake and eat it also?

They are rock hard when you buy them, but ripe very nice after a few days. Perfect for guacamole.

Not talking about ripening.

I buy cados all year, Thai and imports, and the percentage that don't ever ripen properly is really high. In other words from hard to smelly and/or moldy rotten.

There are many varieties of cados of course, as well, regardless of Thai vs. import.

I'm pretty sure the very high rate of garbage cados here is the way the Thai grocers STORE them.

They aren't meant to be refrigerated before ripening. Even when they are on display outside the cooler, that doesn't mean they weren't in the cooler before being put on display.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Jingthing

[OMGImInPattaya]

Central have 3 advocados for 99 baht most of the time.

Not true. Not most of the time. Not now.

I must bow in the dust, it is no longer 99 baht, but a whopping 109 baht, but is it RIGHT now!

Cheap as chips...a buck each.

[seeker108]

I guess we have it much better up here in Chiang Mai. I am buying avos now at one of the local semi-wholesale fruit markets (just up the side street from the US Consulate) at 45 baht per kg for imports from Myanmar. That means 3 good size or 2 fairly huge cados for 45 baht. And so far by my picky rating system they have all been from good to surprisingly excellent. All with high oil content and nice taste. The best one so far was a very ripe one that the seller threw in as a bonus today. I figured it would be half rotten, but turned out to just be perfectly ripe with firm/buttery texture and the best full flavor of any cado I have ever bought in Asia, not just Thailand. Next time I go I may be scooping up most of her ripe ones that she has on a separate table for some bargain price. For most fruits and especially cados I recommend seeking out your best local produce or fruit market.

It seems so far that the more elongated the better in terms of taste and fruit to seed ratio. The rounder ones are ok taste wise, but are 80% pit

[gazzasore]

I transplanted 2 Congo Avocado Cuttings into their own pots yesterday nice big long roots

The potting mix we get here seems to be crap they do best in "Mulch"

I also started another Congo cutting from a branch off another plant

+ a cutting from another plant NZ Aussie or local

So from 2 seeds I now have 5 Congo Avocados growing

I also gave them a good dose of Cow Pooh so they should all thrive now

[gazzasore]

The great avocado shortage of 2016 looks to be toast as fresh harvests ripen

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/14/avocado-prices-about-to-fall-from-their-7-high-to-the-usual-2-or-3

[Jingthing]

Recently saw a silly comedy skit.

A lady was sitting on a sofa in shock staring at her hospital bill.

She says ... I don't understand. How can it be so high?

So a man comes over and looks at it.

He says, oh, you had the AVOCADO.

Zoom into the bill.

Avocado -- 55,000 U.S. $

[ExpatOilWorker]

Central have 3 advocados for 99 baht most of the time.

Not true. Not most of the time. Not now.

I must bow in the dust, it is no longer 99 baht, but a whopping 109 baht, but is it RIGHT now!

3 perfect "cados" for 93 baht and that is also RIGHT now.

[cumgranosalum]

In most supermarket the imported ones are 99 baht.

Local avocados are pretty awful.

however if Big C are to pull pout then that will mean one less company buying imported...can only see the price going up.

[Jingthing]

I did find 3 big Thai ones for 99 again at Central Food Hall Pattaya. They were away for awhile and they only had a few of them left.

I eat those but they are so different than Haas like cados that it's almost a different food.

[DonaldBattles]

I believe that avocados and salmon are two of the most perfect foods. I have about 25 trees and this year I have to do a better job of fertilizing, watering and pruning. They grow good in Chiang Rai. I also like avocado oil a tablespoon per day.

[gazzasore]

I believe that avocados and salmon are two of the most perfect foods. I have about 25 trees and this year I have to do a better job of fertilizing, watering and pruning. They grow good in Chiang Rai. I also like avocado oil a tablespoon per day.

I have 25 Trees to plant in the Chaiyaphum Area so 7 or 8 years from now we should be swimming in them

Tinned Salmon is very hard to find and when you do its very expensive

Edited February 21, 2016 by gazzasore

[ExpatOilWorker]

I believe that avocados and salmon are two of the most perfect foods. I have about 25 trees and this year I have to do a better job of fertilizing, watering and pruning. They grow good in Chiang Rai. I also like avocado oil a tablespoon per day.

I have 25 Trees to plant in the Chaiyaphum Area so 7 or 8 years from now we should be swimming in them

Tinned Salmon is very hard to find and when you do its very expensive

You can get whole frozen Norwegian Salmon for 400 baht/kg now, mainly because the Russians ain't importing EU products at the moment.

[ExpatOilWorker]

I did find 3 big Thai ones for 99 again at Central Food Hall Pattaya. They were away for awhile and they only had a few of them left.

I eat those but they are so different than Haas like cados that it's almost a different food.

Plenty of 99 baht cados at Central in the capital city.

[Jingthing]

Stop hogging them then.

Gone again in Pattaya.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Some cado info: http://www.offgridquest.com/health-nutrition/read-this-and-never-throw-an-avocado-see