Avocados, other tropicals hold on into autumn
Excerpts from an 11/1/10 article in The Packer by Doug Ohlemeier
Florida is a leading producer of tropical fruits and vegetables.
Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals Inc., said the late season fruit possesses strong quality.
“With our SlimCados, we’re past the peak of the season, but we have a nice crop of late season fruit to get us through December,” she said in mid-October. “We will go into February with lighter volumes. We really see the late season crop not as affected by the cold weather of the 2009-10 season than the other varieties, but it’s always a lighter crop during that time of the year.”
The leading Florida avocado grower-shipper, Brooks expects to ship more than 400,000 bushels, down from last season.
Other tropicals
During the fall and winter, south Florida is a major grower and supplier of a variety of comparatively small volumes of fall tropical items.
Harvesting of star fruit or carambola normally begins in early July and runs through March.
The colder winter made for a later start this season, Ostlund said.
On mamey sapote, fall typically brings a winding down of production.
Last winter’s cold cut volumes, Ostlund said.
For kumquats, Ostlund said Brooks expects to begin shipments in mid-November.
The crop looks strong and remains on time, she said.
Ostlund said Brooks plans to ship through March.
While south Florida may be better known for its green-skinned avocados, growers in the Redlands growing region also produce smaller volumes of tropicals such as boniato, star fruit, mamey sapote, passion fruit and kumquats.
Avocados Florida's avocado season typically begins winding down in the fall. Shipments normally start in June and hit peak volume in July with volumes starting to decline in November, with July, August, September and October producing the most volume.
Courtesy Brooks Tropicals |
Shipments of green-skinned avocados begin to decrease in November. “With our SlimCados, we’re past the peak of the season, but we have a nice crop of late-season fruit to get us through December,” |
Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals Inc., said the late season fruit possesses strong quality.
“With our SlimCados, we’re past the peak of the season, but we have a nice crop of late season fruit to get us through December,” she said in mid-October. “We will go into February with lighter volumes. We really see the late season crop not as affected by the cold weather of the 2009-10 season than the other varieties, but it’s always a lighter crop during that time of the year.”
The leading Florida avocado grower-shipper, Brooks expects to ship more than 400,000 bushels, down from last season.
Other tropicals
During the fall and winter, south Florida is a major grower and supplier of a variety of comparatively small volumes of fall tropical items.
Harvesting of star fruit or carambola normally begins in early July and runs through March.
The colder winter made for a later start this season, Ostlund said.
On mamey sapote, fall typically brings a winding down of production.
Last winter’s cold cut volumes, Ostlund said.
For kumquats, Ostlund said Brooks expects to begin shipments in mid-November.
The crop looks strong and remains on time, she said.
Ostlund said Brooks plans to ship through March.
