Young grafted Harricado tree
The Harricado is a chance seedling discovery from the suburbs of Nelson. Harry Pearson, member of the Nelson branch of the New Zealand TreeCrops Association (NZTCA) bought a property with an established avocado tree that bore an abundance of large avocados. Harry has since lent his name to this new variety – the Harricado – and has worked with the NZTCA to make it more widely available.
The Harricado bears a large, black (when ripe), thin skinned avocado. The flesh can be creamy and smooth and slow to oxidise, but being thin skinned, doesn’t lend itself well to transportation, which makes it perfect for the home orchard. Grafted and cutting grown clones are being trialled/grown in a wide variety of Tree Cropper locations across New Zealand, because there is still much unknown about its pollination characteristics, rootstock tolerance, soil and climate requirements. The original tree appeared to be self-fertile. Trials in the South Island indicate Harricado can withstand only intermittent frosts. Continuous days exposed to day-long frosts will harm it and very hard frosts are likely to be very hard on the tree especially in the first 2-4 years.
Propagating avocados is a specialist skill, so NZTCA commissions avocado nurseries to generate a stock of trees to provide to NZTCA members, predominantly for trial purposes. Demand is very high and all the current stocks have been spoken for.
Availability
All going well, the next lot of Harricado graftlings could be ready in December 2026 or so. Harricado will be available to NZTCA members only. Please contact nelsontca.research@gmail.com if you have queries.
Listen to an RNZ interview with Harry Pearson below. This interview can also be found on the RNZ website here>>
