How to Grow Avocado in NZ: Where They Grow and When to Plant

Updated October 2026

Drainage is everything, as avocados rot in heavy wet soil, so plant on a raised mound in spring in a warm sheltered frost-free spot. Pairing a Type A with a Type B improves cropping. Allow 3 to 5 years to first fruit.

What it looks like as it grows

🌱 Plant profile: Avocado, with sowing times for your region, companion plants and common pests.

Where Avocados Grow in NZ and When to Plant

Avocados are planted in spring once frost risk has passed. These are the planting months for each of our nine New Zealand regions, and whether the region suits avocados, straight from our planting data. Each region links to its vegetable planting calendar, and the Avocado plant page has spacing, companions and care notes for your region.

Northland, Auckland and Wellington and the lower North Island plant avocados from September to November. In Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, plant in October or November once the frosts are over: coastal Bay of Plenty suits avocados best, while inland Waikato needs a warm, sheltered spot and frost cloth while the tree is young. Nelson and Marlborough are marginal, so plant on a raised mound in a warm, sheltered spot. Frosts kill young avocados, which is why our data does not recommend them in the central North Island, Canterbury, Otago and Southland or Central Otago. Our frost dates page has the frost window for each region.

Best avocado varieties for NZ

• Hass (Type A), The main New Zealand avocado, dark pebbly skin when ripe, crops spring into autumn. (Kings Plant Barn, garden centres)
• Reed (Type A), Large round green fruit, crops summer into autumn, good flavour. (garden centres)
• Bacon (Type B), Cold-hardier green-skinned variety, useful pollinator for Hass. (Lynwood, garden centres)

How to grow avocado

• Space trees about 700cm apart.
• Plant a grafted tree on a raised mound in deep, free-draining soil.
• Position: full sun, with total protection from frost.
• Allow about three years from planting to the first fruit.

How to Plant an Avocado Tree

1. Buy a grafted tree for reliable fruit, because seedlings are slow and variable.
2. Choose full sun, deep free-draining soil and total protection from frost. Plant on a raised mound if there is any doubt about drainage, because roots rot in wet ground.
3. Shelter young trees from harsh sun and wind.
4. Water often, but never let the soil sit soggy, and mulch widely to keep the roots cool.
5. Feed several times in the growing season with a balanced fertiliser plus extra potassium and zinc.

Type A and Type B Avocados

Avocado flowers open as either Type A or Type B, and planting one of each gives the best fruit set, with bees doing the pollinating. Hass and Reed are Type A, and Bacon is a Type B that is cold hardier and a useful pollinator for Hass. If you have room for two trees, pair a Type A with a Type B.

How Long Until an Avocado Tree Fruits?

Our plant data allows about three years from planting a grafted tree to the first fruit. Avocados ripen off the tree, so pick mature fruit at full size when a test fruit softens evenly indoors, and clip the stalk with secateurs rather than pulling. Hass, the main New Zealand avocado, crops from spring into autumn, and Reed from summer into autumn. Fruit drop is normal, because trees set far more fruit than they keep. Ripe avocados keep 2 to 3 days in the fridge, and the flesh freezes when mashed with lemon juice.

Can You Grow an Avocado in a Pot?

Only a dwarf variety, and our plant data rates avocados as only partly suited to containers. Use a pot of at least 60 cm with very free-draining mix, because wet roots are the biggest killer of avocados in any setting.

Pests and problems

Watch for: Leafroller, Thrips, Greenhouse thrips. See our NZ pest and disease guide for organic control.