Editing Persea schiedeana (section)

=== Soil and water ===

Interviewed growers in the Chinantla describe the tree as preferring moist sites, and 97% of survey responses place trees on moisture-rich, organic-matter-heavy ground in coffee groves.<sup>[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup> The species tolerates wet, heavy ground that would kill most avocados: in 1947 coyo seedlings survived two weeks of flooding on heavy clay and sandy-clay soils with poor drainage, and trees near Huatusco (Veracruz) grew in waterlogged heavy clay at the bottom of a natural drainage basin.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-13">[[#cite_note-13|[13]]]</sup> The root system suits such sites: seedlings develop four to seven main roots that spread out below the surface rather than a long taproot — a character the 1949 report argued was favorable for avocado on heavy wet soils, and one observed again in South African rootstock material.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup><sup>[[#cite_note-8|[8]]]</sup>

Cold is the main limit outside frost-free ground. Mid-century collectors called the species not frost-resistant, and the field records fit that: a coyo in Miami survived the 1916–17 cold wave at 26 °F and lived many years, but in the mildest corner of South Florida rather than under a hardiness test.<sup>[[#cite_note-13|[13]]]</sup><sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>