Estes Avocado Company, LLC DBA Estes Nursery, Avocado Scions & Cuttings  ·  Roseville, California

About Estes Nursery

Estes Nursery is a Placer County operation with a single focus: providing high-quality avocado scionwood and cuttings from named, established mother trees. We do one thing and we intend to do it right.

Most scionwood available in Northern California comes from Southern California commercial sources. Our goal is to provide material from cold-tolerant selections proven to perform in Placer County and the Sacramento Valley — varieties suited to our climate, our seasons, and our soils.

Damin Estes

Founder & Grower · Roseville, Placer County, Northern California

Damin established Estes Nursery to provide scionwood and cuttings from named, producing mother trees. He personally maintains mother trees and plants for Lila, Aravaipa, Mexicola, Mexicola Grande, Hass, Stewart, Zutano, Bacon, Ettinger, Pomegranate Wonderful, Guava, and Passionfruit. Every cutting is taken after your order is received — never pre-cut. Your cuttings will be fresh.

Why scions — not trees?

Grafted trees are excellent, but they're expensive to ship and limit your rootstock choices. Scionwood is compact, ships well when properly packaged, and puts you in control of which rootstock your tree grows on — which matters for soil type, cold tolerance, and disease resistance. You can also use multi‑grafting to produce both Type A and Type B flowers on a single tree, which improves pollination.

If you have a seedling rootstock, or you're working with a local nursery on custom grafts, fresh scionwood from a known mother tree is exactly what you need.

Our varieties

• Lila — Cold-hardy Mexican race, Type A. Purple-black skin, exceptional flavor. Scions + seeds.
• Aravaipa — Extremely frost-tolerant, Type A. Thin edible skin, nutty flavor. Scions + seeds.
• Mexicola — Cold-hardy, Type A. Thin edible skin, richest buttery flavor. Scions + seeds.
• Mexicola Grande — Larger-fruited Mexicola, cold-hardy, Type A. Scions + seeds.
• Hass — World's most popular variety, rich and creamy, Type A. Scions + seeds.
• Stewart — Cold-hardy NorCal selection, thin black skin, Type A. Scions + seeds.
• Zutano — Cold-hardy Type B pollinator, winter harvest, popular rootstock base. Scions + seeds.
• Bacon — NorCal classic, Type B pollinator, reliable winter bearer. Scions + seeds.
• Ettinger — Israeli variety, large pear-shaped green fruit, light flavor, Type B. Scions + seeds.
• Pomegranate Wonderful — cuttings, 6 inch long, $19.95/pair.
• Guava — cuttings, 6 inch long, $19.95/pair. Lemon, Pineapple and Ruby Supreme guava available.
• Passionfruit — cuttings, 6 inch long, $19.95/pair. Fredericks,Purple Possom and Red Rover available.

Grafting avocados — an overview

Avocados are grafted because seed-grown trees can take over 7 years to produce fruit, if they fruit at all, and yield genetically unpredictable results. Grafted trees reproduce the exact variety and typically fruit in 3–4 years.

What you need

• A healthy rootstock seedling — 6–18 months old, pencil-diameter stem
• A fresh scion with 3+ nodes (what we sell)
• A sharp, sterilized grafting knife or single-edge razor blade
• Grafting tape or parafilm to seal the union
• Optional: grafting wax or sealant for added protection

Common graft types

Cleft graft — Most beginner-friendly. Cut the rootstock flat and split it; shape the scion into a wedge and press into the split. Works well when rootstock is thicker than the scion.

Side-veneer graft — Used by most professional nurseries. Long slanting cuts on both pieces create maximum cambium contact. Great for similar-diameter stems.

Whip-and-tongue — Best when rootstock and scion are matched in diameter. Interlocking tongues create a self-aligning, strong union.

Timing for our varieties

• Lila, Mexicola, Mexicola Grande, Hass, Bacon — Dormant hardwood scions cut in late winter to early spring.
• Stewart, Aravaipa, Zutano, Ettinger — Available as dormant wood in late winter, or in early summer.
• We cut to order — ship only to California addresses.

Rootstock for Placer County

For our climate, Mexicola, Aravaipa, Bacon, Zutano and Duke seedlings are the commonly used cold-hardy rootstocks.

Rooting cuttings (Pomegranate, Guava, Passionfruit)

All three of our non-avocado offerings are sold as cuttings and root without grafting. Plant your 6-inch cutting upright in a 50% perlite / 50% peat moss mix — a classic well-draining propagation blend that holds just enough moisture while preventing rot. Bury 2–3 nodes below the surface, keep the mix evenly moist but never waterlogged. Bottom heat (a seedling heat mat) significantly accelerates rooting. Roots typically develop in 4–8 weeks in warm conditions.

Passionfruit is the fastest — vines can begin fruiting in as little as 12–18 months from a rooted cutting. Pomegranate and guava typically begin bearing in 2–4 years. No grafting required for any of these.

Contact

Estes Nursery is a small, direct-contact operation in Placer County. For questions about availability, varieties, rootstock compatibility, bulk orders, or local pickup — reach out directly to Damin.

ORDERs & inquiries

We are accepting ORDERs now. Use the ORDER button on the Shop page, or email us directly. If you have questions about a specific variety, grafting compatibility, or shipping window to your zip code, email first and we'll give you an honest answer.

Local pickup — Placer County

Local customers in Placer County and the greater Sacramento area can arrange pickup instead of shipping. This avoids shipping costs entirely and gives you the freshest possible cuttings. Contact us to arrange a pickup time after placing your order.

Shipping reminder

We only ship to California addresses. Shipping is free for avocado scions.