According to Laverne Nursery, Fuerte is self-fertile. It also says its an alternate bearer, that might explain why there aren't any avocado this year.
http://lavernenursery.com/PGFuerteAvo.jpg

I believe it must have been grafted to bear fruit. It is self fertile. However, a close tree will give it more fruit.

I grew up with a Fuerte in my backyard and clearly can recall the grafting process which had to be repeated a couple of times before it took. While the variety may be self-pollinating, I bet you'd get a much better yield if it had been grafted. And, yes, alternate bearing.

I thought grafting was best because it would help a plant provide fruit/flowers quicker, and help with diseases. But, if it's an older, established tree (would be hard to graft now), it should provide fruit. As mentioned by others, it will alternate bearing. For example, my Haas had tons of fruit two years ago, but this past year not as much. I'm looking forward to more fruit this year, not because I can eat it all, but because I can share with others, LOL!

ricomeyer, does your fuerte have bloom right now? My Haas is in bloom right now so at some point, I will start seeing very tiny avocados forming, but it takes a while.

As far as I have been able to tell, large temperature swings here in California increase the overlap between male and female flowers, reducing the need for type A (morning pistillate - afternoon staminate) and type B (afternoon pistillate - morning staminate) plants to be present at the same time.

Ryan

I have a hass tree 20ft tall. Last year my avocado tree produced hundreds of avocados about half the size of a pea. All but 15 grow dropped. I was told not to water the tree until the fruit was the about 1" and the fruit has set. Is that true?

Do I need to plant 2 Avocado trees in order for them to cross pollinate? How can I tell the difference between male & female?