Some Avocado Advice Please

15 years ago

I started my avocado from a pit, and now its about a foot tall, with a few leaves. I need some advice on some steps I should take to ensure that my avocado grows successfully.

Also, how long should it take before an avocado grows large enough to start producing some fruit?

Heres a pic:

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Comments (7)

jean001
15 years ago
Seven to 12 years, if under suitable conditions which means outdoors in a frost-free climate.

And if that's where you live, put it into the ground as soon as possible.
gardenerg
Original Author
15 years ago
I live in central FL so frost should not be a problem, any other tips?
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You'd be much more likely to have a chance of a fruiting avocado if you grew it as a container plant and brought it inside for the winter. There are grafted dwarf varieties available here in California that are suitable for large containers, (think half wine barrel size). I know of no avocado varieties that are hardy to 20F, it is more likely that there have been survivors here in California that got that cold and may have regrown from the trunk, but rest assured, the foliage and smaller branches almost always get fried at 25F, and would suffer serious die back at 20F. To give you a better idea, they are not usually prolific fruit barers even in San Francisco, especially if they are not cool summer adapted grafted varieties. I would guess that Sunset zone 9, 14-17 are the range of hardiness for any Avocado to be grown outdoors year round.
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You do know that avocados are large trees, right? I've seen them in Mexico, 40-60' tall. The ones I've seen at fruit tree sales have been around 10-15' tall and they weren't large enough to make fruit. I'm in Houston and it's only been the last few years that varieties have been developed that will take our freezes (mid 20's, maybe to high teens), and our freezes only last a few days, then it's warm again. That said, there is a variety that is self-fertile now. But most aren't, and you need two trees. Some people here who grow them get one and a neighbor gets one, so one person's yard isn't completely taken over by one large tree. I found some info about growing them: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/avocado/avocado2.html Here's a link to one of the local fruit tree sales, and you can look at the varieties that will grow in our mild climate. The self-fertile one is described in the listing. Since they need a warm climate most of the year, and full sun, I don't think you'd get any avocados at all, but they do make good house plants (and it's fun to dream!). Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit Tree Sale
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Hooray for Arkansas! GO HOGS! ok, back to gardening… My kids love our lavender bush - it's a pretty hardy plant and does well in a container. Not only is it purple, but it smells amazing - it's a great sensory activity for the kids. In the fall, my little ones like to collect the dried lavender buds and make little sachets to put under their pillow. Anything to help them sleep… I've discovered this little guide (I'm also a teacher) to gardening with kids - there are lots of fun activities stashed in here :) Happy gardening! Kids gardening activities
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I need some avocado advice
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Comments (1)
My first impression is that your light doesn't look very strong. I have an inexpensive lux meter and there's a large difference between the outdoor sunlight strength and my high output T5 fluorescent bulbs. The T5's , at 5000 lumen each, seem to be very bright but vegetable seedlings will stretch out when they are 12" away from the seedlings. Meaning, even that isn't quite enough light. I try to keep the bulbs 6-9" above the plants when I can. This is all just for reference...your light looks a lot less bright than my T5's, but it's hard to know just from the photos. How much sunlight does the tree get? I've never grown a tree indoors, so I'm just passing on my experience from using grow lights and my lux meter. How long you can leave the indoor light on makes a difference also, but I think you need a way to judge it's strength before you can draw any conclusions.
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tim45z10
15 years ago
You are going to have to graft it. I bought a Hass in a 5 gallon container and had it only 4 years before It fruited.
softmentor
15 years ago
While grafting will give you a good, known variety, it is not required. You will still get avo's. Jean001 is right that it will take a lot longer before you see fruit.
Some growers give shade the first 2 years. partial shade at mid day with sun in the morning and afternoon. I used an old umbrella tied to a very sturdy stake to do that once.
rosebush
15 years ago
When I lived in So FL, I grew an avocado tree from seed, planted it in the back yard and waited. I was told 5 years to fruit. Well, the year after I moved to NC my neighbors told me it produced loads of wonderful avocadoes! That was 6 years after planting. . .Good luck! It is worth the wait -wish I had some of those avocadoes now. :)
debnfla8b
15 years ago
Do you plant the seed pointy end down or the wide rounded end? The whole thing or do you have to split it open?

I have a seed I would love to plant.

Deb
softmentor
15 years ago
the tree looks a little yellow, you may need to be sure you arn't getting to much salt mineral in the water and also may need a LITTLE bit of nitrogen.

also - plant pointy end up and cut a little slice off the pointy end as sometimes the point won't release and it makes it hard for the seed to open as the tree starts sprouting

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Some Avocado Advice Please

Comments (7)

jean001

gardenerg
Original Author

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tim45z10

softmentor

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Some Avocado Advice Please

Comments (7)

jean001

gardenergOriginal Author

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tim45z10

softmentor

rosebush

debnfla8b

softmentor

COMPANY

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GET HELP

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gardenerg
Original Author