Yep, put them outside.........if...The big question is... how cold does it get where you are? Perhaps you could cover them for light frosts, but considering how hard you will have to prune them to even be coverable, is another concern mainly in terms of upkeep, and reduced avocado output. And that's only if we're talking light frosts. As for keeping them out of the ground, I'd begin by considering whether or not you can realistically grow these to be any larger in your house, before you make them grow too much more! What I would do if you chose to try growing them inside (or at least not in-ground), is to re-pot them in Al's gritty mix (do a search) or, if it's a bagged soil try either a palm and citrus mix or a cactus mix as they will provide better aeration and less sitting water (they drain well). Avocado trees dislike salts (particularly the mexican avocado varieties). All this means is that once you re-pot them, and begin to follow a regular watering schedule, each 3rd or 4th watering you will flood them with an extra gallon or two of water to leech away the salt that has built up. When you think to prune, only worry about your ceiling in your house. So only prune the top of the tree or the tall parts which are causing trouble. Basically the gist is only prune what you must for now. They don't want to be pruned at all. Leave the leaves that are merely yellowing or showing signs of salt burns. Good garden practice asks you remove any diseased or fungal-troubled leaves (the whole thing), so that disease cannot spread to other leaves. Use the appropriate spray for any disease or pest issues. The first thing is the roots though, get those in the right aerated mix and don't over water. Then maybe see what the leaves do. And treat if still needed. Happy roots = happy leaves (most of the time) Have fun! Should be worth it ! -Andrew (new here)

It's a great looking tree. The reddish brown leaves are the new spring flush of growth. This happens during and just after the tree blooms. I'd imagine you can go out right now and count hundreds of baby avocados. The red/brown leaves will enlarge and turn deep green eventually. The new leaves push out all of the old tattered leaves that have been hanging on through last summer and this winter. While I wouldn't say it's in an ideal space, you can't argue with its age or that it's not flourishing. There is probably a bit of dead wood up toward the top. This can be pruned out if you have the ability to safely get up inside the tree but most people don't have the tools or knowledge. I've kept my fuerte avocado fairly low for that reason, about 15 feet. It appears that your tree has been heavily pruned recently. In other fruit trees, this can put them into shock. I'm not sure if the pruning shocked yours but all of those new reddish leaves are proof the tree is putting out new growth. I would keep on doing what you are doing. Edited to add I said what Fireduck mentioned but was a bit longer winded about it.

Looks like the drip line area is at least 4 feet in diameter. That's a lot of dirt is you go 3-4 feet down, and will be very heavy. I've tried transplanting citrus that were much smaller, and a 2 foot wide (and 2 foot deep) root ball is hard enough, even wrapped in burlap. 3 feet wide root ball took two people and ramps (to slide it out of the hole). But. avocado roots are different from citrus. From https://www.gardenguides.com/131987-avocado-tree-roots.html: " The root system is relatively shallow, and does not extend far beyond the tree canopy, if it even reaches the edge of the canopy. The roots are primarily thin, fibrous feeder roots.They have no thick, anchoring taproot.". Considering the type of root system, perhaps they wouldn't be a damaging to a sewer pipe as a normal tree would...but I have no experience with avocado tree roots. How deep is the main pipe? My main sewage pipe is about 10 feet (under the canopy) from a large oak tree (30 feet +) and I did find some roots in the pipe once...but the pipe had a large and old crack and I wasn't surprised to find the root in there. It was no big deal to remove it and I just wrapped up the cast iron pipe line and didn't worry about it. There are other large oak roots crossing over and above the pipe (which is about 3 feet down) and I suppose if they were to get a good sniff of something they might send out some new root. But I dug it out again about 3 years after the first time and didn't see any new roots poking around the pipe near my funky repair. Also, In general people recommend cutting back on the tree structure when you are transplanting and losing a lot of the root system.

Rain the day after is not usually an issue (not great to pour DURING rain though as it can effect the mix). It actually prevents the concrete from drying out too fast. I have seen people watering their concrete the day or two after it was poured in the summer to avoid it drying too fast. I had a driveway poured three weeks ago and believe me I was so nervous about the weather when it was poured as we had just had a few hot days, but day it was poured was a bit more moderate and we got some rain next day (and I was very happy). Don't hold me to this as I am not a concrete pro, but I am familiar with concrete driveways and such. This looks like efflorescence. Concrete takes time to cure. As it cures, salts come to the surface (the salts would be whatever was in the water, sand, or gravel that is in the mix) and show as white spots like this. If this is indeed it, it does not affect strength or anything, it is aesthetics only. I have some of these showing up too. If it has been a couple months since it was poured, you can remove them with a concrete efflorescence cleaner. As for sealing...if you "must" depends on your climate and how your municipality deals with winter. Where I am we are told to seal every fall with a penetrating concrete sealer as the salt/sand mix used by the City for the roads is brutal on concrete. We are actually required to in order to maintain our warranty. Really, I would do it anyway as it does lengthen the life of it :)