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.

Apart from other advice on this subject already recently posted on this particular forum, this link looks fairly competent... Here is a link that might be useful: Sprouting an Avocado Seed - Richard Jauron, Department of Horticulture

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

@beachlily z9a: I bought the Kelp Me Kelp You. Lindsey’s nursery said that not only did I need to fertilize more that I realized, but also water more, especially this year that has been so dry. I will try that. @carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b: thanks for the UF IFAS references. @maribronze88: hasn’t been long enough yet for me to tell for sure about the Kelp Me, but see what I responded to beachlily above about watering. I realized that sprinklers weren’t hitting it, so I’m going to try watering it specifically. Keep me posted on how yours is, ok? Something else Lindsey’s said is that it could just be at the end of its life…it could be as old as 1989 (when our house was built) and I don’t know a Meyer’s lifespan.