Need help! Q with Avocado.

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by cadasi7, Jan 8, 2018.

  1. cadasi7

    cadasi7 New Member

    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Calgary
    My dad brought me an avocado fruit from Philippines. It is a different variety from what you normally see in canadian store. This avocado is a bit bigger. Tried to germinate and it did germinate. However, living in the prairies I know this will not survive. So my questions are:

    a) Can I turn this avocado into a bonsai? If I'm gonna cut the apical bud (see picture), will it survive?

    b) Or if not, are there any places (greenhouse/garden) where I can just donate this avocado?

    Thanks
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,574
    Likes Received:
    615
    Location:
    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Yes, it looks like it is undergoing Etiolation - Wikipedia . As for donating, without documentation it is doubtful a botanical garden would accept it. Possibly call around to local garden centres if they have greenhouse space; it definitely needs more light than it is getting now.
     
  3. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    800
    Likes Received:
    55
    Location:
    Jacksonville, FL USA USDA Zone 9
    It's fun to start an avocado, isn't it? Where I live, I have access to a few different types, although none actually grow outdoors and produce fruit this far north. You can cut the top leafy tip off, leaving both of the little tiny nodes and maybe one actual leaf and it should sprout from there. One would hope that it would immediately branch out, but that's not always the case. It may need to get a bit taller. I don't know if avocado can be treated as a bonsai. I'd suspect it would have to be fairly large if you could manage it, like the size of an easy chair. Good luck.
     
  4. cadasi7

    cadasi7 New Member

    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Calgary
    I'm currenrly exposing it to an artificial light for 6-8hrs. Tried to remove the apical bud leaving 3-4 leaves. Read that there are auxins in the apical part.
     
  5. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,574
    Likes Received:
    615
    Location:
    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  6. cadasi7

    cadasi7 New Member

    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Calgary
    hi daniel, which light bulb should i get for indoor plants? this is the avocado plant right now (see pic). also, since i cut the apical bud where would i expect to see the new bud? is the 2nd pic the new bud? lol sorry for the silly questions. thanks in advance
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,574
    Likes Received:
    615
    Location:
    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Seek out bulbs marketed as "grow lights", "plant lights", or "full spectrum". Quite a few on the market!
     
  8. Guy Wilkinson

    Guy Wilkinson New Member

    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Keremeos BC
    You need to plant it I have 21 plants so far. You can ask Pine Island Nursery if they ever had or possibility of making a bonsai. The other is some varieties only grow 3 feet. Research the variety if it's poly-embryonic you will get true to type avocados. For lighting Metal Halides are best for growing vegetation one plant south facing window with a timed 75w light should produce enough say 2600 lumens just shy of 2800 but you don't want it growing over winter just maintaining. For color 6000k bulb is good 10000k is better. Temp 16C for winter and 23c-28c for summer and don't fertilize for the first year. Happy Growing
     
  9. cadasi7

    cadasi7 New Member

    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Calgary
    hey guys, it's been 2 months now since I first started this thread and i'm very thankful for you guys answering my questions. here's what my avocado looks like right now (see pic). i'm still trying to bonsai it (or make it a dwarf avocado) but i'm not really sure if i am doing it right. i just always cut the apical bud to facilitate branching and/or to slow down its growth. now i am just curious whether i can do air layering (w/ rooting hormone) to my young avocado. or i guess my main question is would it survive air layering? any ideas? thanks
     

    Attached Files:

  10. cadasi7

    cadasi7 New Member

    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Calgary
    update: here's what it looks like now..
     

    Attached Files:

    sarahlynn1313 and Daniel Mosquin like this.

Share This Page