I have 3 avocados that I started from seed in a glass of water on the window. Question: How do I prune it? Do I pinch off leaves at a certain height? I see on the internet that it will not give fruit unless grafted, If I wanted to graft it, what age/height is best to try it? Will having more then one plant around help them give fruit as well? I have lots of space in the back yard to let it grow in the ground. Should I graft it first before placing it outside? Next door they have 2 Avocado trees that give off healthy fruit. I should be able to use it to graft my trees. Right? Thanks for any and all advice.
Pruning or pinching off the tip will encourage your trees to branch out. I don't think this would be the best thing to do if you plan on grafting your trees at a later date. Un-grafted trees can give fruit but it will take longer to do this than a grafted tree. The quality of the fruit is unknown until you can taste it yourself. You can use your neighbor's trees to graft with, but do this only if you like the taste of their fruit. Another important part of growing avocados is the tree's rootstock. Certain rootstocks can tolerate different soil conditions better than others. I really don't know much about Florida so hopefully someone from there can help you out.
Okay, thanks. When is a good time to graft the avocados? I would love to just try and see if it works. When I do Prune/Pinch off do I just take the leaves on top to make more grow on the bottom? Or do I pinch the stem? Sorry this is new to me and I don't want to stop the proper growth of the plants. :-)
As for grafting that is something I would like to learn how to do. I have tried it a few times but never had anything take. With pinching you want to remove the terminal bud of your tree trying not to damage others around it. Here are a couple of websites you may want to check out. http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/avocado.html http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG213
Those sites are helpful, Thanks. I guess the only way to know if you can graft is by trying it. But, I think I will buy a already grafted tree as well to insure that I am gifted with fruit. I still like to grow from seed.
