I have started growing an avacado from seed, it is now about 2 feet high and has about 8 small leaves. Should I cut some of the leaves off to help make it branch out or should this just take place naturally?
I am assuming you have this tree indoors. I would not snip the leaves at all. Ordinarily we would snip the top of the tree back some to achieve or force side branching but I'd only do that if the Avocado was growing outdoors. For indoor growing you may want to leave this tree alone as you have a quandary to deal with. If you pinch the top growth back to force the tree to send out shoots to later become branches then it will take this tree much longer for you to see it produce fruit. On the other hand, if you do not pinch the top growth back it may not branch out for you on its own depending on how much light you are giving this tree. You may want to show a photo or two of your tree but for the most part it depends on what you want for the short term and for the long term. Some indoor grown Avocados may need to get up to 15-20' tall before they will produce fruit and that may take a long while. With some varieties of Avocados it is size of the tree, not so much the age of the tree that determines when it will set flowers. Jim
What Jim is trying to say in a nut shell, is that it's not much different than trying to grow a walnut or oak tree in your house. These are big trees and as such need to bulk up in size. You have to ask youself, what is the end result I'm looking for when growing something of this magnatude?
You may want to look at this link. The first post by Malcolm_Manners is right on the mark and is pertinent for anyone wanting to grow seedling Avocados, especially inside a home. I would want to know which variety of Avocado the seedling came from as in some cases it can make a difference as to the size and age the Avocado seedling grown from seed will have to be to flower, providing it is either a type A or a type B and we have a second Avocado that is the opposite type of ours. Sometimes we can get a seedling grown from a Mexicola and even a Mexicola Grande to flower younger in age and smaller in size than we can a Bacon or a Hass, for example. I've seen it happen whereby a Mexicola did not need to have a second type Avocado around to produce flowers and fruit, albeit when grown outdoors though. Hass Avocado LPN, yes, your analogy and summation is more than accurate. Good going! Jim
Hi there I'm not sure what kind of avacado I have but I will look into it. I'm in North Bay where the winters are long and cold, and I'm no plant expert but I thought having a tree growing indoors would help keep the winter a little greener. But I have come across another problem with my tree. In the past couple of days the bottom leaves are getting dark patches on them and seem to be drying out. I haven't seen any kind of bug on the leaves and I'm not sure what it could be. Maybe you could give me some insight. I know the air here in the winter is very dry and maybe I should be misting the leaves. But in the mean time I'll try to find out what kind it is that I have. Thanks for any help Sherri
Hello, I have had great success propagating avocado pits . The avocado plants, grew over 285 cm by year two. They disliked the transistion to indoors, and experienced the very same complication of drying out in the leaves. Though the plant will never bear fruit indoors, the growth will become leggy without a natural bright exposure . Enjoy them while foliage is lush, with their dramatic large sage green leaves. I have pruned these plants at different heights. My best success for branchlets occurred only when the plant was exposed to the warm summer days. I acclimatized the plant out of doors, full sunlight (watch out for sun scald) and by June, the plant budded in 4 leaf sights near the top of the cut. The leaves drying out can be from many causes...humidtity/forced air/ drafts/ over watering/underwatering.... Try propagating a dozen avocado pits and experiment with their growth conditions. Good luck
