growing an avacado tree from seed

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by sherrichapple, Jan 7, 2006.

  1. sherrichapple

    sherrichapple Member

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    Location:
    north bay, ontario, canada
    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?
     
  2. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    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
     
  3. LPN

    LPN Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Courtenay, Vancouver Island
    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?
     
  4. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
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    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
     
  5. 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
     
  6. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
    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
     

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