Well, I have to admit first off that I'm no expert gardener. But I went online and watched a how-to video about growing an avocado plant from seed. I sprouted the seed in a glass on the kitchen window sill, and got a nice, healthy tap root growing down into the glass, with a few side roots coming off of it, and then I planted this in some top soil I had in a pile outside from another project. I left it outside because the weather was warm, and there it sat for about two months, looking rather like it was a lost cause, but I forgot about it (although I did water it when the weather got dry) because I got busy with work and so forth, and now that we've had some good rains, suddenly two stalks are growing out of it, happily and healthily! Surprise surprise! Now we come to my question. The Pacific Northwest is not the tropics, so I don't expect this thing to survive the colder weather. I live in East Vancouver. When should I move this plant inside, or shouldn't I? Any advice would be appreciated. Here's a photo of the current state of the avocado(s). Thanks! Laura 3:)
Surprise growth is actually fairly typical of avocadoes (I had a pair come up in my front garden that I'd given up for dead about 8 months ago), although production of two shoots from a single pit is a bit rarer. Congratulations! Move it inside when overnight temperatures start to dip to around 5 C, and keep it in a bright area of the house but away from the windows (because the cold will scorch the leaves.) Check regularly for spider-mites and water when the soil gets dry, and it should do very well for you.
Thank you, Lorax, for your answer, but this is the reason why I posted this on the "Gardening in the Pacific Northwest" forum - we've actually already had weather below 5 degrees a few nights, and I'm pretty sure I saw frost at least two mornings, and as you can see the avocado is doing fine, so I'm wondering if there's something special about our climate here. Laura 3:) P.S. I guess I should add that we haven't had any sustained cold temperatures yet.
I say 5 C to be safe, since I'm well aware that you can get colder freezing spikes overnight, and that would spell the end of an Avocado shoot ultimately (I'm originally Canadian, and have had this exact thing happen to me with Avocado sproutlings on several occasions). Since it's come up, I'd be tempted to play it safer than sorrier and bring it in before you get your first surprise hard frost, which will kill it deader than dead, and then where would all of your work have gone? This said, the lack of sustained cold temperatures is likely what's keeping it going, although I'm willing to bet that the growth has slowed considerably. The first day it's outside for sustained +1 to 0 temperatures will finish it.
A factor I have found of importance in moving plants indoors from out is temperature difference. Mine come in when temp. inside and out is approximately the same. A sudden contrast of twenty/thirty degrees combined with lower light levels generally is not conducive to plant happiness. Or its owner's. (Exception, Christmas cactus!) So, my vote is for moving the avocado in as soon as possible.
Thank you, togata57 - that explains how I managed to kill a shrub last winter, although it was the opposite - we kept it inside as a "Christmas bush", and then when we tried to transplant it, it wasn't at all happy, and it gave up the ghost.
Hi, I am from Chile and grew up with several avocado trees at home. Avocados can take a bit of cold weather but nothing below cero. When the temperature dropped, my grandpa made us put portables chimneys out in order to save the "avocado production". I do think you might be able to have/grow a tree, but another thing is for the tree to bear flowers and then keep the fruit. Cheers and good luck.
Hi All, Just an FYI If these seeds are from avacados that you purchased from the grocery store (and I'm guessing they are) then you should know a couple of things, so that you won't be disappointed. First, commercially grown avacados are cultivated through a very complicated propagation process, and the plant you are growing from seed will most likely look and taste nothing like the one you bought at the store, should you ever get any fruits. Secondly, avacados typically fruit on 4-7 year wood. So if your plant is dying back every year and producing new wood, then you may never see a fruit. Regardless, growing avacados from seed is still fun and satisfying, especially for children. Hopefully I haven't burst your bubble and you can still enjoy your plant :-)
