A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Avacado tree help!!

I got an Avacado tree grown from seed It has 6 new leaves in a container. How much water does it need? How much sun? How long will it take to bear fruit? Do i leave it on the container or plant in the ground?

hi. First - - congrats on getting the tree to grow! While it is supposedly easy to do - - over the past 30 years we've only been able to get less than a half dozen to grow from seed.

I'd leave it in a container until the root system is a bit more developed - - plan say September for planting it in the ground. You will definitely want to get it in the ground though - - think of a Magnolia - and you can get the idea of what an Avocado can be like - - only the leaves IMO tend to be a little bigger and the trunk much stouter.

Keep the soil damp but not too moist most of the time. As to sun - - lots of sunlight. Avocados are not a houseplant but for the first few months being in the house does not seem to hurt them.

Jon

Deb....I have a long informative thread concerning Avocado trees grown from seed. See the row above that has little writing profile/messages and there are 5 areas??....click on Forum Search and type in Avocado... It should take you to several write up's.... mine is in the batch.

If, you decide to still grow your tree...I would take it out slowly to adapt to the change in light conditions....if you take it out to direct sun quickly, you will burn all the leaves. You might even want to paint the base of the tree white to prevent a sun scorched trunk. If you can't find the thread PM me and I will search for you.

I noticed you were from San Antonio, Texas....I will be there tomorrow through Sun. My son is graduating from bootcamp at the Lackland Air Force Base.....and going to see his graduation etc. Sure hope the weather holds out....our tickets are non refundable.

I have 4 avocado trees grown from seed and they are all in containers (due to limited ground space). Avocados grown from seeds will bear variable quality fruits at 8-12 years. We have ONE fruit from our oldest tree of 10 years; the others are 2-3 years away before bearing fruits.

Should you decide to grow the avocado in a pot, it is best to have at least 15-gal. container.

Note the posts from Jon & Catlover about planting in the ground and hardening-off the tree before putting it outside permanently.

If you decide to plant the avocado in the ground; it should not be planted in lawns; it can't take as much water as the grass needs and does not tolerate standing water. An ideal spot is a slope with good draininge, or a deep well drained soil in an area with full sun.

HEY THANKS YALL, GOOD ADVICE. IM FROM SAN ANTONIO,TX.
GO SPURS GO!!

Hi Deb,
Papito and the others already gave you great info about avocados, my favorite fruit. Here is an additional link all about growing avocados in Texas.

Texas avocados

If you do the forum search as Catlover suggested you will find out lots of info.

Good luck and come back often to chat.

And since I'm in SoCal I just have to say, GO LAKERS! Even though the Spurs will probably win since we tend to fall apart right about now.... oh well.