Avocado tree question

[valmom]

OK, I am never going to live anywhere I can grow food type trees outside. I have sort of accepted that- I am in New England until I die. I like New England, but it has almost no growing season.

So, I sprout every avocado pit I eat and I have 2 large-ish trees and one sproutling. Can you actually get indoor avocado trees to produce fruit? How old or big do they have to be? And, I seem to have 2 different types- one is growing straight up pretty much with few short brances, and the other is trying to be a bush! The branches come off and bend and twist and get long while the tree doesn't really want to grow taller.

Any advise would be wonderful- I would kill for my own avocados!

 

[dragonlaurel]

We grew them outside in Fla but they would definitely need trimming to be short enough to raise in a greenhouse. Might check on http://www.theeasygarden.com/ to see if somebody there has done it.
Don't be scared - they're nice people there too.

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[tamlynn]

humph. I'd like to know how to get my outside avocado tree to bear fruit. I'm thinking its about 5 years old now. It is covered in flower buds. Two years ago I got one huge, delicious fruit off it. Nothing since. If you find out what to do, let me know.

Can't you grow trees like cherry or something? Maybe nuts? Maples?!

 

[tamlynn]

http://www.willsavocados.com/index.php/grow-avocado-tree

Just found this. sounds like a tree grown from a seed probably won't bear fruit. Sorry.

 

[murphysranch]

No, trees grown from a seed will never bear fruit.

Down in So CA, in Ojai, Fallbrook, and other places, trees take up to 7 years to mature enough to produce a crop. I've been on several grove tours for a previous job, and learned alot about how to baby avo trees. Most in So CA are Hass avos. There are a few Pinkertons, Fuertes and Bacons still be grown.

The avos from Florida are a different species than the ones listed above. Their oil content is fairly close to the Hass oil content.

 

[tamlynn]

http://www.ucavo.ucr.edu/General/Answers.html#anchor1425862

Found a ton of good info here. It says to not expect fruit until 3-4 years after planting a tree from a nursery. I guess mine is still in that time frame. Mine is a Holiday, a dwarf variety.

 

[Lady Henevere]

I believe avocados are bee-pollinated, which may pose a problem for an indoor tree. Perhaps you can put it outside when it flowers, assuming it's not too cold? Also, depending on the type of avocado, it may need to be near a different type of tree for pollination to occur (there are male/female flowers - ones that open in the morning and others that open in the afternoon, or something like that). Trees grown from seed will bear fruit under the right circumstances (they grow in nature without being grafted), but you might not get as much fruit as you would from a grafted tree. According to Wikipedia, it could take four to six years before you see fruit from an ungrafted tree.

Good luck!

 

[Niele da Kine]

Avocados grown from seed will make fruit. All over the place, tons of fruit, but it takes quite a few years before you will get your first crop. Bees love avocado trees when they are in bloom. Usually the shorter multiple branched trees have better fruit but I don't know why. We have a whole bunch of different types of avocados around here, some are the small green wrinkly ones, Hass, like are found in many mainland markets. They also come in dark red, yellow, light green and in a variety of shapes such as round and oval. They also get huge sometimes. A three pound avocado is a bit uncommon but not unheard of. Right now we have light green round ones falling in the back yard. The pit is a little large, but the taste is good. It was a tree grown from seed although it's an old tree now.

Here's the University of Hawaii's agricultural college page on avocados: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/fb/avocado/avocado.htm

 

[pinkfox]

ive had no luck getting any of the pits ive tried to sprout to do anythign beyond go brown...ive dont he toothpick support ove glass of water thing and yup nothing...mabe i should just throw one in a pot and see if that works...
i LOVE avocado!
never tried one up untill about a year ago and that was it...im hooked!