Why is my avocado tree leggy? This is a common question when avocados are grown as houseplants. Avocados are fun to grow from seed and once they get going, they grow rapidly. Outdoors, avocado trees don’t begin to branch out from the central stem until they reach heights of about 6 feet (2 m.).

It isn’t unusual for an indoor avocado plant to become spindly. What can you do about a leggy avocado plant? Read on for helpful suggestions for preventing and fixing leggy avocados.

Preventing Spindly Growth

Why is my avocado plant too leggy? Trimming is an effective way to encourage the tree to branch out, but before you grab the shears, be sure the plant has optimum growing conditions in the sunniest window in your house.

Avocado plants grown indoors require a lot of direct sunlight, otherwise, they’ll stretch to reach available light and the spindlier the plant, the more you’ll need to trim it. If possible, move the plant outdoors during the summer. Also, be sure the pot is wide and deep enough to accommodate the growing tree. Use a sturdy pot to prevent tipping and be sure it has a drainage hole in the bottom.

Fixing Leggy Avocados

Trimming a leggy avocado plant should be done in fall or winter, before spring growth appears. Avoid pruning the plant when it’s actively growing. To prevent a young plant from becoming weak and spindly, trim the central stem to about half its height when it reaches 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm.). This should force the plant to branch out. Trim the tip and uppermost leaves when the plant is about 12 inches (31 cm.) tall.

Pinch the tips of new lateral branches when they are 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm.) long, which should encourage more new branches. Then, pinch new lateral growth that develops on those branches and repeat until the plant is full and compact. It isn’t necessary to pinch shorter stems. Once your avocado plant is established, an annual trim will prevent a leggy avocado plant.

Starting an avocado houseplant is rewarding, and for a long time the seedling may be happy in its new home. However, there comes a time when the roots outgrow the pot, and you have to start thinking about avocado repotting. It is at this point that the question, “how to repot an avocado” may arise. Read on for all the tips you need to do an expert job at repotting an avocado.

Avocado Repotting Tips

When to repot an avocado? Most indoor plants don’t need a new container every year. The first step in learning how to repot an avocado is to determine whether it is time for avocado repotting. This requires you to ease the plant’s root ball from the pot.

If the pot is plastic, tip it upside down with your hand over the soil. With the other hand, squeeze the pot several times to loosen the soil/container connection. Use a dull knife around the inside of the pot if necessary. When it slides out, see if it is rootbound. More roots than soil means it’s time to repot.

The best time of the year to start repotting an avocado is the springtime. Do the root check in spring, then be prepared to move the plant to a new home, if necessary.

Humans might like moving from a small studio to a big mansion in one fell swoop. Plants don’t though. Select a new pot for your rootbound avocado that is only a few inches (8 cm.) bigger than the prior one in diameter and depth.

Select a pot with good drainage holes. Avocados will not be happy plants for long if they end up in standing water.

How to Repot an Avocado

Take a closer look at the roots. If they need help, untangle them gently and clip away any parts that are rotting or dead.

Use the same type of soil to repot your plant that you used to pot it up in the first place. Toss a thin layer in the bottom of the pot, then place the avocado root ball on top of the new soil and fill in around the sides with more of the same.

Tuck dirt in the sides until they are at the same level as the original dirt. This usually means that a part of the seed stays above the surface of the soil.

It could be normal if your avocado tree is losing fruit, or it could mean you have a problem. Avocado dropping unripe fruit is a natural process to relieve a tree of too much fruit, but stress and pests can also cause abnormal and excessive fruit loss.

Some Fruit Drop in Avocado Trees is Normal

An avocado tree will typically drop some of its unripe fruit in the summer simply because it has grown more fruit than the tree can reasonably support. This is normal and allows your tree to better support and develop the remaining fruit. Regular thinning of fruit can often help alleviate this.

The fruit that drops may be very small, no bigger than a pea, or a little larger, like a walnut. You may see a thin line on the stem where the fruit detaches. This can be a sign that it is normal fruit drop and not caused by a disease or pest.

Stress Can Cause Avocado Fruit Drop

Although some fruit drop is normal, there can be issues causing your tree to lose more than is typical. One cause is that of stress. Water stress, for instance, can cause a tree to lose fruit prematurely. Both under and overwatering cause this. Your avocado tree needs soil that drains well and adequate watering, especially during hot weather.

Avocado feeder roots lie close to the soil, so stress or damage to them causes unwanted fruit drop. To avoid this, let the leaves of the tree that have fallen stay on the ground and provide a protective barrier. Alternatively, add mulch under your avocado trees.

There is some evidence, although not conclusive, that too much nitrogen fertilizer can stress an avocado tree and cause fruit drop. Avoid using fertilizer, or at least limit nitrogen, between the months of April through June.

When Avocado Tree Drops Fruit, Look for Pests

An infestation of avocado thrips is the most likely pest culprit causing avocado fruit drop, but mites can also be an issue. If you have persea mites infesting your tree, fruit drop will be the last symptom of an extreme problem. First, you will see spots on the undersides of leaves, silvery webbing on leaves, and then leaf drop.

Avocado thrips are a more likely and subtle cause of fruit drop. Look for scarring on new fruits, close to the stem end (these will eventually be all over). The thrips feed on the stem, which causes the damage and then drop. Once you see signs of thrips, unfortunately, the damage to affected fruit is already done.

To manage thrips the following year, you can use an appropriate spray during the setting of the fruit. Check with a local nursery or your extension office for advice on what to use and how to spray. Avocado thrips are a fairly new pest in the U.S. so control measures are not yet standardized.

Grafting is a process of joining parts of two trees biologically. For example, you can graft the branch, or scion, of one tree onto the rootstock of another, allowing the two to grow together into one tree. Can you graft avocados? Grafting avocado trees is a common practice for commercial producers, but rather difficult for gardeners. Read on for more information about avocado tree grafting.

Avocado Tree Grafting

Avocado growers get most of their fruit from grafted avocado trees. Grafting avocado trees is considered necessary in order to obtain a large crop of top quality fruit. 

Avocado tree grafting isn’t technically necessary to get fruit to grow. However, grafting can speed up the process of fruit bearing. If you grow an avocado tree from an avocado seed, you’ll have to sit with the seedling for six years before you see any fruit. Even after the seedling grows, there is no certainty that the tree will look like the parents or produce fruit of the same quality. 

That’s why avocados are usually not seed grown. They are commonly propagated by grafting a cultivar to a rootstock. There are many grafted avocado trees out there. In fact, most commercial avocado production is from grafted avocado trees. However, that doesn’t mean anyone can graft one.

Avocado tree grafting involves connecting the branch of an avocado cultivar (the scion) with the rootstock of a different tree. As the two grow together, a new tree is created. The closer the scion and the rootstock are to each other biologically, the better chance you have of successfully grafting them.

How to Graft an Avocado

How can you graft avocados at home? If you are wondering how to graft an avocado, it is a matter of precision. First, you must position the branch section properly on the rootstock. 

The green cambium layer of wood, just beneath the bark, is the key. Grafting avocado trees is only possible if the cambium on the branch and the cambium on the rootstock touch each other. If not, the graft is certain to fail. Perhaps the most common method of grafting avocados is the cleft graft, an ancient method for field grafting. If you want to graft, start in early spring. 

Make a vertical split in the center of the rootstock, then insert one or two branches (scions), with two or three buds, into the cambium layer of the rootstock. Place the rootstock in moist sphagnum moss. It will hold water but also allows for aeration. The temperature should be about 80 degrees F. (37 C.), although the scion must remain cool.

Create humidity to prevent drying of the graft union. According to experts, avocado tree grafting is difficult. Even in ideal conditions, the odds of successfully grafting avocado is low, even for professionals.

If you are fortunate enough to live in a tropical or subtropical region, zone 8 or above, then you may already be growing your own avocado trees. Once associated only with guacamole, avocados are all the rage these days, with their high nutrition content and versatility in many recipes.

Growing your own avocado trees can provide you with a seemingly endless supply of these delicious fruits. However, no plant is without its problems. If you were expecting an avocado tree laden with fruit, but instead have a sickly tree that rarely bears avocado fruits, this article may be for you.

About Phytophthora Root Rot

Phytophthora root rot is a fungal disease caused by the pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. This fungal disease affects avocado trees and thousands of other plants. It can be a particularly devastating disease in avocados and is estimated to result in about $50 million in crop loss in California each year.

Avocado root rot can affect trees of all sizes and ages. It mostly affects the feeder roots of avocado trees, causing them to become black, brittle, and unable to take up valuable nutrients and life sustaining water. Since these roots lie beneath the soil surface, this disease can severely infect a plant while going mostly unnoticed.

The first visible symptoms of root rot in avocado trees is light green to yellow, undersized foliage on infected plants. Leaves may also have brown, necrotic tips or margins. As the disease progresses, foliage will wilt and drop, exposing the fruit to sunscald. The upper branches of infected avocado trees will also die back.

Fruit production also declines in infected trees. They may bear small or sparse fruit at first, but eventually fruit production will stop altogether. This disease does usually result in the death of infected trees.

Treating Avocados with Root Rot

Excessive soil moisture and poor drainage are contributing factors of phytophthora root rot. It is most prevalent in sites that periodically floor or puddle up from bad drainage, low grade, or improper irrigation. Fungal spores can be spread by wind, but most often trees are infected from water runoff or infected scion or rootstock in grafting practices. The disease can also be spread by dirty gardening tools. Proper sanitation of gardening equipment and garden debris is always essential in controlling the spread of disease.

Prevention is the most important step in controlling avocado root rot. Before planting an avocado tree, ensure that it is in a site with good drainage and no runoff from other potentially infected avocado trees. Berming up the site or adding garden gypsum and organic matter can be excellent ways to provide proper drainage.

Planting avocado trees from certified stock is also recommended. A few avocado cultivars that have shown resistance to phytophthora root rot are Dusa, Latas, Uzi, and Zentmyer.

While fungicides will not cure root rot in avocados, they can help control the disease. Research has shown that fungicides containing potassium phosphonate can help avocado trees become more resilient to avocado root rot. Fungicides should be used in combination with proper soil conditions, irrigation, and fertilizing practices to treat this condition.

Fertilizers that contain ammonium nitrogen and calcium carbonate, calcium nitrate, or calcium sulfate can help avocado trees survive phytophthora root rot.

Fungal diseases can happen to any plant. Most of the time these fungal infections have obvious symptoms such as spotted or mottled foliage, water-soaked lesions, or powdery or downy growth on plant tissues. However, not all fungal diseases bear such apparent symptoms. This is the case with avocado wood rot. Continue reading to learn more about wood rot of avocado trees.

What Causes Avocado Rot?

Avocado wood rot is a fungal disease caused by the pathogen Ganoderma lucidum. Spores of this fungal disease are carried on the wind and infect avocado trees through open wounds on the trunk or roots. The spores can live in soil for quite some time and also be carried to root wounds by flooding or splash back of rain. Avocado rot is more prevalent in weakened or damaged trees. Ganoderma lucidum wood rot can also infect other trees besides avocado, such as:

• Acacia
• Apple
• Ash
• Birch
• Cherry
• Elm
• Hackberry
• Sweetgum
• Magnolia

While wood rot of avocado trees can kill a tree within only three to five years of the initial infection, the disease does not usually exhibit any symptoms until it is too late. Early symptoms can include wilted, yellowing, stunted or deformed foliage, leaf drop, and dead branches. In spring, the tree may leaf out like normal, but then foliage will suddenly yellow and drop. Other times rotten avocado trees may not display any foliar or branch symptoms. Ganoderma lucidum wood rot of avocado trees is also known as varnished fungus rot because in advanced stages of the disease it produces orange to red, shiny conks or shelf mushrooms from the tree’s trunk near the base of the tree. These conks are the reproductive structure of the fungal disease. The underside of the conks is usually a white or cream color and porous. In the humidity of mid to late summer, these conks release spores and the disease can spread to other trees. Interestingly, these conks or shelf mushrooms are an important herbal medicine used to treat many human ailments in traditional Chinese medicine.

How to Treat a Rotten Avocado Tree

There is no treatment for avocado wood rot. By the time symptoms and conks are noticed, the internal rot and decay of the tree is extensive. The fungus can severely rot structural roots and the heartwood of the tree without displaying any symptoms. Aerial symptoms that are noticed may be mistaken for many less serious fungal diseases. When the tree’s structural roots and heartwood are decayed, the tree can be easily damaged by wind and storms. Infected trees should be cut down and the roots should also be removed. Infected wood should be destroyed.

Growing an avocado tree is a great way to have a steady supply of this delicious, nutritious, and fatty fruit. You can even grow one from a pit of the last avocado you ate. There are some potential issues, though, that could destroy your baby avocado, including avocado seedling blight. Know the signs, how to prevent it, and how to manage it.

What is Avocado Phytophthora Blight?

A specific species of fungus causes blight in avocado seedlings: Phytophthora palmivora. It favors humid and moist, warm conditions, especially after big rains. This infection is most common in subtropical areas, like southern Florida. In fact, the first infection discovered in the U.S. was in Florida in the 1940's. Signs you may have this kind of blight in your avocado seedlings are reddish or brownish patches on the mature leaves that are irregular in shape. You may also see that the terminal bud on the seedling has been killed. The younger leaves may curl or exhibit darker spots. There will also be lesions on the stems, but these are less obvious.

Phytophthora Blight Control in Avocado Seedlings

The best way to deal with this blight is to prevent it in the first place. When growing an avocado tree from seed, give it plenty of room to let air flow through, especially if your climate is humid and rainy. It also helps to raise them up off the ground for planting so that they do not get contaminated soil splashed on the leaves during a rain. This also allows for more air flow. If you do get avocado seedlings with blight symptoms, you can try a fungicide recommended at your local nursery or extension office. Depending on the extent of the infection, though, it may be too late to manage it. The good news is that if you live in a dry climate, like many parts of California, you can grow avocado seedlings without worrying about blight.

Although avocado trees produce more than a million flowers at bloom time, most fall from the tree without producing fruit. This extreme flowering is nature’s way of encouraging visits from pollinators. 

Even with this excessive blossoming, there are several reasons for a fruitless avocado. Read on to learn why there is no fruit on an avocado tree as well as additional information regarding an avocado that won’t produce fruit.

Reasons for an Avocado Tree with no Fruit

There are several reasons for a fruitless avocado. First of all, grafted trees usually begin to produce fruit in three to four years while avocado seedlings (non-grafted) take much longer to produce (7-10 years), if at all. So one reason why an avocado won’t produce fruit is simply because it is not a mature grafted variety. 

Also, avocados planted in USDA zones 9 through 11 can bear fruit, but if you are in a chillier region, the tree may survive but never set fruit. 

Additionally, avocados will often produce a heavy fruit set one year and in the successive year produce a much lighter set of fruit. This is called biennial fruiting.

The most likely cause for no fruit on an avocado tree is its flowering pattern. Avocados have a unique flowering behavior called ‘protogynous dichogamy.’ All that this cumbersome phrase means is that the tree has both functional male and female organs in each flower.

Over a two day period, the bloom opens first as a female and on the following day as a male. Each opening of the flower lasts about half a day. To further complicate things, avocado flowering patterns are divided into two groups: “A” and “B” type flowers.

Type A flowers open as females in the morning and then as males, while Type B blooms open as male followed by female.

Temperature plays a part in how well the synchronized blooming pattern is accomplished. Optimal temps for flowering are 68 to 77 degrees F. (20-25 C.). Higher or lower temperatures can alter how well the tree is pollinating.

How to Get an Avocado to Set Fruit

To encourage pollination, plant more than one tree. Plant rootstock grafted seedlings rather than seeds you have started on your own. Be sure to fertilize avocado trees with a nitrogen rich fertilizer in the late winter to early spring and again in early summer. 

From April through June (Northern Hemisphere), refrain from feeding the trees with a nitrogen rich food which will only encourage foliage growth rather than fruit production. Avocado trees do not need or like heavy pruning. If you need to prune out dead, broken, or diseased branches, try to avoid cutting or damaging branches with buds or flowers. 

Keep the tree consistently watered; water deeply to soak the roots and then let the soil surface dry before watering again. Depending upon the temperature, this may mean daily or weekly watering.

When the tips of your avocado leaves look scorched, but the sun isn’t hot, you may be perplexed. Why are my avocado leaves burnt, you may ask. Avocado leaf burn doesn’t always result from high-voltage sunshine. If you want to understand the causes for burnt avocado leaves, read on.

Why are My Avocado Leaves Burnt?

Avocado leaf burn is fairly easy to recognize in avocado trees. You’ll see dry and scorched avocado leaves, and the damage is especially noticeable around the tips. Leaf burn also causes the affected leaves to fall from the tree well before normal dormancy. The condition makes it look as though extra-hot sunshine has burnt avocado leaves on your trees. This condition can also appear when the sky is cloudy, and the weather is cool or mild. Given the absence of dramatic sunshine, you may wonder what is causing the scorched avocado leaves. Burnt avocado leaves can be caused by many factors other than sunshine. When avocado tree leaves brown at the tips and the edges, it is usually associated with an accumulation of salts in the soil. Dry conditions can also play a role. Dry conditions contributing to avocado leaf burn can include inadequate irrigation. Dry winds can also desiccate the foliage and frost may play a part as well.

Preventing Avocado Leaf Burn

How do salts get in the soil? If you live near a salty body of water, the connection is pretty obvious. Avocados are very sensitive to salts, and they accumulate sodium and chlorides more readily than other trees. A good way of preventing avocado leaf burn is to give the tree regular deep waterings. That washes the salt out of the soil. Forget light irrigation. It doesn’t offer sufficient water to leach out the accumulated salts. Avocado leaf burn can also be caused by excessive fertilizer applications. Deep watering helps leach out fertilizers too. Be sure to add measured amounts of fertilizer per label directions. Desiccation can also be reduced or prevented by appropriate irrigation. Many homeowners trying to provide good irrigation place the garden hose near the tree trunk and let it run. However, mature avocado trees have a canopy that spreads far in all directions. The roots extend as far as the canopy and sometimes farther. To water these roots, you need to irrigate at the outside edges of the canopy, not near the trunk.

Fresh, ripe avocados are a treat just as a snack or in your favorite guacamole recipe. Their rich flesh is a source of vitamins and good fats, a filling repast that is good for you. Gardeners lucky enough to have homegrown fruits may find that an avocado has no flowers. While not a common problem, it does happen. How to get flowers on avocado trees? The problem may be cultural, environmental, related to tree age or pollination issues.

Why Avocado Won't Flower

Avocado trees are classed as A and B types or determinate and indeterminate. Each tree has both male and female flowers on it, but pollination occurs best if there is another avocado nearby. When there are no blooms on avocado plants, determining the reason starts with a full examination of the tree and its health. Plenty of natural and cultural conditions can cause failure to bloom. Often, it is simply a matter of waiting, as a grafted tree can take up to 4 years to fruit well and a tree grown from a pit may take 12 years or more. When an avocado tree doesn't bloom, all you can think about are the lost delicious fruits that you could be enjoying if you could cure the condition. Avocados are usually grafted onto hardier rootstock from another related variety. This promotes better fruiting and generally carries with it traits like some resistance to pest or disease, or even a better tolerance for cold. Be sure your variety is suitable for your region. If it is, check the growing requirements for the plant. As a rule, avocados like plenty of sun, temperatures of 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 29 C.), well-draining soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5, and moist but not boggy soil. If any of these cultural requirements are not met, an unhappy avocado may respond by aborting or failing to produce flowers.

Other Reasons an Avocado Tree Doesn't Bloom

Once you have established that the growing conditions are all being met and you have a healthy tree, other considerations must be raised. It is perfectly natural for young avocado trees to drop flowers their first or even second year. Avocados need a chilling period to promote flowering and fruit. They need to experience temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to 7 C.) during the dormant period. The temperatures need to be fairly consistent for several months. A sudden cold snap could affect flower production. As buds are forming, a late freeze can kill these and cause them to die and fall off. A common mistake is pruning at the wrong time and taking too much wood from the tree. Avocados don't need much pruning, but removal of more than a third of the wood, especially terminal ends, can remove the bud wood. However, light pruning can enhance circulation and light penetration, encouraging budding. Over feeding a tree, especially with nitrogen, can also contribute to no blooms on avocado.

How to Get Flowers on Avocado

In addition to good regular watering and care, sometimes you have to get drastic to cause the tree to bloom. Root pruning can be used to shock the tree into blooming the next growing season. Use a sharp spade and make cuts just into the soil at the edge of the tree's root zone. Basically, you are making a dotted line around the edges of the root area to remove the feeder roots. A rarely used and not often recommended method is scoring the bark. It is a rather risky move, as any injury to the trunk invites potential pest and disease invasion. Use a small, sharp, sterile knife and cut a line half way around the tree on the lower part of the trunk. On the opposite side, a bit farther up, cut another identical line. The lines should never meet or the vascular tissue will be girdled. When an avocado has no flowers, it is often a matter of proper care and some patience. Another note – some varieties produce in alternate seasons. Wait a year before you panic and see what happens.

There are lots of great things about living in a warm climate, but one of the best is being able to grow amazing fruits like avocado in your own backyard. Growing more exotic plants can be both a blessing and a bit of a curse, though, because this also means that you have fewer resources to help when you run into a problem. For example, if you notice that your avocados are developing weird spots, you might get a little suspicious. Could it be avocado black spot, more commonly known as cercospora spot in avocados? Read on for a more in-depth discussion of this chronic disease of avocados.

What is Avocado Cercospora Spot?

Avocado cercospora spot is a common and frustrating fungus that thrives on the tissues of avocado trees. The disease is caused by the pathogenic fungus Cercospora purpurea, but it presents much like other types of Cercospora infections. Cercospora symptoms can include, but are not limited to, small brown to purple spots on leaves, angular-appearing spots on leaves, small irregular brown spots on fruits, or fissures and cracks in the fruit’s surface. C. purpurea is spread by wind and rain, but it may also be transmitted by insect activity. Fruits tend to become infected during the wettest part of their growing season. By itself, Cercospora won’t damage avocados beyond use and the fungus doesn’t penetrate the rind of the fruit, but the fissures that can result from the fungal feeding invite more destructive pathogens into the flesh.

Treating Avocado Cercospora Spot

The goal of any avocado grower should be to prevent fungal diseases like Cercospora spot from erupting in the first place, so before you consider treatment, let’s talk about prevention. Cercospora is often transmitted from plant debris or weeds that are around the tree, so make sure that you clean up all fallen leaves, shed fruit, and keep the area free of unwanted plants. If there are any avocados that didn’t get picked and didn’t fall last year, get those things off the tree ASAP. The other part of the equation is airflow. Fungal infections love pockets of stagnant air because they allow humidity to build, creating a fungal nursery. Thinning the inside branches of your avocado, like with any fruit-bearing tree, will not only decrease the humidity in the canopy, but also improve the quality of the fruits you get. Sure, you may get fewer fruits, but they’ll be significantly better. The actual treatment of Cercospora is pretty straightforward. Copper spray, applied three to four times a year, seems to keep the fungus at bay. You’ll want to apply the first at the beginning of your wet season, then follow up monthly. The third and fourth are only recommended for avocados that ripen very late.

Avocado trees (Persea americana) are shallow-rooted plants that can grow to 35 feet (12 m.) tall. They do best in a sunny, wind protected area. If you are thinking of transplanting avocado trees, the younger the tree, the better your chance of success. For more information on transplanting avocado trees, including tips on how to transplant an avocado, read on.

Can You Move a Mature Avocado Tree?

Sometimes it’s necessary to think about moving an avocado tree. Maybe you planted it in the sun and now it’s become a shady area. Or maybe the tree just grew taller than you thought it would. The tree is mature now though and you’d hate to lose it. Can you move a mature avocado tree? You can. Avocado transplanting is indisputably easier when the tree is young, but transplanting an avocado tree is possible even if it’s been in the ground for some years.

When to Start Transplanting Avocado Trees

Undertake avocado transplanting in the spring or early summer. You want to get the task of transplanting avocado trees completed while the ground is warm, but the weather isn’t too hot. Since transplanted trees can’t take in water very well for a while, they can be vulnerable to sun damage. That also makes irrigation important.

How to Transplant an Avocado

When you are ready to start moving an avocado tree, the first step is to select a new location. Pick a sunny location a distance from other trees. If you are hoping to grow avocado fruit, you’ll need the tree to get as much sun as possible. Next, prepare the planting hole. Dig the hole three times as large and deep as the root ball. Once the dirt is dug out, break up the chunks and return it all to the hole. Then dig another hole in the loosened soil about the size of the root ball. Dig a trench around the mature avocado tree. Keep digging deeper, expanding the hole if necessary to accommodate the entire root ball. When you can slip your shovel under the root ball, remove the tree and place it in a tarp. Get help to lift it if necessary. Moving an avocado tree is sometimes easier with two people. The next step in avocado transplanting is to transport the tree to the new location and ease the tree’s root ball into the hole. Add native soil to fill in all spaces. Tamp it down, then water deeply.

If you have an avocado tree that is so rife with fruit, the limbs are in danger of breaking. This may lead you to wonder, “Should I thin my avocado fruit?” Avocado fruit thinning is similar to thinning other fruiting trees, such as apples. Removing avocado fruit may or may not be a good idea, it all depends on how and when you go about thinning the avocado fruit. So how do you thin avocado fruit? Read on to learn more.

About Avocado Fruit Thinning

Columnar cultivars of avocado are pinched at an early age to attain a more rounded habit, but most other types of avocado require no training and little pruning. Any pruning of avocado that may be done is done so judiciously since avocado trees are susceptible to sunscald, which results in defoliation. Avocado fruit is also self-thinning, so thinning avocado fruit is generally not required.

Should I Thin My Avocadoes?

While thinning isn’t normally required, several cultivars of avocado are in the habit of bearing fruit in alternate years. That is, in a particular year, the tree produces a staggering amount of fruit, so much that the energy from the tree either cannot support the enormous quantity or the resulting yield is high but fruit is small. In the following year, the tree’s energy is so depleted that it barely fruits, if at all. In this case, it may be advisable to lightly thin the fruit. Also, thinning is advisable when multiple trees begin to grow together such that their canopies begin to lose light.

How to Thin Avocado Fruit

When trees are bearing overly heavily, they often drop a lot of fruit before it reaches maturity and any fruit that is left behind is often of a small size. Removing some avocado fruit will allow the tree to expend energy on the remaining avocadoes, resulting in larger fruit. Avocado fruit is borne in clusters, sometimes just a few and sometimes many fruit are growing together. Take a good look at the grouping of immature fruit and identify any that are misshapen, diseased or pest damaged, and the smallest fruit. These are the fruit you will remove, leaving just the largest, healthiest looking avocado in the cluster. Using sharp bypass pruners, snip off the immature fruit at the stem. I know it’s hard, but continue in this way until you have evenly spaced fruit on the tree. Space fruit about 6 inches (15 cm.) apart on the tree. If you have a cluster of fruit very close to the one that has just been thinned, it is best to remove it rather than thinning to one fruit.

Good things come to those avocado growers who wait, at least, that’s more or less how the saying goes. When it comes to harvesting and handling avocado fruit post-harvest, many avocado growers get a lot more of a surprise than they bargained for when they discover anthracnose of avocado fruit covering their bounty. What’s an avocado lover to do? Read on for more information about anthracnose on avocado trees.

Anthracnose Symptoms in Avocado

Unlike many avocado diseases that are basically cosmetic, anthracnose is often difficult to see and can selectively ruin fruits, leaving all other plant parts untouched. You might notice some leaf spots, but it’s far more likely your first brush with this fungal pathogen will occur while your fruits are ripening. Avocados will suddenly sport small dark spots that expand rapidly, within just one or two days, as the fruit ripen. Since the skin of the immature avocado fruit is largely protective against anthracnose infection, it’s easy to have a bad case of anthracnose without even knowing it. Although this fungus isn’t dangerous for humans to consume, it can affect fruit quality dramatically, with the damaged areas of the avocado discoloring and producing a sour flavor. Home growers can simply cut these spots out, but if you’re selling your produce, you may need to take greater steps to ensure that your avocados are marketable in the future.

Treating Anthracnose on Avocado

Avocado anthracnose treatment requires keeping several things in mind at once. First, your goal is to reduce the amount of anthracnose spores in and around your tree. This means removing all dead fruits, leaves, and branches at the end of the year and cleaning up any debris or dropped fruits that might accumulate underneath. Prune your trees so the insides are more open and allow the wind to penetrate, reducing life-giving humidity in the canopy. Secondly, you can treat your tree as a precaution. Spraying the tree with copper fungicide every two weeks after blossom drop will ensure that your fruit is protected throughout its development. Also, treating or remedying other diseases, pests, or handling problems will also help tremendously. Thirdly, your fruit should be carefully handled post-harvest. Cooling ripening fruits immediately and holding them at 41 degrees F. (5 C.) is vital. Temperatures of 75 degrees F. (24 C.) will accelerate the growth of any anthracnose that managed to evade your spraying efforts. Harvesting during dry conditions can help avoid contaminating fruits that were otherwise perfect.

Gearing up for avocado season means so much more if you’re growing your own alligator pears. Instead of eating the neighbor’s famous guacamole, it’s yours that everyone on the block will be after, but when your avocado tree develops leaf spots, does that mean the party’s over? The answer is that it depends on what’s causing the spot, but if it’s algal leaf spot of avocado, you can still have a healthy and abundant harvest after all!

Algal Leaf Spot of Avocado

Avocado leaf diseases can look so bad that a homeowner will question whether or not their tree will make it to harvest time. Fortunately, many avocado leaf diseases look a lot worse than they really are for established trees, and algal leaf spot of avocados is one of the easy ones! You’ll know you have avocado algal leaf disease when green, yellowish, or red orange raised spots start to appear in abundance on your avocado leaves. Sometimes those spots spread to twigs and branches or come together to create larger blobs of discolored tissue. As the algal reproductive systems mature, the spots will all turn rust-colored and may also discolor the unaffected side of the leaf.

Algal Leaf Spot Treatment

As awful as those algal leaf spots look, they’re not necessarily damaging your tree. If you can bear the appearance and your tree is producing well, you can continue on with business as usual. It might be a good idea to remove any debris or weeds around the trunks of these trees, as well as thinning the interior of the plant to ensure that maximum air flow is available to dry out leaves and bark. After all, avocado algal leaf disease depends heavily on moisture to thrive. If younger trees or vital landscape plants are affected, treating spots on avocado leaves is easy. Even though the existing spots will remain after treatment, you can prevent new spots from forming by thinning the tree and spraying it with a copper fungicide. Trees that have had repeated problems with algal leaf spot and have been thinned may need to be treated on a schedule, just make sure to observe any hold times before harvesting fruit.

Avocado trees grow well in subtropical environments and make both a beautiful and a bountiful addition to warm climate gardens. These trees produce the delicious green fruits that are also nutritious. As with any fruit tree, there are pests and diseases that may strike and either kill or limit the harvest. Avocado powdery mildew is a fungus that is not uncommon, but also not too serious and easy to treat and manage.

Signs of Powdery Mildew on Avocado Trees

Avocado powdery mildew is caused by a type of fungus called Oidium. The disease only affects the foliage of an avocado tree, not the fruit. However, if the infection goes untreated and becomes severe, it can weaken the tree. In general, powdery mildew is not considered a serious disease impacting avocado trees. You are most likely to see it during the drier months of the year.

Signs that you may have powdery mildew will show on the leaves of your avocado tree. On younger leaves, look for darker green spots that are covered in a powdery substance. This is the fungus. On older leaves, the spots will become a brown or purple color with the powdery fungus.

Eventually, the powdery substance disappears and brown, net-like markings are left behind on the underside of leaves with yellowish markings on the top of the leaves.

Treating Powdery Mildew on Avocado Trees

While it is not considered a serious infection on avocado trees, powdery mildew control and treatment are important for keeping your tree as healthy as possible. If you see any signs of the fungus, treat it immediately with an appropriate fungicide to eliminate and prevent it from spreading throughout the tree.

Your local nursery, or even a local agricultural extension office, can tell you what fungicide to use. Typically, a solution of sulfur is used for treating powdery mildew on avocados.

Powdery mildew on avocado trees in your garden is nothing to be too worried about, but controlling infections like this is important for keeping your trees both healthy and attractive.

Avocados are a delicious, healthful fruit that, like all crops, may become afflicted with a disease. Avocado scab disease is one such problem. While initially scab on avocado fruit is a cosmetic issue, it may become a gateway for the entry of fruit rotting organisms such as anthracnose. Because of this, treating avocado scab is an important step to preserving the crop. Identifying scab symptoms in avocado will better enable the grower to apply avocado scab control.

What is Scab on Avocado Fruit?

Avocado scab disease is caused by the fungus Sphaceloma perseae. Scab symptoms on avocadoes present as oval to round, raised areas of corky scab. The first lesions that appear are generally black/brown and scattered across the fruit’s skin. The lesions begin to coalesce and merge, potentially affecting almost the entirety of the fruit. Symptoms of scab on the leaves are more difficult to ascertain, as the most visible signs are in the uppermost portions of the tree’s canopy. Young leaves may become distorted and stunted with reddish spots on both the upper and lower sides of the foliage. Scab symptoms on avocado may be confused with physical damage. Fruit is most susceptible right after fruit set and during the early stages of development. When the fruit is at about half its mature size, it becomes resistant to the infection, as do leaves once they are about a month old. The disease is most prevalent after long periods of rain, especially when the tree is in its initial stages of fruit set.

Avocado Scab Control

Although the disease is primarily cosmetic, affecting the exterior of the fruit but not the interior, it is a portal for other diseases, so treating avocado scab before any sign of infection is necessary to the health of the tree and resulting fruit. Also, since scab is spread by the dispersal of spores produced at the early stages of infection and then spread through the movement of wind, rain, and tools or equipment, the pathogen can travel over long distances. Fungicides should be used to mitigate the spread of the fungus. Treatment involves the application of copper fungicide when flower buds appear, near the end of bloom time and again 3-4 weeks after.

So your prized avocado tree is showing signs of infestation, the question is, what’s eating the tree? There are quite a number of pests of avocado but one of the most common are bud mites on avocado trees. What are avocado bud mites and is there any viable avocado bud mite control? Let’s learn more.

Bud Mite Pests of Avocado

Although avocados may be afflicted with a number of pests, a common offender may be spider mites. There are a couple of different types of spider mites that commonly attack avocados. Treating avocado bud mite problems means identifying which mite is causing the damage. The first candidate is the Persea bud mite and the second is the avocado bud mite.

Persea bud mite information

Persea mites (Oligonychus perseae) are found feeding in colonies along midribs and veins on the undersides of avocado leaves. Their increased feeding produces the most damage by late summer and involves defoliation of the trees. This increased defoliation increases the risk of sunburn to new fruit, which results in premature fruit drop. The defoliation also promotes new growth, which fosters thrips populations. The Persea bud mite was first identified in 1975 on avocadoes that had been shipped from Mexico and were quarantined in El Paso, Texas. These mites are sensitive to temperature and humidity changes but their populations burgeon in areas of moderate temps influenced by cool marine air.

What are avocado bud mites?

Avocado bud mites (Tegolophus perseaflorae) are found on buds and newly developing fruit. Their feeding increases from March to May, resulting in necrotic spots and fruit deformities. Mites are yellowish in color and can only be observed with a hand lens.

Persea and Avocado Bud Mite Control

Both T. perseaflorae and O. perseae are referred to as “avocado bud mites.” There is little doubt, however, that they are spider mites with similar attributes. Spider mites, in general, live between 5-20 days. Females lay several hundred eggs in their short lifetime and the eggs can overwinter - all of which makes treating avocado bud mite problems difficult. The industry practice is to apply foliar applications of insecticides to control the mites. There are a few miticides used in commercial groves for treating bud mites on avocado trees. Sulfur oil emulsion sprays are recommended for use. A narrow range 415 oil sprayed on the tree prior to bloom time may also help, but the coverage needs to be thorough. A predatory mite is also showing promise at combating avocado mites. Neoseiulus californicus is commercially available but cost prohibitive at this point. There are a few avocado cultivars that have shown some resistance to the mites, with Lamb Hass being the most resistant.

For those of you lucky enough to include an avocado tree in the garden landscape, my guess is that it is included because you want to sink your teeth into some of the silky delectable fruit. Fertilizing avocado trees, along with general care and proper planting, will give you the best chance of an abundant and healthy crop of fruit. The question is how to fertilize avocados?

Avocado Fertilizer Requirements

What are avocado fertilizer requirements? The feeding of avocado plants is determined by the soil composition. That is, we fertilize to make up for any nutritional deficiencies in the soil, not to directly feed the tree with its nutrient requirements. 

Avocados need nitrogen, first and foremost, and a little zinc. You can use a citrus tree fertilizer as an avocado fertilizer or go organic and use compost, coffee, fish emulsion, etc. Avocados are hardy in USDA zones 9b to 11 and in those regions soil is generally sufficiently nutrient rich to support an avocado. 

That said, some avocado tree fertilizer is recommended since as the tree matures its nutritional needs change and the soil nutrient levels become reduced. You can minimize feeding avocado plants by properly planting them. Proper planting and general care will set you up for a healthy tree that requires little additional care as it matures. 

Avocados are shallow rooted trees with most of their feeder roots at the top 6 inches (15 cm.) or so of soil. Because of this, they need to be planted in well aerated soil. Trees should be planted in spring when soil temps have warmed and in an area protected from wind and frost. 

Also, keep your avocado away from any areas of lawn where competition for nitrogen may keep the tree from uptaking enough of that nutrient. Using a soil test kit, check the soil. It should be at a pH of 7 or below. If the soil is alkaline, amend the soil with organic matter, like sphagnum moss. For each 2 ½ pounds (1.1 kg.) of peat moss added to 1 square yard (1 square m.) of soil, the soil pH lowers by one unit. Select a full sun site and dig a hole as deep as the root ball and a little wider. Gently ease the tree into the hole.

If the tree is root bound, loosen the soil and lightly clip the roots. Fill in with soil. Mulch around the tree with coarse yard mulch (redwood bark, cocoa bean husks, shredded tree bark) at the rate of 1/3 cubic yard (.25 cubic m.) per tree. Be sure to stay 6-8 inches (15-20 cm.) away from the trunk of the tree.

Water the new tree in well. New trees can hold about 2 gallons (7.8 L.) of water at planting. Water 2-3 times a week depending upon the weather but allow the soil to dry out somewhat between watering. Outside suitable growing zones, these plants can be grown indoors in containers.

How to Fertilize Avocados

Fertilizing new avocado trees should occur three times in the first year – once in spring, once in summer and again in fall. When the tree becomes dormant in late autumn, cease feeding. 

How much should you be feeding avocado plants? One tablespoon of nitrogen broadcast over the soil around the tree. Water the fertilizer in with a deep watering. The process for fertilizing avocado trees changes as they mature since they have changing nutritional needs. Continue to apply nitrogen, but in the tree’s second year, increase the amount of nitrogen fertilizer to ¼ pound (.1 L.) divided into three applications. In its third year, the tree will need ½ pound (.2 L.) of nitrogen and so on.

 As the tree grows, increase the amount of nitrogen by ¼ pound (.1 L.) for each year of life divided into three applications. There is no need to fertilize the tree any more than this; in fact, it might harm the tree. 

If you had found that you had alkaline soil, the addition of peat moss will take some time to regulate the pH. So you will need to supplement with chelated iron. An iron deficiency should be patently obvious; the newest leaves will have green veins and yellow margins.

Overall, no special avocado tree fertilizer is needed. A general use home fertilizer should work just fine. If it doesn’t contain zinc, you may wish to feed the tree with some zinc once a year. Keep the feeding to a minimum. Keep an eye on your tree for any other signs of distress such as disease and/or pests and treat immediately. Follow all of the above and you’ll be making guacamole in no time.

Many houseplants can be grown from staples found among the produce of your very own refrigerator. Carrots, potatoes, pineapple and, of course, avocado all garner respectable houseplants. Interested? Let's look at an avocado and see how to grow an avocado houseplant.

How to Grow an Avocado Houseplant

You may be familiar with growing avocados in pots. In fact, it's likely you took part in caring for avocados in containers. I know I did. Growing avocados in pots is often the first experience we have when learning about plant growth and where our food comes from. Many elementary school children have taken part in this process. If it's been awhile, and especially if you have little ones of your own, it's time to re-investigate how to grow an avocado indoors. First, gather the kids and/or your inner child because this is an easy and fun project for all of you. Get an avocado pit and suspend it in a glass of water using three to four toothpicks inserted halfway down the seed. This will dangle the pit half in and half out of the water. Place the seed flat end down in the water filled container. That's it! It's all coming back, isn't it? If you want germination to speed up, remove the seed coat or cut off the top half inch of the pointed end of the seed before suspending it. This isn't necessary, as most seeds easily germinate of their own accord. Place the pit in a sunny area and keep it half filled with water for a few weeks. Soon a small root will appear along with a tender shoot, emerging at the pointed end. When the stem completely emerges from the seed and a plentiful root system can be seen, you can plant it in well-drained potting soil in a container with a hole at the bottom.

Avocado Houseplant Care

Caring for avocados in containers is just as easy. Keep the plant soil consistently moist but not over watered. Overwatering will cause the leaves to curl and the stem to soften-- not a desirable trait. Don't under water the avocado either or the foliage will wilt, dry and drop. Your avocado, as with most houseplants, will need to be fed. Fertilize the plant every three months with a small amount of water-soluble food to facilitate growth and healthy deep green foliage. You can move the avocado houseplant outdoors to a partially shaded area when the weather warms. If you want to encourage branching, cut the stem back 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm.). The emergent branches should then be pinched once they are 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm.) long to promote additional branching. Remember, avocados come from trees so, in effect, you are growing a tree, although the plant takes a while to attain that height. Also, it is unlikely your tree will bear fruit and, if it does, it may not be very good and will take at least eight to ten years to appear. If you wish to grow an avocado for fruit, it is best to start from a grafted sapling procured from a nursery which will then produce fruit in two to three years. Nonetheless, this is a super fun project and so easy everyone can do it!

I'm betting that many of us as children, started, or tried to start, an avocado tree from a pit. While this is a fun project, with this method you may very well get a tree but probably not fruit. Folks that definitely want fruit usually buy a grafted avocado sapling, but did you know growing avocado trees from cuttings is also possible? It's true, the question is, how to propagate a cutting from avocado trees?

Growing Avocado Trees from Cuttings

Avocados can be propagated by planting seeds, rooting avocado cuttings, layering and grafting. Avocados do not produce true to the seed. Avocado propagating by cuttings is a more certain method, as propagating a new tree from avocado tree cuttings results in a clone of the parent tree. 

Sure, you can go purchase an avocado sapling, but avocado propagating by cuttings is certainly less expensive and a fun gardening experience to boot. Keep in mind that rooting avocado cuttings will still require some patience. The resulting tree will likely not bear fruit for the first seven to eight years.

How to Propagate a Cutting from Avocado Trees

The first step to propagating an avocado from cuttings is to take a cutting from an existing tree in early spring. Look for a new shoot with leaves that are not fully opened. Cut 5-6 inches (12.5-15 cm.) from the tip of the stem on the diagonal. 

Remove the leaves from the bottom one-third of the stem. Scrape two opposing ¼- to ½-inch (0.5-1 cm.) strips of skin off the base of the stem or make two small cuts on either side of the cut area. This is called “wounding” and will increase the chances of rooting. Dip the wounded cutting in IBA (indole butyric acid) rooting hormone to stimulate root growth. 

Mix equal portions of peat moss and perlite in a small pot. Put the bottom one-third of the cutting into the potting soil and tamp the soil down around the base of the stem. Water the cutting. At this point, you can cover the pot, loosely, with a plastic bag to increase humidity. 

Or, just keep the cutting moist, watering only if the soil appears dry. Keep the cutting indoors in a warm area that receives indirect sun. In about two weeks, check the progress of your cutting. Tug it gently. If you feel a slight resistance, you have roots and are now growing an avocado tree from a cutting!

Continue to monitor the seedling for three weeks and then transplant it into a larger indoor pot or directly out into the garden if you live in USDA plant hardiness zone 4 or 5. Outdoor avocado trees should be planted in the sun, in well-draining soil with plenty of room for root spread.

Fertilize indoor avocados every three weeks and outdoor trees every month for the first year. Thereafter, fertilize the tree four times a year and water only when the soil feels dry.

Avocados are native to tropical America but are grown in tropical to subtropical areas of the world. If you have a yen for growing your own avocados but don't exactly live in a tropical climate, all is not lost! There are some types of cold hardy, frost tolerant avocado trees. Read on to learn more about them.

About Cold Tolerant Avocado Trees

Avocados have been cultivated in the tropical Americas since pre-Columbian times and were first brought to Florida in 1833 and California in 1856. Generally, the avocado tree is classified as an evergreen, although some varietals lose their leaves for a brief period prior to and during blooming. As mentioned, avocados thrive in warm temperatures and are, thus, cultivated along the southeast and southwest coast of Florida and southern California. If you are a lover of all things avocado and do not reside in these areas, you may wonder “is there a cold tolerant avocado?”

Avocado Cold Tolerance

The cold tolerance of avocado depends on the variety of tree. Just what is an avocado's cold tolerance level? The West Indian varieties grow best in temperatures from 60 to 85 degrees F. (15-29 C.) If the trees are well established, they can survive a short-term minor dip in temps, but young trees must be protected from frost. Guatemalan avocados can do well in cooler temperatures, 26 to 30 degrees F. (-3 to -1 C.). They are native to high altitudes, thus cooler regions of the tropics. These avocados are medium-sized, pear-shaped, green fruits that turn a blackish green when ripe. The maximum cold tolerance of avocado trees can be attained by planting Mexican types, which are native to the dry subtropical highlands. They flourish in a Mediterranean type climate and are able to withstand temperatures as low as 19 degrees F. (-7 C.). The fruit is smaller with thin skins that turn a glossy green to black when fully ripe.

Types of Cold Hardy Avocado Trees

Slightly cold-tolerant varieties of avocado trees include:

• ‘Tonnage'
• ‘Tayor'
• ‘Lula'
• ‘Kampong'
• ‘Meya'
• ‘Brookslate'

These types are recommended for areas that have infrequent below freezing temps between 24 and 28 degrees F. (-4 to -2 C.). You can also try any of the following, which are tolerant of temps between 25 and 30 degrees F. (-3 to-1 C.):

• ‘Beta'
• ‘Choquette'
• ‘Loretta'
• ‘Booth 8'
• ‘Gainesville'
• ‘Hall'
• ‘Monroe'
• ‘Reed'

The best bet for frost-tolerant avocado trees, however, are the Mexican and Mexican hybrids such as:

• ‘Brogdon'
• ‘Ettinger'
• ‘Gainesville'
• ‘Mexicola'
• ‘Winter Mexican'

They may take a little more searching for, but they are able to withstand temperatures in the low 20's (-6 C.)! Whatever variety of cold-tolerant avocado you plan to grow, there are a couple of tips to follow to help ensure their survival during the cold season. Cold hardy varieties are adapted to USDA plant hardiness zones 8 through 10, that is from coastal South Carolina to Texas. Otherwise, you probably better have a greenhouse or resign yourself to purchasing the fruit from the grocer. Plant the avocado trees 25 to 30 feet (7.5-9 m.) apart on the south side of a building or underneath an overhead canopy. Use garden fabric or burlap to wrap the tree when hard freezes are expected. Protect the rootstock and the graft from cold air by mulching just above the graft. Lastly, feed well during the year. Use a well-balanced citrus/avocado food at least four times a year, as often as once a month. Why? A well-fed, healthy tree is more likely to make it during cold snaps.

Pollinating in avocado trees is a unique process. A mature tree may produce over one million blooms over its lifetime, hundreds of them during any one season. So, do avocado trees cross pollinate? Let's find out.

Cross Pollination in Avocados

Pollinating in avocado trees is, indeed, the result of cross pollination in avocados. The flowers of the avocado tree are referred to as perfect, meaning they have both male and female reproductive organs. The blooms are yellow green, ½ inch (1 cm.) across and born in clusters or panicles of 200 to 300 near the end of the branches. Of these hundreds of blooms, about five percent are sterile. Despite the multitudes of blooms, only one to three fruits will develop from these panicles. There are two types of avocado flowers, referred to as A and B. Each variety of avocado tree will have one or the other type of bloom. The trees flower in a manner known as “synchronous dichogamy.” This means bloom time for male and female flowers is distinct. Type A female flowers are receptive to pollen in the morning and male blooms shed pollen in the afternoon. Type B flowers are receptive to pollen in the afternoon and their male blooms shed pollen in the morning. This means that maximum yield occurs with avocado cross pollination between type A and type B. So how do you cross pollinate an avocado tree to encourage optimal fruit set?

How to Cross Pollinate an Avocado Tree

Avocado cross pollination can be encouraged if both varieties (A and B type) of flowers are present. Both of these varieties of avocado need to be blooming at the same time and, of course, there must be pollinators around to lend a hand in fertilization. Additionally, day and night temperatures must be suitable for flowers to be fertilized properly. Overly cold temps affect the number of pollinators which will visit the flowers and carry pollen from male to female for successful fertilization, as do intense winds or rain. However, cool night temps are needed to induce blooming. Pollination is most likely when temperatures are between 65 and 75 degrees F. (18-23 C). As with everything in nature, there is a delicate balance. While many avocado trees will self-pollinate, they will fruit better if cross pollinated with a different type. Therefore, it is advisable to plant a type A and a type B at least 20 to 30 feet (6-9 m.) apart. Type A avocado trees include:

• Hass
• Pinkerton
• Gwen

Type B avocado varieties include:

• Fuerte
• Bacon
• Zutano

If you are still not seeing fruit set after following all of the above, keep in mind that some cultivars bloom and set fruit in alternate years. Also, in general, avocados take their sweet time. Fruit development can take anywhere from 5 to 15 months, so it may just be a matter of being patient. Anything this good is worth waiting for!

Avocados are tasty additions to the garden, but there are many pests and diseases of an avocado tree that you should be aware of before planting. The vast majority of avocado tree problems with disease can be traced to placement in poorly drained soils or growing trees that aren't certified disease-free -- they bring the pathogens with them. Read on to learn about common avocado tree pests and diseases.

Common Diseases of an Avocado Tree

Cankers - Cankers are usually only minor diseases of an avocado tree, but they're highly visible. These sores on tree trunks and branches may sink slightly and ooze gum, giving the sore a rusty appearance. Cankers can often be cut out of limbs, but cankers in trunks often kill affected trees. Fruit rots - Fruit rots, caused by fungal pathogens, typically occur where sanitation is poor and tree stressors are high. These fungi may overwinter in plant debris on the ground around the tree, or in fruits that are left on the tree after harvesting avocados. Proper pruning and prompt removal of fruits will help stop disease. Root rots - Root rots generally appear in areas with poor drainage or in trees that are chronically over watered. If conditions can be improved, the tree may be able to be saved. Sometimes, digging around the tree and exposing the roots will allow the crown to dry enough to prevent tree death. Sunblotch - Sunblotch is a serious, incurable disease of avocado trees. Fruits are often discolored or scarred, twigs may develop red or yellow discoloration, or rectangular cracks may develop in the bark. Infected trees are also often stunted, but some trees show no symptoms at all, aside from a reduction in yield. Once contracted, sunblotch cannot be cured, but by purchasing certified disease-free stock and practicing good tool sanitation, you can stop the spread of sunblotch. Wilts and blights - Wilts and blights are characterized by dead areas in trees, especially when only a part of the tree is affected. Wilts unsurprisingly cause sudden wilting and death in branches; blights may kill small branches or only affect the leaves themselves. Pruning the symptomatic tissues from trees and providing good support can help your avocado recover.

Avocado Tree Insects

Borers - Borers tunnel into avocado trees, where they feed or lay eggs. Entrance holes are highly visible and may leak sap and borer-weakened branches may break easily. Stressed trees are preferred by borers; keeping your tree healthy can prevent infestation. Cut out infested branches and dispose of them immediately. Caterpillars - Caterpillars attack foliage, flowers, and fruits and can cause substantial damage in a short time. Sprays of Bacillus thuringiensis are highly effective, provided that you can reach caterpillars, like leafrollers, who feed inside protective nests made of leaves. Making a special point to spray inside these folded over or silk-bound leaves will destroy the caterpillars inside. Lace bugs - Intermittent pests of avocado, lace bugs damage leaves when they are present. Feeding sites cause yellow spots that soon dry out and stressed leaves will drop, exposing fruit and wood to ultraviolet rays. When symptoms appear, sprays of horticultural oils or pyrethrin are recommended avocado tree treatment. Mites - Mites cause similar damage as lace bugs, but leaves may also take on a bronze appearance and the pests will be difficult to see with the naked eye. Some mites spin fine webs as they feed, similar to those of spiders. Treat them with horticultural oil; insecticides can cause population explosions. Thrips - Thrips rarely cause serious damage to trees, but will seriously scar fruits. Scabby or leathery brown scars appear as fruits enlarge, sometimes stunting fruits. Careful pruning and fertilizing will help prevent thrips, who are attracted to tender flushes of growth. They can be destroyed with horticultural oil or pyrethrin.

The avocado (Persea americana-Miller) is an evergreen tree with a long history of cultivation in the tropical to subtropical Americas since pre-Columbian times. Floridians began planting it as a food crop in 1833 and California followed as a major grower in 1856. Still today, many growers have questions about avocado harvest time. The question stands, “How to tell if an avocado is ripe?” First off, picking avocados right off the tree will definitely not be a good barometer of maturity as avocados do not ripen on the tree. The problem is in knowing when do you harvest avocados. It isn’t always easy to discern the peak avocado harvest time. Are there some peak avocado harvesting time tips on how to pick an avocado that is ripe?

When to Harvest Avocados

An evergreen tree in the family Lauraceae, avocado trees bear fruit that can be round, oblong, or pear-shaped. The skin texture may be woody, pliable, smooth, or rough and of a greenish yellow, reddish purple, purple, or black color. That’s because there are three types of avocado: Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian, each with its own unique characteristics. Knowing when it's avocado harvest time depends on the variety of avocado as well as the region it is being grown in. For example, ‘Haas’ avocados are the most commonly cultivated cultivar and they are generally ready for harvest in February, but can go as late as September. It greatly varies depending upon the weather, fertilization, and even the bearing pattern of the tree. The home gardener generally begins picking avocados when a few of the mature or full grown fruits have dropped. This is not a reliable guide for how to tell if an avocado is ripe, however, as the extended flowering of the fruit results in different stages of maturity on the tree at any one time. This is not to say that the largest fruit should not be picked first. When avocado picking, do pick the largest first as they are usually the most mature and will ripen in one to two weeks at room temperature.

Commercial Avocado Harvest Time

Commercial avocado picking in markets, such as Florida's, have been decided by weight of fruit and time of year respective to each cultivar. Picking avocados when too immature results in fruit which does not ripen, but becomes rubbery, discolored, and shriveled. Florida avocados ripen between 60 and 75 degrees F. (16-24 C.). When temperatures soar, the fruit will ripen unevenly and develop an “off” flavor. Storage temperatures for the West Indian varieties should be about 55 degrees F. (12 C.) and 40 degrees F. (4 C.) for other Floridian cultivars. When the fruit is stored at temperatures below these, the skin may darken and the flesh will become discolored.

How to Tell if an Avocado is Ripe

When to harvest avocados and how to tell if an avocado is ripe are two questions which go hand in hand. We have already ascertained the when to harvest avocados question above, but given that a number of factors can affect avocado harvesting, how then can you tell when to pick your fruit? Here’s the deal. Avocados are unique in that they do not ripen on the tree. In fact, if you aren’t ready to harvest a bunch and eat them soon, the best place to store them is dangling on the tree. Ripe avocados have a uniformly soft flesh and this is the best indicator of readiness. Depending on the variety, the skin may be anywhere from yellowish green to reddish purple to almost black, and for this reason, skin color is not a good barometer of ripeness. The fruit of, for example, Hass, starts as a smooth, brilliant green and gradually the skin turns pebbly and purple-black in color. That color change doesn’t necessarily mean the avocado is ripe, but it is a cue. The longer the fruit is left on the tree, the higher the oil content and the richer the taste. The flavor of the fruit is generally pale to buttery yellow and bland to nut-like in flavor. Like all good things, though, leave it on too long and the oils will become rancid. Commercial growers use a “dry weight” test, which gives a measure of the oil content of the fruit letting them know when to harvest. If the oil content is low, the fruit is unripe and instead of getting soft, it will shrivel or stay rubbery. This isn’t exactly optimal for the home grower, however. So what are you to do? The best way to tell if the fruit is ready to be harvested is to pick one. Select a large, dark avocado. Leave it out on the counter at room temp to ripen or hasten the ripening by putting it in a paper bag. The fruit gives off ethylene gas, which hastens the ripening process. You can speed up this process even more by popping a banana or apple in with the avocado since they also give off ethylene gas. The fruit should soften within a week or two. If so, this is an indicator that the rest of the avocados are ready to harvest. If it shrivels or stays rubbery, be patient and leave the fruit on the tree for a little while longer. You may have to conduct this test a few times until the fruit is at its peak for harvesting, but a few lost fruit is a small price to pay for the dozens of perfectly ripe avocados coming your way. In summary, avocado harvesting is dependent on variety, color, size, and firmness. Regardless, when it's avocado harvest time, growing and picking avocados is a nutritious and delicious exercise and well worth the effort. Guacamole, anyone?

Who doesn’t love a firm, ripe avocado? And the pleasure is doubled when it comes from your own tree. Avocados grow well outside in very warm hardiness zones. If you live in a cooler area or you don’t have enough space for a home orchard, you may want to consider growing an avocado plant indoors.

Avocado trees most likely originated in Southern Mexico and were cultivated for centuries before North America was colonized. The pear-shaped fruits are a delicious, rich food that make an excellent condiment or eat-alone addition to your diet.

The trees are warm season plants, easily damaged by cold and frost. Avocado trees can reach 80 feet (24+ m.) in height. Most plants do poorly in regions where freezing temperatures occur. Gardeners in USDA zones 8 and lower should opt for an avocado tree that can grow indoors.

Can You Grow an Avocado Tree Indoors?

It is possible to grow an avocado plant indoors. However, since most avocado species grow to much taller than an average room height, you’ll want to select one of the dwarf varieties, which top out at around 10 feet (3 m).

Avocado Plant Care Indoors

An indoor avocado tree requires special treatment. First, you’ll want to plant it in a container with lots of drainage holes and use top quality, well-draining soil. Sandy soil is preferable. The young potted avocado tree should not be placed in direct sun until it has developed a canopy of foliage to protect the branches and trunk. Expect to offer your potted avocado tree regular water to maintain moist soil. Indoor avocado plant care includes plant support and feeding. Use a stake to keep the plant's main stem sturdy and straight as it grows.

Water & Light Requirements

Avocado trees need both water and light to mature. But too much is not better. When it comes to water, regular irrigation is essential, but unless you make sure the soil drains well, root rot is a real possibility.

Choose a warm, sunny location to get your avocado started indoors. They need this until their foliage fills in. Until then, direct sun can scorch the bare trunk and branches, so indirect light is important until the evergreen leaves mature.

Soil & Fertilizer Needs

Sandy soil is best for indoor avocado trees since good drainage is very important. Fertilize the tree with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer during the growing season. Pick one with more phosphorus than nitrogen or potassium, like 7-9-5. Alternatively, top dress the soil with a slow release fertilizer in springtime. Turn the tree frequently to promote even growth. You can also fertilize with fish emulsion every month for the first year.

Temperature & Humidity

If you want your indoor avocado plant to fruit, you’ll have to provide it with lower nighttime temperatures. The tree has trouble when moved from a cool, humid location outdoors to a warm area without humidity. Ideally, the air temperature and humidity levels will be similar.

Problems, Pests & Diseases

One benefit of growing avocado indoors is the lack of insect pests that bother the plant. You might see mealybugs, but all the other pests that attack outdoor trees are usually not seen indoors. Other problems - like root rot or scorching - arise from improper cultural care.

How to Prune an Indoor Avocado Tree

When you are growing an avocado plant indoors, you’ll want to prune it to control its size. Prune off any suckers that arise from the rootstock. The best time to prune indoor avocado plants is once the flowering cycle is complete. This helps to avoid cutting off flower buds. Making thinning cuts to reduce the height and width of the tree but leave the shorter lateral branches alone. This is where most of the flowers and the fruit will form.

Repotting Avocado Trees

Pot up your avocado tree in a 15-20 gallon (56.78-75.7 L) container. That should be large enough to hold the mature plant. If you start smaller, repotting the avocado plant may be necessary as it outgrows its pot.

Overwintering Avocado Trees

It is possible to grow your avocado tree outdoors during the summer, and overwinter the tree indoors. To make this work, try to move the container plant in and out when the temperature of the air is about the same in the house and outside. This prevents a shock to the plant’s system.

Propagating an Avocado From a Pit

Avocados can be started from a pit, but you may have more success with a healthy grafted dwarf tree. Also, a plant produced from an avocado seed is less likely to produce fruit, but it can make a lovely tree and houseplant.

How to Propagate Avocado From a Pit

Remove the pit from a ripe avocado and rinse off any excess flesh. Push a network of toothpicks into the pit and suspend it on top of a glass of warm water. The pit should dip an inch or so into the water at the dented or dimpled end.

Place the glass in bright light where temperatures are at least 65 degrees F (18 C). Change the water frequently. Soon the pit will produce roots, which will grow down into the water. Eventually, stems and leaves will sprout. When the roots fill much of the glass, it is time to transplant the seedling to a pot.

Planting an Avocado Seedling in a Container

Move the sprouted avocado pit to an unglazed terra cotta pot that is at least 10 inches (25 cm) across and twice as deep as the roots. Use a potting mix with compost blended with sand for a loose, fast-draining medium. Indoor avocado plant care includes plant support and feeding. Use a stake to keep the plant's main stem sturdy and straight as it grows. Also, transplant the tree as it outgrows its pot. Prune off any suckers that arise from the rootstock. Growing avocados in containers indoors also requires bright light.

Will a Potted Avocado Tree Bear Fruit?

Container-grown avocado plants often don’t bear fruit, but it can be possible if they are given proper cultural care. Don’t expect fruit the first year or even the second. These trees need to get to 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 m) tall before they set fruit. If you want a better chance at fruit, purchase a dwarf tree that has been grafted onto rootstock. The stock is chosen to increase the best traits of the plant and will make the tree stronger and more resistant to a variety of environmental influences.

Best Avocado Varieties to Grow Indoors

Select a dwarf avocado to grow indoors. A few cultivars that are reputed to grow well and fruit early are Day and Black Gold, Gwen, Whitsell and Oro Negro.

Avocados are a source of vitamins and nutrients. Their popularity as a condiment or use in salads is enhanced by the sunny climates evoked by their presence on the menu. Planting avocado trees outdoors is not a viable option for most United States gardeners because of the plant's preference for tropical to sub-tropical temperatures and its frost sensitivity. However, you can learn how to plant an avocado tree as a potted indoor plant or in a protected area outdoors to grow your own crop of this rich, versatile fruit. Warm indoor temperatures, bright sunlight and good avocado tree care can have you on your way to homemade guacamole and a host of other gustatory delights.

Avocado Information

Avocado tree growing is a fun way to introduce organic fruit for you and your family. Avocados may be medium to large trees but dwarf varieties exist for home growing. The trees have fragile limbs that are easily damaged by wind and the entire plant is very sensitive to cold conditions. The avocado tree is evergreen with thick, leathery leaves and produces perfect white, ivory to yellow flowers. The fruit has a large seed or pit in the center and may be green or nearly black. Avocado information wouldn't be complete without mentioning the three distinct groups of the fruit from which all cultivars derive. These main varieties are:

• West Indian
• Guatemalan
• Mexican

How to Plant an Avocado Tree

Choose a location where there is plenty of sun exposure and well-drained soil when planting avocado trees. A location on the southern side of the home or in a dip or valley will ensure protection from winds. Incorporate plenty of organic matter into the soil and check the soil for porosity. If you have soil that doesn't drain well, work in sand or other gritty matter to increase its drainage. Also, you need to leave 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3 m.) from buildings and up to 30 feet (10 m.) of space apart when planting avocado trees.

Avocado Tree Growing

Avocados do not grow true from seed but you can get an interesting plant from starting a pit. Although many gardeners have experimented with germinating a pit in a glass of water, most avocados are propagated from tip grafting and the resulting seedlings will exhibit the characteristics of the graft wood or parent plant. Plant grafted seedlings with the graft under the soil, which is uncommon for other grafted trees. Stake young trees and keep them free of weeds while they are establishing.

Avocado Tree Care

Planting avocado trees properly is only the first step to getting fruit. Avocado tree care must include deep, thorough watering when the growing season is in full swing. The trees benefit from fertilization in February through September. Use ammonium sulfate applications spread out over this period. In the first year after planting, apply 1/2 cup (120 ml.), which increases to 1 cup (240 ml.) per month. Once the tree is two years old, application can increase to 2 cups (480 ml.) every month. There is no need to prune the tree except to remove dead wood in spring. You can, however, prune an avocado to maintain size, if desired. Most trees produce fruit within a couple of years.

How To Prune An Avocado Tree

The average outdoor avocado tree can grow to be 40 to 80 feet (12-24 m.) tall. This is a huge tree! However, you can enjoy a smaller version of this beautiful tree inside your home with little to no fuss. Furthermore, they are fun to grow!

With just the seeds from the avocados you have eaten, you can grow an avocado as a houseplant indoors. Starting an avocado at home is simple enough. Read on for instructions on sprouting avocado seeds.

Once your indoor avocado trees are good sized, you may wonder exactly how to prune an avocado tree in order to keep it small and houseplant size. This is not a problem.

Because of the amount of pruning needed, keeping the avocado as a houseplant just means you won't actually get any fruit off the tree. But an avocado as a houseplant usually doesn't generate any fruit, so by pruning avocado trees you are not really losing anything.

How to Prune an Avocado Tree

The avocado as a houseplant shouldn't be treated any differently than those grown outdoors, so pruning avocado trees indoors is no different.

If you want to trim back the height, trim the tallest branch off the tree. The following year, trim the next tallest, and so on.

When it comes to the width of the tree, start with the longest, most unruly branch first and work your way in each year with another branch. In either case, when pruning avocado trees, never remove more than one-third of a branch.

When to Prune an Avocado Tree

The best time to prune an avocado tree is really any time, as long as you are doing light pruning. If you wish to do heavy pruning on your avocado tree, then you may want to wait until late winter or early spring, which is right before the active growing period for the tree. This will ensure that the tree regains its full shape faster.

These trees will live a long healthy life indoors if you take proper care of them. Water them when the soil gets dry and make sure to watch for any signs of pests that may have moved indoors to get at the tree. Otherwise, enjoy the beauty!

Ever wonder how to grow an avocado seed into something worth keeping? It’s a neat little project that turns kitchen scraps into a green showstopper. A pit can sprout into a plant that jazzes up any room, no fancy gear needed.

Good avocado tree care starts with mastering the basics. Sprouting a seed is step one, whether aiming for a houseplant or dreaming big for fruit years later. It’s a low-cost way to dip into gardening and see what sticks.

My tips, honed from years of experimenting with avocado pits, will make this process smooth for you. Toss in some lesser-known tricks, and that seed has a solid shot at becoming a sturdy plant. Here’s the rundown on getting it done right.

Is It Worth Growing an Avocado Seed?

Turning an avocado pit into an indoor avocado plant is a neat trick for anyone who is a plant lover. That leftover seed, bound for the compost bin, can sprout into a shiny houseplant without spending much. In warm spots like USDA zones 9 to 11, it could become a tree, though getting fruit is no sure thing. Most avocados need a buddy tree, like Hass paired with Fuerte, to pollinate and put out fruit.

It takes serious patience for this. A seed might need somewhere around 5 to 10 years to produce any avocados, if it even does, and the fruit could taste very different from the fruit you ate, thanks to the genetic differences. Even so, it’s a pretty cool garden project for kids or folks new to gardening, itching to grow something lively without a lot of effort.

What You Need to Grow an Avocado Seed

Not much is needed to kick things off. Other than your avocado pit, you just need a few things you probably already have laying around the house.

We will propagate our avocado pit in some water and then transplant it into soil once its root are growing. Here is what you need:

• Glass of water
• 3-4 toothpicks
• Small pot
• Potting soil, well-draining
• Sunny spot on a windowsill

Extra Tips: Seed starting mix, like FoxFarm Happy Frog soil from Amazon, is a good soil for the initial growth of your avocado plant. And a spray bottle help later.

A small knife comes in handy for a trick not everyone knows. And keep a clean rag around to wipe the seed down and dodge mold early on.

Preparing the Pit

Start by picking a ripe avocado, soft but make sure it isn’t squishy. Scoop out the pit and rinse it under cool water to wash off any of the flesh that refuses to let go. Dry it with a cloth. A good pit feels heavy, smooth, with no cracks or weird dark patches.

It is good to lightly nick the seed to hasten the growth. Gently scratch the pit’s brown skin with a knife to show the pale layer underneath. This little scrape, stumbled on after some stubborn seeds, helps water sneak in faster. Don’t cut deep. All you need is just a gentle scratch.

Best Germination Method

The toothpick-in-water trick works best for sprouting. Jab three or four toothpicks into the pit’s sides, letting it balance over a glass so the fat end barely dips into the water. Place it on a warm, sunny windowsill. Swap out the water every few days to keep it clean. Roots typically show in 2 to 6 weeks, sometimes 8 for slowpokes.

A nifty tip is to toss a pinch of crushed charcoal in the water. It keeps things fresh and gives roots a tiny boost. Soil sprouting is fine but slower and riskier for rot. This glass avocado vase from Huckberry will elevate your avocado seedling experiment and it makes for a great gift, too!

Caring for the Avocado Seedling

When the pit cracks and a sprout pops up, let the root grow to about 3 inches (7.6 cm) in water. Move it to a pot, and make sure that the soil is well-draining. Cover the root and half the pit with soil, but leave the top half the pit out. Water the seedling just enough to dampen the soil, not soak it, and set it in bright, indirect light. Nip off the top leaves at 6 inches (15.2 cm) to make the plant bushier, not a skinny stick.

You can add another step if you want to help your avocado even more. Spritz leaves daily with a spray bottle. I like an ultra fine mist. Some like these spray bottles from Amazon can even spray continuously. Avocado seedlings love humid air, especially in dry houses.

Transplant the Avocado Seedling

Once the seedling hits 8 to 12 inches (about 20 to 30 cm) with a few leaves, it’s ready for a bigger home. Pick a 10-inch pot (about 25 cm) with holes for drainage, filled with potting soil mixed with perlite. Lift the plant gently, keeping roots safe, and plant so the pit’s top peeks above the soil.

If you want to make use of your old eggshells, then mix in a spoonful of them crushed up into the soil. Avocados lap up the calcium, and it helps fend off rot. Water well after planting, then ease off to once a week, letting the top soil dry out between waterings.

Long-Term Care

Avocado plants need steady love to keep growing. Set them in bright, indirect light. I recommend a south-facing window. Water it when the top inch of soil feels dry, avoiding soggy roots. If you overwater, then it will turn leaves yellow. Feed monthly with a balanced fertilizer in spring and summer.

Make sure to rotate the pot every week so the plant doesn’t lean hard toward the light. In warm spots like USDA zones 9 to 11, go ahead and stick the tree in the ground after a year. For indoor plants, keep those pruning shears handy and trim regularly to hold it at a tidy 3 to 5 feet (about 1to 1.5 m) as time rolls on.

Tips for Success

Pick a pit from a ripe, healthy avocado to dodge dud sprouts. Sterilize tools and pots with rubbing alcohol to avoid moldy messes. Keep water fresh for the toothpick method, and don’t let the pit dry out.

Good drainage is a must for potted plants. Wet soil kills fast. Warm spots, around 70F (21C), push sprouting and rooting along. These moves set up a strong avocado plant for the long haul.