Do you know! Plant of Avocado that we eat belongs to a flowering plant family? you must be wondering how to grow an avocado tree? Avocado is probably considered to be originated from south-central Mexico. Avocado fruit seems like a big berry that has a big seed inside it.
Generally, Avocado trees are considered to be self-pollinating, but they are also propagated by grafting and layering so that better fruit quality can be maintained. You can grow avocado trees easily. Wondering how to grow an avocado tree? We have the best possible methods to grow an avocado tree.
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If you are someone who loves planting trees or maintaining a garden then you must know how to grow an avocado tree. It is a simple yet satisfying process. Even if you don’t have that much interest in gardening then you can also try to grow an avocado tree. The only thing that is required is patience.
How To Grow Your Own Avocado Tree
Planting Avocado Seed
Starting avocado tree with avocado seeds. It is found in the center of avocados fruit bought from the grocery store. The simplest thing that you need is a good seed and some water in a jar. The interesting part is that you can watch the roots growing in water.
The best time to plant an avocado seed is when it is ripe and ready to eat. This is considered probably the best time to plant the seed. So let’s learn how to grow an avocado tree.
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1. How To Grow An Avocado Tree From Seed
- Take a ripe Avocado. Get a knife and cut it down the center but be careful fo not to cut the seed. If you damage the seed then the roots won’t grow
- After cutting the avocado, gently twist so that seed gets loosened from the fruit. Carefully prise out the seed. If any avocado is left on the seed then try to scrap that out. Lastly, wash the seed with water.
- Now moving to the next step, this step is a tip that will increase the chances of germination of the avocado pit. This will prevent the seed from rotting. So all you need to do is to gently remove the peel of the seed. If your avocado is perfectly ripe then this seed will come out easily.
- Now when you finish peeling the seed you will notice some fault lines on the seed and a mark at the top from when the fruit was hanging. Now take three toothpicks and gently poke them in the seed at a 45° angle. Make sure the hanging mark is at the bottom because roots will come out of it.
- Moving to the last step take a jar or any see-through container. Fill the jar with fresh water. Place the avocado seed in the jar leaving a small part out and a large part in water.
- Now keep the jar with seed in a low to medium light area. Protect it from direct sunlight. Keep a check on the water, make sure to change it every 4-5 days. After 3 weeks you will see avocado roots coming out of the seed.
After 10 weeks you will see good growth in the roots, a stem, and leaves coming out at the top. But this is not the perfect time to plant your sprouted seed in the soil. Wait until the seedling grows good leaves and thick roots. It will take up to 13 weeks.
After 13 weeks prepare the well-drained soil for your avocado tree in a pot that has a drainage hole. Transplant the seedling in the soil. Make sure not to damage the root. Water the soil thoroughly so that extra water came out. Keep the plant in full sun. It will rise nicely in hot summers.
Water well when topsoil dries out. With your fingers check the soil before watering the plant. Don’t overwater, in case of overwatering allow the soil to dry out before watering again otherwise you will see yellow leaves at the top. While watering makes sure to water the entire root ball.
Better Growing Tips
If you notice any green algae then change the water and gently clean and remove the algae from the root. In the case of black algae on the seed, take tissue paper and gently scrap the algae. And then place the seed in freshwater
When your avocado stem grows about 6 Inches, cut the top of the stem. This will allow the plant to make new side growths, and you will get a rich and healthy plant.
Rooting Avocado Tree Cuttings
Growing a plant from a cutting is always a risky process. There are a lot of risks included in that and it requires a lot of patience. Growing avocado from cutting is considered a good method.
Wondering how to grow an avocado tree from cutting? Here’s the method but this method has a high chance of growing and this is less expensive. The new tree that you will get will be a colon of the parent plant.
2. How To Grow An Avocado Tree Through Cutting
You will need a healthy avocado tree stem, a pot with drainage holes, and rich garden soil. Lastly, you will need a sharp knife or cutter and rotting Harmon. Make sure to take a good healthy stem, not a new weak stem.
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- Moving to the first step, take the cutting from a healthy avocado tree. Cut a stem of 5-6 inches. Make a perfect diagonal cut at the ends. Remove the leaves from the stem leaving only 2-3 top leaves. Scrap the bottom part of the stem. This will help in fast root growth.
- Take the pot and mix soil and perlite in it. Now dig a hole of 3 inches in the pot. Dip your cutting in the rooting hormone and then plant it in the pot. Water deeply till the excess water flows out.
- You can cover the pot and cut it with a plastic bag, this will increase humidity in the pot. Now keep the pot in a warm spot with indirect sunlight.
- Water the cutting when the soil dries. Monitor the cutting for 2 weeks, cutting will take time to build a root system. After 2 weeks you will see new growth coming out of the stem. Overwatering will rot the plant, so don’t overwater it.
- After 4 weeks your plant will be ready to transplant. You can transfer it into a big pot and keep it in a sunny location or direct sun. You don’t need to add fertilizer at the beginning of the growth. Plant it in rich and nutritious soil, and let the plant establish its root and stem.
- You can keep the plant in the same pot but after eight weeks the plant will boost the growth and it increases the chance of root-bound. And re poting, the big plant may damage the roots. So consider transferring the cutting after 4-5 weeks
3. Layering And Grafting Avocado plants
You can also graft avocado trees as all the trees. Layering and grafting are considered to be one of the best answers to how to grow an avocado tree. In addition to this, a grafted plant bears more fruit. In comparison to other methods of how to grow an avocado tree, we can say layering and grafting are methods that will give you fruit much earlier.
How To Grow An Avocado Tree Through Grafting
Grafting is a simple process, and one of the best methods will be cleft grafting. It is considered the best grafting method from ancient times. You can do air layering and graft on the same tree. All you need are some basic equipment. To start, you will need the stem of a healthy avocado tree.
Starting With Grafting
- Cut the stem of your root-bearing plant leaving only 15 inches. Make a 1 inch deep downward cut in the center of the stem.
- Cut a stem from a healthy avocado tree, preferably 6 inches. Select a stem with a lot of nodes to ensure growth. Turn the stem towards its blunt side and slice the tip of the blunt side into a wedge shape.
- Now insert that into the plant stem into the root-bearing plant and secure it properly with tape so that no air can go inside it.
Wait for a few weeks and let the Avocado tree grow.
Talking About Layering.
Air layering is a simple process. But its success rate depends on how carefully you layered the Plant.
- Take a branch on which you want air layering. Clean the branch and make a circular bark cut on it.
- Remove the bark from the branch and clean the inner layer.
- Prepare compost and soil. Now cover the cut part with compost and soil. And bind it with a rope. Cover every hole to make it secure.
- And you are done. Now wait for a few weeks and it will take roots.
- When you see your layering is completely successful and your branch has grown well then remove the layered plant and plant it in a pot
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Avocado Plant care
Planting avocados is a simple yet tricky process. You need to have a lot of patience. The growth of your avocado will be so slow. It will take years for avocado to bear fruit. But the process will be satisfying to watch.
Tips To Get A Good Avocado Plant
- The first thing that matters for any plant is potting mix. Talking about avocado, it requires a good drainage mix. Choose a small to medium size pot during the early growth and change the pot as your tree grows. Otherwise, you will face the problem of yellowing leaves due to watery soil.
- Pinching is a technique that works well with almost all plants. As your plant grows you can pinch the upper part. This will increase the side growths in your plant.
Indoor Avocado Trees
Avocado trees are like an open space, they may not do great Indoor. But if you like avocado trees indoors then you need to take some extra care of them. Avocado plants can add beauty to your house. Find more plants to beautify your house.
- The common problem that arises in indoor plants is overwatering. Because the moisture indoors is very low. So you end up overwatering the plant. You must check the soil before watering it.
- Plants need sunlight for better growth. The avocado plant likes a moderately warm temperature. Trying to maintain a warm temperature indoors can be a good option. Another option is to provide sunlight to the plant by keeping it outside once a week.
Outdoor Avocado Tree
The one thing that an avocado loves is 5-6 hours of direct sunlight. Growing avocado plants outdoor increases its chances of good growth than growing indoors. This plant does best in moderately warm temperatures
- If you are growing multiple trees together outdoors the. Leave a maximum 8 feet distance between them. This will allow all the plants to grow their roots widely.
Fertilizer And Pruning
It is suggested not to add any fertilizer within one year of early growth. The roots of Avocados are very soft at the beginning adding fertilizer can burn the roots. Nitrogen is a good fertilizer for avocado trees.
The ideal time to add fertilizer to a young tree of avocado will be 3 times a year. But when your plant has grown into an adult you may need to add more fertilizers to produce fruit. You may have to increase the quantity of fertilizer as per the avocado tree’s growth.
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Now if we talk about pruning an avocado tree then you can prune your avocado tree any time. A light pruning can be done anytime during the year. But for heavy pruning, you need to wait for early spring. Pruning before spring or in early spring results in heavy growth of the plant.
Do you know that you can find avocados in all seasons in Mexico? Avocados are Mostly included in the Mexican diet. The prominent avocado growing state in Mexico, also known as the ‘Avocado Belt of the Mexican Republic, in Michoacan.
When Will Avocado Bear Fruit?
Now you know how to grow an avocado tree so you must be anxious about the fruiting of this tree. Growing avocados from anything will take many years to bear fruit. It will take around 13 years to become an adult plant that bears fruit. The key rule of gardening is patience. Hence it a also applied here. You will have to keep patience with your mature avocado trees.
Whether you grow avocado from any of the methods, it will take time to grow. You will see new growth out of it in many months. Similarly to bear fruit, it will take up to three years of proper care. After all the patience when you will see fruits on your tree that will be an elevated satisfaction
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Gardening is an art as well as emotion. Growing whole plants in mature trees require hard work and patience. This also gives an incredible satisfaction. This article provided you with all the possible details of growing an avocado tree indoors and outdoors. So now you know how to grow an avocado tree.
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Last Updated on by Laiba_khan
