A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Avocado Tree

I started an avocado tree from a pit when I lived in California 5 years ago. I moved to Wisconsin in 2001 and my tree is now 8 feet tall which I keep in the house. The trunk is skinny. Can I prune it so it will thicken or is it too late?

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Welcome to the forum!

laura

just above some of the leaves you will see a new bud growing,look for a strong bud and cut the tree just above the bud.don't cut more than 2 feet off the top.cutting off the top will strengthen the roots and the trunk.it will also force some lateral growth.be sure that the pot that it's in has enough room for root growth.if it's not freezing out take the tree outside to a sunny area.a tree 10 years old should begin to bear fruit soon if it hasn't done so allready.i would be interested to know if it has had fruit.i have one that bore fruit on it's fourth year.

Thanks for the info. I didn't think the tree could bare fruit unless there was another tree in the area to pollinate it. I will try to roll it outside on my deck this spring.

ski
speaking of pollinating,if you want fruit from your tree you will need bees to pollinate it.i'm not sure but i believe you will need another tree not to far, as bees tend to stick pretty close to home.i wish you luck and keep us posted.

I was very interested in these posts about avocado trees. Art, was yours from a pit?
The reason I'm so amazed is that I have always heard that a tree grown from the pit will produce only a bitter fruit not suitable for eating.
What was the quality of the fruit, if your tree is from a pit?
I was told by nurserymen that only grafted trees bear good avocados. So I always toss the pits.
Can't wait to read your next posts !

Deborah
it's true that avocados from seedlings may produce good quality fruit or very poor quality.also most of the time they will take 5 to 15 years to bear fruit.
sometimes you will get a pleasant surprise with good early fruit but it is the exception. i have planted maybe 20 or 30 seeds and one of them produced after 4 or 5 years.WOW! what a surprise.some of the others i grafted and most of them had fruit the following year. but i must warn you grafting is also iffy. usually 1 in about 10 grafts will take.but it's fun trying. if you are interested in grafting i'll tell you more.
art.

Thanks, Art, but I think grafting is way beyond me ! But, based on what you say about growing a tree from the pit, next time I buy my favorite Hass avocado, I'll plant the pit and see what I get !
I know that the pit needs light to sprout, hence the classic pit-in-water-on-toothpicks method.
I think probably that the tree should be pinched as it grows, to get a bushy tree?
Thanks for your reply, and I really enjoyed the posts about avocado pits and their trees !

I have three started and am very proud of that. Even if the fruit isn't all that good I'm looking forward to the trees baring in the distant future. The oldest that is maybe 5 months old has already been topped and started to develop buds. I'm very excited about the project.

I'd freak out to be able to pick and eat an avocado from a tree I grew from a pit !
I hope your tree is a great success !

The easy way to sprout an avocado from a pit is to put the pit at the edge of the compost pile (avoiding the hot center) and transplant it when it bears leaves. I have a dozen trees that started that way.

I'd love to know how to graft so that my trees will bear edible fruit. They're all about 4 years old now.

KZ,
go to this site,you will find all the information you need on avocados,good luck.


http://ceventura.ucdavis.edu/ben/avo_handbook/horticulture/graft.htm