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Growing Guides
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Introduction
Avocado trees grown in a pot will make ideal house plants oxygenating and, becoming a focal point in your home.
Successfully growing fruit is more likely in a tropical climate but not impossible in the UK.
Do not fertilise an unhealthy tree or one that has just been re-potted. Fertiliser will burn recently cut roots.
Typically a tree will produce fruit after about five years. Having two trees will increase the chances of fruit development though is not fundamental as it is with some trees, since avocados produce both male and female parts.
Pruning allows the tree stem to thicken and grow more rigid. Over pruning will reduce tree vigour and ruin its ability to photosynthesise. Do not remove more that 30% of your tree foliage. Trimming is best completed during the height of summer. Thinning the foliage ensures that light can reach all areas of the tree and help to keep short distances between leaf nodes.
Watering
When:
Water the tree enough to keep the soil moist, but not wet.
If the leaves turn yellow and brown then your tree is getting too much water. If the leaves droop the tree needs more water.
Water your tree because the soil is dry, not because you have a routine of watering it once a week. Understand when you need to water the tree and not just water it because your schedule suggests you should. Doing so is the surest way to overwatering and killing the tree.
Too wet a soil will rot the roots.
Repotting
When:
Repot trees during spring before the weather gets too hot and the risk of frost has past. Your tree stores its energy in its roots, which it will use to push out new leaves in spring. If you have repotted the tree before this point and removed some of its roots, you are in effect taking energy out of the tree, ruining its ability to create new foliage. Wait for signs that energy has started transitioning from the roots into the top half of the tree, such as it pushing out new leaf growth before repotting.
Do not repot in the height of summer; this will stress the tree.
Why:
Soil is too compact and water / oxygen is not reaching the roots.
Tree is pot bound and roots are circulating the inside of the pot.
How:
Scrape soil away from the top part of the root ball and trim roots at the top of the root ball. Remove no more than a third.
Do not trim roots from the bottom of the root ball as this is where the feeder roots are.
Once you have removed roots from the top of the ball you can raise up the tree and sit it on top of new soil on which roots will grow into.
Avocado trees are tolerant of soils of almost any PH but must have plenty of drainage. Consider using a neutral soil (John inns no. 3). If growing in a pot, do so in a pot that has a hole in the bottom, thus allowing the water to escape. This is essential to avoid root rot!
Though not essential, consider using a fertilizer with a 10-10-10 ratio every six weeks during the growing period (Spring and Summer).
Incorporate plenty of potting gravel or rocks to aid drainage. A free draining soil is essential, which allows oxygen to be pulled through the roots via the capillary action of watering.
When repotting, ensure that the top half of the pit is visible. This ensures that the bottom half of the pit doesn't rot.
Pot size controls growth. The top half of the tree can only be as big as its root system allows it to be.
Balance the vigour of the tree and if removing part of the root ball, consider removing some of the foliage (an equal percentage).
Never remove more than 30% of the root ball or the foliage.
Storage and plant positioning
Avocado trees are particular in terms of climate and growing conditions.
Trees should be planted in a pot and moved around to accommodate changing weather.
Trees prefer a temperature of between 7 and 30 degrees centigrade.
Think about light water and oxygen, which the tree needs to survive. Without sufficient light it'll start to drop leaves and if the soil is too compact then water and oxygen will not reach the roots.
In winter keep your tree in a sunny position / window. Do not let the soil dry out but be careful it does not get too wet.
If kept outdoors cover with plastic during cold weather.
Moving the tree outside in summer enables the tree to gain full access to the one day of sunshine a year that the UK normally gets.
Plastic interrupts the flow of UV to the plant and though useful in the winter to shield the tree from wind, rain and cold, do not cover with plastic in the summer. Glass permits the passing of the full light spectrum.
Avocado trees grown in a pot will make ideal house plants oxygenating and, becoming a focal point in your home.
Successfully growing fruit is more likely in a tropical climate but not impossible in the UK.
Do not fertilise an unhealthy tree or one that has just been re-
Pruning allows the tree stem to thicken and grow more rigid. Over pruning will reduce tree vigour and ruin its ability to photosynthesise. Do not remove more that 30% of your tree foliage. Trimming is best completed during the height of summer. Thinning the foliage ensures that light can reach all areas of the tree and help to keep short distances between leaf nodes.
Watering
When:
Water the tree enough to keep the soil moist, but not wet.
If the leaves turn yellow and brown then your tree is getting too much water. If the leaves droop the tree needs more water.
Water your tree because the soil is dry, not because you have a routine of watering it once a week. Understand when you need to water the tree and not just water it because your schedule suggests you should. Doing so is the surest way to overwatering and killing the tree.
Too wet a soil will rot the roots.
Repotting
When:
Repot trees during spring before the weather gets too hot and the risk of frost has past. Your tree stores its energy in its roots, which it will use to push out new leaves in spring. If you have repotted the tree before this point and removed some of its roots, you are in effect taking energy out of the tree, ruining its ability to create new foliage. Wait for signs that energy has started transitioning from the roots into the top half of the tree, such as it pushing out new leaf growth before repotting.
Do not repot in the height of summer; this will stress the tree.
Why:
Soil is too compact and water / oxygen is not reaching the roots.
Tree is pot bound and roots are circulating the inside of the pot.
How:
Scrape soil away from the top part of the root ball and trim roots at the top of the root ball. Remove no more than a third.
Do not trim roots from the bottom of the root ball as this is where the feeder roots are.
Once you have removed roots from the top of the ball you can raise up the tree and sit it on top of new soil on which roots will grow into.
Avocado trees are tolerant of soils of almost any PH but must have plenty of drainage. Consider using a neutral soil (John inns no. 3). If growing in a pot, do so in a pot that has a hole in the bottom, thus allowing the water to escape. This is essential to avoid root rot!
Though not essential, consider using a fertilizer with a 10-
When repotting, ensure that the top half of the pit is visible. This ensures that the bottom half of the pit doesn't rot.
Pot size controls growth. The top half of the tree can only be as big as its root system allows it to be.
Balance the vigour of the tree and if removing part of the root ball, consider removing some of the foliage (an equal percentage).
Never remove more than 30% of the root ball or the foliage.
Storage and plant positioning
Avocado trees are particular in terms of climate and growing conditions.
Trees should be planted in a pot and moved around to accommodate changing weather.
Trees prefer a temperature of between 7 and 30 degrees centigrade.
Think about light water and oxygen, which the tree needs to survive. Without sufficient light it'll start to drop leaves and if the soil is too compact then water and oxygen will not reach the roots.
In winter keep your tree in a sunny position / window. Do not let the soil dry out but be careful it does not get too wet.
If kept outdoors cover with plastic during cold weather.
Moving the tree outside in summer enables the tree to gain full access to the one day of sunshine a year that the UK normally gets.
Plastic interrupts the flow of UV to the plant and though useful in the winter to shield the tree from wind, rain and cold, do not cover with plastic in the summer. Glass permits the passing of the full light spectrum.