to flower and bare fruit.. MOST plants need full ... blistering .. sunshine .... and i am presuming we are not talking about ornamental fruits and what not ....

no matter what you do .. INSIDE A HOUSE.. you will never get the requisite amount of light ... or you will spend so much money.. that you will have a thousand dollar avocado .. lol ...

you can get it to grow.. prosper... and be green..

but only in exceptional circs.. will you get flower .... let alone a fruit ... that is edible ...

ken

PS: then throw in the forced air furnace causing humidity issues .. winter temp swings .. etc ... let me tell you one thing.. YOUR HOUSE IN PA IS NOT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ... lol

Ken, I want to respectfully disagree with your assessment of indoor avocado culture in terms of just growing the plant itself. They're actually incredibly easy to grow, and they don't suffer very many problems. The leaves are held for two years/growing cycles, as is pretty common with many broadleaved evergreens, and in their second year, mine do tend to get dry, brown margins, but those can be trimmed with scissors to keep the plant cosmetically acceptable. Otherwise, the are really easy. Indoors, they just want reasonably good light and to be watered on a timely basis.

And, of course, they love to go outside in the summer, where they'll put on a tremendous growth spurt.

Just don't expect fruit on them, in all likelyhood.

I think ken is describing the chances of getting a fruit from the pit placed in the kitchen window after the guac was made. The chances of getting one from a mail-order house are somewhat higher, AIUI.

Dan

hey denni ... dans interpretation is correct ...

the title of the post is all about FRUIT BEARING ....

i said they would get a nice green plant... i just wouldn't go buying the lemons .. while waiting for something to eat ...

though i dont see where a mail order plant.. will overcome the need for high intensity lamps and humidity control indoors ... i suspect dan is referring only to the ability to get a flower that is self pollinating ..????

ken

I actually have family with an avocado ranch, but haven't visited it. It is in southern CA and the maritime air doesn't always get there, so dry desert conditions happen in winter too.

Jus' sayin'. But I'd have a humidifier nearby in winter, surely, to flip on a couple days a week.

Dan

Hey, Ken --- yeah, it might help if I actually read the post CAREFULLY.

I'll give myself noogies on the forehead and maybe a good old Three Stooges finger in the eye. Sorry. It's monday, what can I say?

Ow! Wise guy, eh?

Dan

I wouldn't expect an Avocado to fruit indoors, either.... well, I guess inside a greenhouse, maybe ;)

I tell folks to grow them to enjoy as plants, rather than with any fruiting expectations.

The humidity issue can be handled with a simple pebble tray. Last Fall, I dug up a
volunteer Avocado from the garden. I put it into a pot and kept it as a houseplant.
It's back ouside for the Summer, but I've kept it in its pot.

Josh

Here is a link that might be useful: Avocado converted to Houseplant (pics)

Wow I wasnt expecting this many responses thanks everyone

I think I might just try to grow something easier first lol. thanks again

OK here is what I believe. You can do anything if you wan to. Nothing is impossible. You just have to put the effort into it. As for growing an avocado tree from the grocery store that will produce fruit forget about it. The growers purposelessly treat most store bought stuff for the very reason that people would try this. Go to a local nursery that you trust or a mail order nursery that seem trustworthy. Go for organic mainly because they believe in what they sell more so than others. Make sure the sapling is self pollinating. Make sure of that. Get all the facts such as soil temp water misting etc... Make sure you ask the seller because if they know less than you than it wouldn't be a good choice to buy from them. They should be able to explain exactly what you will need for success. I tried citrus trees and never got anything from them. One day I went into a restaurant and found that they had citrus growing and fruiting inside the restaurant. So just because one person doesn't have luck doesn't mean someone else can't.

Grew up on a AVO ranch in So. California. I am going to say big no , unless it is in a very large hot house w/the right conditions. Avo's don't put on fruit until they are over 6' tall. Grow it from a grocery store seed and it will need to be grafted to produce any fruit. Sorry!

"You can do anything if you wan to. Nothing is impossible." versus "As for growing an avocado tree from the grocery store that will produce fruit forget about it."

Hmmm.

"The growers purposelessly (maybe Don meant purposefully?) treat most store bought stuff for the very reason that people would try this."

Really? Where did you get that information?

"Go for organic mainly because they believe in what they sell more so than others."

Really? Where did you get that information?

"Make sure you ask the seller..."

The people that sell plants are very frequently not the best source of information about growing the plants. Most nurseries are in business to sell plants and often don't educate their employees sufficiently, even though doing so might very well be a net positive for their bottom line.

Don, I'm not trying to be a smart alec, but I really do wonder about the accuracy of much of your post.

Wanted to bring this thread back to life.

I want to grow a fruiting avocado tree. I will keep it in a container and place it outside for 6 months out of the year (June - September).

I will then bring it indoors for winter protection. So... is it possible to successfully grow a FRUITING avocado tree in this manner?

If so, what variety would you suggest?

Thanks,

smithmal

you should have started your own post.. instead of resurrecting this one ..

and i suggest you do two.. one in the container forum to get those experts involved

and one in the fruit forum... to get those experts involved ..

and to be very clear ... getting a green tree to grow is NOT the issue ... getting it to set and mature fruit.. is your main problem ....

see link

good luck

ken

ps: did you bother to read the above post???... the trees peeps seem to suggest you can not get them to fruit indoors .... hence the suggestion to go to other experts....

Here is a link that might be useful: link

You need a grafted tree rather than one grown from a pit, which can take many years before being able to bear fruit. And because avocados can get to be BIG trees, look for dwarf varieties if you intend to grow in a container. Otherwise, grow them much as you would a citrus tree, with very bright but indirect light indoors in winter, evenly moist soil, relatively high humidity (when indoors) and consistently warm temps.

Whether or not you actually get fruit is a bit of a toss-up. IME, fruit bearing plants grown out of zone/location or as partial houseplants rarely - if ever - produce fruit..........

Ken,

Thanks for your response. It was my understanding that you cannot get avocados to fruit if you solely grow it as an indoor plant (which is not my intention).

Many fig trees are grown in this way (i.e. growing them outside in the late spring through fall and then sheltering them in the winter). The difference is that a fig tree will go into dormancy while a avocado will not (at least that is my presumption).

If one were to choose a cold hardy variety (like Mexicalo, Gainsville, etc.) and shelter it in the winter so that the temps stay between 25-30F, would it be possible to sustain an avocado tree in a container that would provide a harvest each year?

My thought is, since there is little to no people doing this, that the answer is no, but I was hoping to get a definitive on this.

Thanks,

smithmal

I've been trying this for a couple years (I live in Indiana). Bought two 7' tall grafted trees in early 2016. Brought them inside in October, put them under a 400w HPS light 12 hrs/day and they flowered at the same time in November. I killed the flowers on accident while treating for mites. Then to my surprise plant #1 flowered again in early March. I hand pollinated about 300 flowers and 17 took. The fruit got about the size of a ball bearing and then it warmed up enough to put them outside in April. The fruit all died within 4 days, probably a combination of change in environment and the plant flowering twice in short succession. Also probably lacked enough fertilizer. Now I have both plants outside and tree #2 has flowered and I've gotten about 12 fruits to set (using pollen from tree #1 was more effective). I trimmed off many of the remaining flowers/buds in hopes the tree won't waste any energy on producing more flowers and instead focus on the fruit. Whether or not this tree will produce anything edible is still up in the air but my fingers are crossed.

These plants are challenging but that's the point!

I have two avocado seeds that I got from the grocery store that have rooted and have begun growing stems. At what point do you graft the stems, and how do you graft them? I have never grown avocados before from seed. I am a newbie at this.

Thank you.

Michelle

Glad you re-opened this line of conversation. If you go on YouTube and search grafting avocados there will be lots of help available. Basically, as I understand it, you can’t graft until you plant has a bulb. Once it does, then follow the instructions on YouTube. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, avocados are extremely temperamental. Even if you do everything right it could still fail to fruit. Good luck. Happy growing.

Avocado, from seed, is like most fruit from seed...it doesn't grow true and can take over a decade to reach a certain size and maturity before it will even bloom. By that time, the plant is over 15 feet tall and you still have no assurance of 1) getting fruit or 2) fruit of any quality.

What is meant by 'grafting' an avocado is ... You must graft a known variety onto a seed-grown root stock. The known variety is a proven tasty selection and can bloom in years vs. decades.

All that said, you should hunt for a grafted variety, and one that is dwarf or compact. Whether it is cold-tolerant probably doesn't matter, as you'll need to bring it indoors anyway. I have seen them bloom and bear in greenhouses, so it's not unthinkable that it can do the same in a house, provided there are huge Southern or Western windows, perhaps in a cool room, with a very tall ceiling, and it is moved outdoors in part shade for the summer.

We do it all the time with citrus. And you never know what you'll find at Home Depot. Here's a Dwarf Mango 'Mallika' that I saw for sale there. They had Avocados one time too.

Brandon - a lot of non-organic supermarket produce is irradiated or otherwise sterilized to keep it from sprouting. That's why seed potatoes and garlic are usually better bets than supermarket potatoes and garlic for growing. Obviously not a 100% effective, but it is done. I don't know if anyone would bother with avocados, though - they don't tend to be a sprouting risk in the market - they would rot first.