How to Grow & Plant Avocado Trees in Poor Drainage or Clay Soil

[@douglaschaney7487]

In 1959 my Dad, myself and my cousin planted an avocado seedling, that we had started in a jar of water with tooth picks stuck in it, next to our compost pit in our backyard. 60 years later it is still producing enough fruit to supply 4 or 5 families in the neighborhood. In 2009 I took a seed from that tree and planted it in a small pot of potting soil to see if it would sprout on it's own. It took months to sprout and when it outgrew that pot I replanted it in a 5 gallon pot using a little Miracle Grow mixed with potting soil. In June of 2011 I planted it in my back yard where we had removed another tree and had ground the stump below ground level a couple of years earlier. Again I used the Miracle Grow and potting soil mixture. It took 3 years before it produced fruit, which was not abundant, but tasty. Except for one year, 2017, it has produced 40 to 60 fruit per year and currently stands at about 15 feet tall. I live about 3 miles from my Dad's house here in Southern California where the soil is clay based.

[@imedimed8025]

Nice :) did you know if the tree was grafted ?

[@regiodeurse6513]

@@imedimed8025 he literally said he grew it from seed..

[@imedimed8025]

@@regiodeurse6513 thank you yes i know but I thought the tree was grafted after that. and maybe he forgot to mention it ..or maybe he does not know about so it is sometimes useless to graft the avocado because even obtained from seed it does not put enough time to fructify

[@imedimed8025]

@Island Mike indeed, every tree is supposed to give fruit .. whether it is obtained from seed or other .. why graft then? 1- it is to shorten the time of fructification instead of waiting 10 to 15 years .. we wait only 3 to 4 years .. is not better ?? 2- but also to be sure about the variety of the fruit obtained .. 3- for the tree to be compatible with the type of soil 4- to change the tree variety ... or to have a self-fertile variety ect ect ... but rarely to make sure that the tree will give fruit ..because I mentioned ... any tree gives fruit

[@regiodeurse6513]

@Island Mike All fruit came from seed at one point. All those grafted clones had a motherplant from seed even the mutated ones found their origin in a seedplant somewhere along the line

[@damianmcgeown9096]

Bloody streuth. I am so blown away by this legend. I'm binge watching all this and it is so inspiring. We need more people on Earth like Mark.

[@wingabouts]

2 minutes in and I can't listen to anything you're saying... I'm completely mesmerized by that gorgeous blue butterfly!!! 💞 I will have to listen again without looking at the screen. ☺

[@justins8739]

They make Adderal for this sort of thing.

[@CoronaTheVirus]

Butterflies = catapillars = not good

[@invalid1012]

@@CoronaTheVirus I think butterflies are fine pollinators if you keep the caterpillar numbers under control!

[@lalo18214]

My wife got me into watching your videos, love your Aussie accent. We are from San Antonio TEXAS and I'm trying to grow avocados and I keep having the same problems. Well you just told me how to fix them my yard is nothing but clay soil, I will have to mount them up now. LOVE YOUR VIDEOS

[@seriousguitarinstructionbo6690]

Great stuff. I'm seriously jealous of your beautiful property. It must be a great feeling to have accomplished that.

[@skeso2k157]

Who wouldn’t be

[@sklogistics3802]

Q

[@valiantthor6450]

Self Sufficient, thank you for your valuable insights on problems with growing avocados. I think your video clearly identifies perhaps the main reason why avocado trees so often fail. It is because of videos like yours that youtube remains so popular.

[@jeffavery5278]

if you dig a hole,it needs a sloped trench so water can drain away and filled with sand or gravel fines ,sorts like a french drain,but if your land is low,this wont work...not tried this with ava's yet but works great for other fruit trees,,,,,your way looks to be the most efficient..great vid,,,thank you

[@darrencollins1804]

Great tips! If you get a grafted avocado where the graft dies and the rootstock takes over, you can let it go for a couple years (until it's nice and strong and established), and then cut it off and graft on some branches from one of your other avocado trees. They should grow quickly with a strong base plant, and will give you much better fruit than the rootstock would have.

[@nicoleh.9898]

Wonderful video - thank you so much. I live in Phoenix, AZ (USA) where we have clay soil and I'm putting in Avocados this year so I'm so glad I saw this before I started. Again, thank you.

[@atifrc]

Wow a video a day after I asked the question! Thanks so much really helps me a lot, hopefully mine can survive! They get delivered this week!

[@Selfsufficientme]

Glad you liked it Atif! All the best with your avocado trees, cheers :)

[@evan.norwalkcalifornia562]

Delivered from were

[@allee3476]

@@evan.norwalkcalifornia562 Delivered from where, instead of delivered from were, makes more sense. Just saying.

[@evan.norwalkcalifornia562]

@@allee3476 🙄ok smart guy

[@allee3476]

@@evan.norwalkcalifornia562 Good question, though 👍

[@chan_for]

Fruits planted by your ancestors are always GREAT

[@celegleeson1767]

How cool for all of us around the world to be here learning about our avacardo trees. I have 4 from seed and so far I'm not worried about anything. Just happy to begin learning. They are in pots. I just might learn enough to end up with some lovelie fruit.

[@leodiaz9137]

GREAT Info just something to add when growing grafted tree. you must cut all the branches from the non-fruit part of the tree. if you let the branches grow it will kill the grafted fruit part! i lost 4 grafted trees in the past from not cutting the non-fruited branches!

[@matamataio4325]

so remove all branches or growth from the rootstock. great idea.

[@envirowisenz]

Leo Diaz that's good to know, thanks

[@NMW80]

Omg really? I didn’t know that. I wonder why that happens cos some tree rootstocks have like 7 varieties on the one tree. I know people have done ten on the one tree. But thanks for the info, I will keep that in mind.

[@michellerene3622]

Do interesting. I live in snowy Pennsylvania, USA so I won't be growing any outdoor. But we have lots of clay soil around here. I enjoy watching all kinds of gardening videos. I'll be checking out more of yours. Thanks for posting.

[@NopeAndYep]

Ahhhhh, Avacado trees. One of the two types of trees I have given up on growing because they always seem to die. The mounding method is interesting! I might give it another go.

[@olympicgardencrafts]

2:17 SO BEAUTIFUL with the butterfly! It came to help you shoot the video!

[@arbalc]

Great video Mark. It’s a pleasure particularly after watching so many boring videos on this subject.

[@stanlevox2291]

Really enjoy all these videos. When planting trees I take a lot of time (couple weeks) and make a huge mess and dig a 20ft hole using shovels and a makeshift auguger sort of like a Well digger. And then when planting it a bit above ground to avoid root gurdle. The results after 10 years is amazing. That tire method you showed near the end is so cool!! Raised beds are my favorite.

[@temperancepress2230]

Fantastic, detailed advice that should save many people years of wasted effort on avocado trees. Many thanks

[@charlheynike9619]

I helped my parents plant about 40 different fruit trees in their lifestyle block in Auckland. Heavy clay about a foot down. All the trees flourished except for the avos, which all died.. we then did the mound thing, which seems to be working.

[@ItsBrendo]

How are they 3 years on?

[@charlheynike9619]

@@ItsBrendo they all died..

[@ItsBrendo]

@@charlheynike9619 Damn, that sucks. Were they mounded up pretty high? Or just a bit?

[@charlheynike9619]

@@ItsBrendo pretty high actually

[@IsaKocoglu]

I love the thoroughness of your explanation in this video. Thank you very very much. Keep up your great stuff please.

[@hassanhussain1629]

I have a grafted avocado in a pot and was going to do the ultimate sin by planting in a clay death trap. Good million dollar info. Thanks.

[@worldcitizenra]

@Self Sufficient Me - The timing on me seeing this video was perfect to address a problem I just had with one of my avocado seedlings. I just wish I had run across it about 8 months ago. The best growing of the five avocado trees I first planted just had one of the two main stems die off from what appears to be root rot. The problem seems to be that the fill dirt my wife bought a couple of years before we were married to raise the grade of her land where we live was almost 100% clay and rocks highway construction fill. Rainy season just ended (I live upcountry in Thailand), so the tree had spent the last 4 - 5 months with its feet soaked due to the near daily heavy rains. The mail order nursery I bought the trees from swore that they were grafted varieties, but it turned out they were grown from seed. The foliage is nice, so I want to save the tree, if I can. Even if it never bears fruit or the fruit isn't good, the foliage is perfect for the part of the yard where the tree is planted. Another video on treating root rot suggested digging down 20 - 25 cm, replacing the soil and mixing in gypsum to discourage fungus. The video also suggest that for clay soils, plastic pipe could be buried radiating out from the planting hole to serve as a drain to let water accumulating in the clay soil escape to avoid the water bowl effect around the roots. I hope it works, but if not, I won't consider it a great loss since the uncertainty is so great about ever getting edible fruit from the tree. My wife recently obtained adjoining lot that does not have fill. It used to be part of a farm, but has not been used for farming for several decades and nothing has been grown there except volunteer trees, weeds, and grasses. In your video, you said that avocado trees are sensitive to having their roots disturbed by replanting after they've started to grow. Considering the heavy clay soil and rock on the house lot and the farm soil on the adjoining lot, would it be worth the risk to transplant the four avocado trees that I still have planted in the clay soil? They are all from the same original lot of avocado trees I bought. About 4 months ago I bought 3 small grafted avocado trees and planted them on the adjoining lot.

[@staffordgeduld7470]

Now busy with my 15th grafted avo tree. I think its healthy to lose some like I have . That will force one to begin to understand the avo's needs better. Strangely, when we begin to pay the price for not trying hard enough to understand their needs then they begin to survive more AND MUCH BETER THAN BEFORE. Lastly, understanding the needs of my fruittrees made me understand my own needs for healthy living so much better. Your advice made a significant contribution. Thanks from P.E, RSA.

[@Ob1311-x8b]

I’ve heard that small children are good for healthy roots ;) thanks for the viddy

[@berniefernandes5835]

Thank you Marc, I enjoy your channel immensely. You have motivated me to start a veggie and fruit garden. Your videos are diverse and never boring. Keep it up, 💯 greetings from South Africa 🇿🇦

[@carolemcinnes9060]

I just bought 2 avo trees 1 Wurtz &1 Sheppard&your video on planting &care was really informative &interesting (I like your style of gardening) I think it will be the raised bed method for me 😊 in nth qld

[@cociascarlet4152]

Thank you for all your hard work making these videos. They have been very helpful in learning and understanding how to invest in yourself and backyard.

[@USSBB62]

I have had good luck with Avocado's in clay on a nasty 30% slope. This takes care of the wet feet problem. Bacon variety. Best cold tolerant tree.

[@annewasmuth1929]

What an amazing amount of very useful information. It changed my ideas of how to grow avos pretty much completely.

[@AnnabelleC888]

Very helpful, thank you. I also have clay soil and wasn't sure what to do. Your videos are a garden blessing, believe me, and your jokes are great.

[@UndefinedBailiwick]

You can turn clay soil into a more sandy soil with the right amount of gypsum. I cultivated the top 1-2 ft of my whole yard and mixed in gypsum. I also dug 6' holes, used a jackhammer at the bottom and then backfilled with more gypsum and river rocks to start with. I planted my citrus trees and avocados 1' above the ground and had about 1' of woods chips. I made sure there was plenty of worms so they could start breaking down everything and mix the mulch with the cultivated soil.

[@kirrileepearson9981]

Thank you this helped me avoid making a big mistake... love all your videos.

[@PaulineBro100]

Thanks so mych , Mark, for this info. I've tried to grow from seed numerous times and they get to 45 cm high and wither and die. Probably when the tap root hits the clay!! Might try in a large pot. Very well presented video.

[@Selfsufficientme]

Thanks Pauline! I have grown them in large containers and they do well except I used fake wine barrels which deteriorated so I had to move them - just another lesson learned by me... :)

[@agb0012000]

Thank you so much for all of the videos you post. They are always so helpful, full of useful information, and your always so happy, it spreads. I'm growing mine in a 23 inch container. It Is two to three years old. I'm only getting one or two fruit. Maybe I'm not watering enough. It's in a sunny location and water every other day in the summer.

[@krishnamanson1863]

Fantastic failures my friend thanks so much . You have answered most of my questions for this summer .

[@santushabihari2020]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. I understand now why my avocado plant died.. I will try your method. Thanks!! 🙌🏻

[@ovelizondo7231]

We have an avacado tree in our yard and it was grown from seed. The difference in the fruit is that after 5 yrs growing in the yard and finally got a harvest, is it had paper skin. Really thin skin around it and it had a massive seed in it. 2 yrs after that we had tried everything from collecting the fruit green to waiting until it turned dark' but to know avail... We finally figured out that we had to wait till the fruit fell to the ground and took about 2 days to soften to be ready to eat. The fruit is delicious, but you have to use a spoon to remove the flesh from the skin. Hope this info helps your viewers Mark! I'm finally growing garlic for the first time and I've watched your video on that many times. Thanks so much!

[@rf4215]

paper thin skin is the variety of the cado. Cados do not ripen on the tree. They can stay on there for months after they are matuire and ready to eat. you need to experiment picking them at different times to find out the optimum time to harvest. once picked they will soften in 7-10 days.

[@cairozulu6700]

Watching your video has solved my problem as to how am I going to plant my avo seedling since the soil in my place is clay. Thank you brother.

[@siobhancapell]

I'm hoping you can give an update on your avocado trees. I'm wanting to plant a whole variety of fruit trees in my backyard, which used to be in a creek bed (which has since been diverted underground, but the soil is still very clay/silty and often waterlogged.) I'm hoping this method of mounding might work for all of my trees. Did you happen to use hugelkultur methods for this planting, or was it all soil? Thanks so much for all of your videos! They are super helpful.

[@lcjohn51]

Experimenting can take so long and when you are in your 60’s 2 our 3 years of failure can be disappointing to say the least. Videos like this sure can be helpful. Good job! Good luck on mounding I am doing the same thing here in Florida. My soil is sandy but after losing 3 trees to root rot, I dug down deeper and found a solid sheet of limestone everywhere I dug down. What was happening is whenever we had heavy rain the sand wood fill up with water and it would take a long time to drain down with the limestone holding the ground water. So I got root rot. I am trying the mounds so far so good. The rainy season will start soon here in Florida we shall see 🤞. Mate I just hope we don’t have a another Hurricane!

[@patdthomas]

I live in Florida as well. My Hass avocado crapped the bed a couple of years ago too. Now I'm going to give it another try with a large fruited Florida variety that I currently have growing in a large pot. Maybe I should do an exploratory dig first to see if I also have a limestone layer issue.

[@JohnSmith-gy4qj]

Make a small reservoir to collect the water and then pump it out

[@stupidminotaur9735]

avocado are thought to have co-evolved with giant ground sloths it took the sloths so long to digest the seeds that they already had roots and in some nice compost.

[@jescojesco2494]

I've killed a few avocado trees due to clay soil, after watching this video the next 3 avocados will get a mound! Thanks for the video.

[@anthonystjohn]

Brilliant analysis snd description there. Thanks so much for positing.

[@ericoh5187]

THAT'S why my avocado trees never survived! I shall try the mound method. I stumbled upon this channel & I've been addicted to it for the past 4 days! THANKS for the great information! Enjoying all your videos

[@paigeburton8995]

Hopefully this will work for my cherry trees. They both died in my clay soil last year even though I did ammend the soil.

[@brettm.s.1169]

Forgive me Mark, I strayed away from the flock and watched other channels but the moment a I saw you doing a video on Avocados I knew I’d returned as the prodigal follower.

[@jimmowers7675]

Good morning from Yukon, Oklahoma. We use sand to break down clay here, it helps to break down and helps with water drainage. You might give that a try sometime in the future.

[@dayanhamine7533]

Thank you sir i really like your video . . . I'm living . Melbourne good luck to. your channel .

[@gonget]

Mark thanks so much for sharing your knowledge, you have helped me get so many of my problems sorted out plus helped immensely in avoiding so many more. You have a great energy and enthusiasm which gets me off my butt and back to growing my own food. Thanks again.

[@50shadesofgreen]

good day to you Mark !! thank you for taking the time to do this how to video on "How to Grow & Plant Avocado Trees in Poor Drainage or Clay Soil"

[@nunuvyerbizniz3433]

Love your videos, I’ve been binge watching here in Texas for a week! Your smiles are worth watching all on their own - The great info is just a HUGE bonus and has inspired even me to get a vege garden going, LOL! Keep smiling!

[@martysgarden]

Aaah the dreaded Phytrophera hits the clay and gets attacked,,I managed an Avo farm and the trees on the highest points suffered. The old farmers always hunted down deep red soils,,at least 6 ft to 2 metres deep to avoid this problem. You can also solve this problem by planting dwarf Avo's as they don't have a long tap root, as you mentioned. They can also be managed much easier in a small backyard garden. I am currently growing mine in containers. I know that sandy soils they grow ok, but as you say clay soils can be tough. Cool video and super helpful for many for sure. Happy Gardening Marty Ware

[@devbachu7072]

martysgarden ads manure ,compost ,sand to u clay soil an avoxados trees are surfers feeds not deep feeders

[@scarlettrubyrose]

Why were the farmers wanting red earth? Is red earth high in iron? I found your comment so interesting

[@BESHYSBEES]

scarlettrubyrose red sand is free draining so the avo’s don’t have root rot problems

[@jibrilsaneko3969]

Priceless piece of information.. thank you..

[@olympicgardencrafts]

I'm hoping to grow avos in a hothouse up here in WA in the middle of winter even - your advice is super helpful! Thanks again.

[@fn1202]

I totally agree with seed grown avocado trees being a lot more hardy as apposed to grafted Avos. I actually have an avocado tree that was grown from seed here in the UK and I leave it out every winter. It has survived snow and down to -5 temperatures, just sitting out in the open. It will die back, stem and all in the winter and then a new main stem will emerge in the summer and that cycle has continued for around 3/4 years now. So amazing.

[@eatyourgarden]

Cool video mate. Completely correct about mounding on clay. Another very important thing that avos need protection from is hot drying winds. They hate it. Mound them, protect from wind and they are generally pretty hardy. Trees are also social creatures, just like chickens, they need to be with other trees, if that makes sense. Cheers Mark. Hope your enjoying the cooler weather, i know i am :)

[@nzzenith]

eatyourgarden australia . cross pollination required.

[@ThaoNguyen-up4kk]

This is awesome, exactly what I needed since my 1.3 acres are full of clay soil.

[@nicolaiitchenko7610]

Love the tutorial...have used a 1.5 meter wall at the lower end of a 17 degree slope which I then back filled with real good soil, potting mix and six month old mixed poo from the circus - elephant, horse, donkey, llama, camel and goat manures - I also added a bag of course sand and planted the thing (with protection) in the chicken run. The chooks fertilize the area pretty well and are usually above the tree site. The tree grew from a seed (quite a surprise for us) so we are not expecting too much n the way of fruit. The aim was to supply the chooks with shade. Seems to be working so far. The mound is about 1.5 meters tall and we have clay about 300 mm below that, I dug through the clay to make a deeper hole and built a drain (ag pipe short length) using gravel under the ground in the clay soil. This drain, in recent heavy rain produced a lovely little spring below the tree and retaining wall which then directed the heavy rain out of the chook run via the shallow concreted fiberglass bowls set on the floor of the run for their drinking water...made of fiberglass coated in gravel/sand. I have collected rocks to decorate the place where the drain comes out to make it a cascading waterfall into the bowls. Just a spray from the hose is usually enough to clean these bowls very effectively - each weekend, this chore is completed they also get deep mulch spread around the place because they are supplying most of the compost from the floor of their area already...Only had them this last 12 months. Eight chooks averaging 35 eggs per week. Neighbors love them...

[@MathewPretel]

Hi, I like your suggestion. I'm located in Western Sydney and am thinking about doing the same - plant my tree behind a retaining wall (concrete sleepers) where I have good drainage (gravel and Ag line). How's your tree going? Would love to hear more about your experience!

[@ehonda2718]

I’ve got heavy clay in the taproot zone too. I’ve kept my Avos in pots, and in the meantime have planted comfrey everywhere. I’ll give it a couple of years for the clay to break up, and use the comfrey leaves to build upward. I’ll be raising them like you have.

[@MrBgwolf]

Another good video. I have played with trying to grow an avocado tree but where I am at we have snow in the winter and they don't seem to handle it. Now I am going to try sugar cane but I will put a small in closer around it in hopes that will protect it from the cold winters.

[@jakesplace9721]

This is great! I live in the south tip of Texas and the soil there is heavy clay and alkaline. I’ve been wanting to grow an avocado tree and now I know what to do. In one of your other videos you described how some plants need more acidic soil but others do better in alkaline soils. Perhaps you could make another video about that going into more specifics? Thanks, love your channel!

[@zacharyolson8767]

Any update? I'm in southwest San Antonio and planning to plant a couple avocado trees. Same clay, alkaline soil.

[@jakesplace9721]

@@zacharyolson8767 sorry, nothing to report now - I sold out and moved to Indiana. Pretty sure avocados won’t grow here. I’m going to have to learn new stuff here! Thanks for your response!

[@suchartboontid2560]

This is very informational. I have one avocado tree in a pot right now but seeing how hard it is to grow I may need a few more so I wouldn't be so disappointed if this one dies.

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

great vid - I just mound planted Hazelnut trees - so glad you corroborated my views on this - no digging into the top soil that would create a water hole of the clay. thanks

[@rjaquaponics9266]

I planted an avocado seed in an aquaponics system many years ago. When I disassembled the aquaponics system I removed the avocado plant and was amazed how long the tap root was. The plant was about 2' high and the root was 12' in length.. I figured it would die as I wrapped the root around and around in a large pot. It lived and is still living today albeit in a much larger pot. I have to constantly prune it because it grows large limbs taking up an entire room. I just cut it back and it continues to grow. It loves water, but sometimes I will get leaf tip root because I over water it. Avocados will lose its leaves and grow new ones. It seems to be normal. I have never gotten fruit on it, but I don't care because I love the plant/tree !

[@kagepunk]

Did you use any native soil to build your mound or just use compost and other planting soil for it?

[@carljensen5730]

In the fall of last year, I purchased a ranch in southern california that has a wide variety of fruit trees, including close to 100 avocado trees. The soil seems like it has a LOT of clay to me, but the trees do very well. They are around 30 years old and some are around 30 feet tall. A few, perhaps half a dozen, seemed to be slowing down and not looking as good. I used a 3 foot rebar and hammered it into the ground all around those trees. This spring, they flourished. However, this spring there were tons of clusters of around a dozen new avocados. I didn't realize it might be a problem and a LOT of them fell off. I learned that when you have that many new avocados, it is good to thin them out. Apparently, some times they thin themselves out, sometimes they just all drop. Mine didn't all drop, but I do have some trees where all dropped and some other trees where they just thinned out.

[@ralfputz6076]

Hi I’ve had exactly the same issue as you’ve had planted my tree and two years on it began to die. So take two I’ve decided to dig a bit of a trench for the hole running down slope and placed some 25mm gravel at the base to help drainage the placed soil back on top. Still placed clay breaker in the hole and lots of compost and raised by about a foot. So take two we’ll see how we go this time. I’m in the Adelaide hills SA.

[@Buyo12345]

I had put 3 avacado seeds in a plastic cup with tooth pic before Covid struck.Same year it was put in the ground now its is on its 3rd year has grown up.Hopefully will give good fruit in abundance after a couple of year's. Thanks to all the tips.

[@kayprime1967]

Hi, I'm from São Paulo, Brasil, and here clay soil is everywhere. Avacado trees grow really easy, but they get really big. So if your soil is clay based try getting one of the "big tree" avacado varieties. When I say big I mean 5 - 7 meters, and the roots are really thicc and will bury itself really deep. I know cause I had to remove an avacado root once and I'm never doing it again! *If anyone like the idea please do not plant the tree anywhere near a wall or a house. The roots also grow sideways!*

[@scarlettrubyrose]

Thank you so much for the tip

[@nunseik]

Kay praetor In my neighbor we have some of these varieties and they can get even bigger than that! I've seen some trees over 15 meters high.

[@daanzoomer2997]

Fabio Dantas wow thats high

[@migs192]

So that’s why our avocado lived

[@Nemesis_T_Type]

My grandmother had a tree like that and it still produces fruit for more than 40 years. It's slightly bitter when not ripe but very sweet and oily when ripe. There was no maintenance or care done whatsoever.

[@p.a.f.mitasol8071]

New subscriber Ive just moved to new digs with a large run down garden attached. Ill be using you for inspiration over the next 12 months as I go about the big job of restoring from scratch. Cheers 👋

[@scoutmeister]

Thanks for a great tutorial on growing avocado trees. Very helpful.

[@patdthomas]

Hello from Florida USA! A few years back, I grew an avocado tree I sprouted from a store bought Hass avocado. At first I had it growing in a small pot and eventually transferred it to a larger one as it was growing quite rapidly. Then it went into the ground. I back--filled the hole with a mix of compost and native soil and topped it off with a thick layer of eucalyptus mulch. It continued to do well for about a year but then began to show similar symptoms to what you described on this video. It was a goner two months later. Our soil here is very sandy and well drained so I'm very perplexed as to what caused it's demise. Currently I have another tree growing, but it is the large fruited Florida variety. It's 20 inches tall (about 51 centimeters) and living in a large pot. I'd like to plant it in the ground sometime this summer but I'm afraid it will meet the same fate as it's predecessor. Since clay is not the issue here, could this be a case of being too sandy? Note: I'm 5 miles from the shore so salt is not a factor.

[@markirish7599]

Excellent information mark thank you and best wishes from Ireland 🇮🇪👍🇮🇪

[@sjohnson5602]

I've had no luck with Avo's in my sandy / sandstone. I'm going to try this.

[@naturewoman1274]

Thanks for this video mark much appreciated my last avocado tree died due to our clay soil so now i will raise it up

[@Selfsufficientme]

No worries Kirsten best of luck with your next avo! :)

[@vernbauerle9100]

Thanks for giving me hope and some great ideas. My Gwen (Riverside CA University hybrid of a Mexicola and Haas) is "okay" and a Fuerte across the drive way from it is hardy but recent years not much fruit and dry leaf tips. Could be that the gound is rocky ("Alta Loma Potatoes" in the tilted alluvial plane of upper Rancho Cucamonga) and I haven't mulched enough. Maybe the watering schedule is on the "too dry" end of the scale. Both trees are grafts. Well, gotta get back to utilizing the ideas I got from you today. Thanks again for the hope and help.

[@wmoy8507]

We have a tangerine tree that is planted in clay soil probably over 25 years ago. I try to add as much organics when I dug the hole. Every year we add mulch/compost to let it work into the soil. All those years of conditioning the soil turn the clay into a good draining soil. The tangerines are sweet and out family loves them. We will be moving soon and I am trying to graft a branch to take with us. Love to take that tree with us but no luck so far.

[@peterk.6093]

I have been keeping my avocado tree from a seed for about 10 years in a small container. Just cutting it back to keep it relatively small and waiting for that great day when I will have my own greenhouse to let it grow bigger. From this could Europe your garden looks like a garden of Eden. I wold just have the problem accepting those snakes who can kill you too easily.

[@RC-zv3vn]

Great informative video. Curious now that it's 6 years later, are these trees still thriving?

[@batucarumbata]

Yes I live here in portorico it's crazy how the avocados grow here ... is the soil that is the best for it. I will try with the clay. Gratitude

[@aliyahjauza9353]

add JMS (culture microbiology) and powder charcoal regularly...you'll be surprised that your clay soil will become "something else clay soil" that won't hurt any kind of root...not just for avocado...that's what happens to my clay soil... great video as always👍👍👍

[@anthonylemkendorf3114]

Here in San Clemente California ( coastal clay ) I have seen six foot retaining walls at the bottom of hills back filled with good soil . This solves the stagnant water hole problem and Avocados flourish.

[@keirenle]

I have a tropical fruit farm in south johnstone, just south from Cairns. When it rains, it rains. I had 6 grafted varieties and one from seed. 3 saw Jesus on the first 2 years despite my hilly and well drain soil. The seedling one is much more drought tolerance and the other 3 are happened to be on a much higher ground. Beside the bloody beetle that keep eating their leave they grew up fast and I have a first fruit this year

[@ameliarose727]

Excellent and comprehensive video. I have clay soil too and so this video was extremely helpful. Thank you so much!

[@sarahkerrigan6026]

friend, on a hunch. i think you need waxy fatty substrate and a very small amount of salinity. your trees are looking so healthy!

[@angiemercedes7345]

Thank you so much Mark. Finally this video the answer of my problem, .live in Sydney the soil is no good a clay. i wonder what happened to my avo going to die. thank you so much this information

[@salihkahraman6270]

Would it be a good idea to plant a seedling and then after a few years when the tree has established to graft it

[@bradwindust6657]

Love your videos! From Aotearoa New Zealand.

[@sandrabentley1420]

You explain everything so concisely, thank you! Here in C. Florida we have sandy soil. I believe with some amendments to the soil, I could grow them. They sound finicky though.

[@healinggrounds19]

Sandra Bentley I am in C. Florida too. The avocado at my old house grew easily in the "greenway" between houses. I plan on growing another at my new house but there's no greenway in this neighborhood.

[@Selfsufficientme]

Florida is a good climate for avos and I'd rather try to grow an avo in sandy soil than clay just be sure to add plenty of organic matter (compost) into the planting hole, feed well, top dress with organic matter each year or mulch, and water regularly until well established and you should be on a winner! Cheers :)

[@jaymaniak407]

I live in Orlando and have a huge avocado plant probably 20ft tall that grew in the same sandy soil we have all over florida, I just make organic fertilizer and give some regularly.

[@shiggityx2]

I live on the Big Island, Hawaii where there is little top soil and mostly lava rock. Avocados do seem to grow well here however, and I have planted a couple on our lot as best I could. Time will tell if they thrive!

[@AllotmentGrowHow]

Great advice Mark, we managed to grow one years ago when I lived in South Africa, the soil must have been fertile as the tree loved it. Your info about the tap root hating clay soil will be invaluable to people wanting to grow this lovely tree. Cheers Adam

[@yogicat8151]

All very helpful, thank you very much for sharing :)

[@carringtonblush]

Legend! Thank you so much for sharing.. full of useful information!

[@hunterwittwer4134]

Been 2 years since I started my seed and it’s tinnnyyy

[@jbontregor6717]

Thank you. This video was very helpful.

[@pennyhogg1582]

I startedmine from seed in the window , when it started rooting i pot in a clay pot , it has been growing like crazy . I have been cutting the top out of it to try to make it bushy , this is the 3rd year and i wanted to trasplant it . We in penn.usa😊😊😊

[@eleanorerosanova7538]

Thank you !!!!! I have considered an aravapa avocado, or Mexican because of the weather out here but the clay in the Kern county arid high desert WAS a big consideration.

[@roseannenorman9789]

I know a woman whose husband couldn't get one to grow. He then just stepped on a seed in his backyard and THAT one grew. When the city came by to remove growth around telephone wires they really cut back the tree and that's when it shot up. You could see it over the roof of the house when you drove up to her house. She liked the avocados but not all the leaves that it dropped all the time. This was in South Texas. Good luck everyone!

[@antoniorobles3498]

God bless you and please know that your videos are amazing, inspiring and soooooo darn informative !!!!!!! And your observations on the trees and plants are PRICELESS !!!!! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK .... YOU'RE ONE OF THE GOOD ONES 💪💪💪👍👍👍💯.

[@hossharton7017]

Great video thanks so much for all your information I'm in South Australia and have solid clay next to zero drainage in winter How high do I need to mound to be safe with say a bacon or a wurtz? I have a few 560mm 1 metre wide planter boxes but they have no bottom and I'm worried they will send a tap root to the clay and the years would be wasted. I guess my long question is... Large pot for ever? Open bottom planter box 560mm high Or is it a mega mound? My least favourite option as I don't have a huge block and mounds take alot if room Thank you👍