How To NOT Kill Your Avocado Tree

I've been growing avocado trees from seed for quite a while now, and in that time I've answered a lot of avocado questions. I've opened up my email inbox and instagram DMs and seen a few common problems that are killing avocado trees. In this video, I go through five things that lead to what I see as the most common problems people have with their avocado trees.
Here are some of the videos I mention in this video:
Avocado pot sizes: • What size pot should y...
Avocado potting mix: • The Best Potting Mix f...
Watering an avocado tree: • How To Properly Water ...
Properly water avocado trees: • How Long Can You Keep ...
Lanky Avocado Trees: • How To Stop Avocado Tr...
In this video:
Introduction - 00:00
Avocado Tree Pot Size - 01:06
Avocado Potting Mix - 04:04
Avocado Tree Watering - 05:57
Keeping an Avocado Tree in Water - 07:50
Avocado Tree Light Needs - 10:45
Summary and Outdoor Avocado Tree Considerations - 12:51
Find me on Instagram: scottgrowsanavo...
For business inquires and collaborations, send me an email at [e-mail]

[@j03man44]

Super distracted by you changing your iconic blonde hair 😅

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

It was time for a change! 💁🏼‍♀️ 😝

[@addiet4340]

YOUR HAIR LOOKS AMAZING OMG

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

Thank you very much! 💁🏼‍♀️

[@lynnelaney4380]

Great video!

[@addiet4340]

scott i Love your videos they give me so much joy as an avocado enthusiast

[@juandavidvelezbuitrago1702]

At lasttt, I was waiting for a video for a bit. Your videos are awesome

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

Thanks for your patience! I have a number of videos in the pipeline, but they’re all waiting for things to grow so are taking some time! 😅

[@JoanieThomas-tu2wf]

Love your videos my plants are very big and healthy because of you ty Joanie Stewart

[@AT-AT-AT-AT]

great content Sir. subd.

[@quietspacearts]

we have a 3ft avocado tree thats a year old and grown in nutrient water and in a 5 litre tub of just nutrient water masterblend at ph6 and 450-550ppm and a teaspoon of h202, happy to send photo if you like, also i do only half fill with water so that the roots can have air too

[@CandysGarden]

It would be AWESOME to see that! You should share a video🙏🙏🙏

[@quietspacearts]

@@CandysGarden i will be but dont feel its right to mention my youtube chanel gardening one without scotts permission. sorry

[@CandysGarden]

@@quietspacearts you're honestly advertising yourself as is, while commenting. That's how I checked out your channel.

[@CandysGarden]

@quietspacearts I HONESTLY wish he'd come visit mine. He's someone I look at for inspiration, & wouldn't mind seeing what he thinks.🙏🙏🙏

[@quietspacearts]

@@CandysGarden lol thats not my gardening one though, sorry its just jewellery

[@dreamingofbonsai]

This is all solid advice! Question for you, have you had any of your avocados flower yet? The reason I ask is that I have a 4 year old hass avocado grown from seed which I bought at a grocery store and I was surprised to discover a week or two ago that it is flowering! I haven't had this happen with my 3 other avocado trees which are pretty much the same age. All of these are grown in separate pots indoors in Pennsylvania, USA. I didn't expect to see flowers for at least a few more years ... but I have a theory on why it is flowering. So the tree that is flowering now I had attempted to air layer on the trunk about 2 months ago and scraped away at the cambium layer and covered it with moss and plastic wrap as a standard air layer. My theory is that maybe when the air layer was done on the trunk that this avocado tree went into survival mode and put out the flowers early as a survival instinct. I may do a video on this tree soon, but wanted to know your thoughts on this?

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

My eldest tree is about 7 years old, and whilst it’s doing well, it hasn’t flowered yet. I think you’ve got an unusual one on your hands. I’ve never heard of anyone achieving flowers earlier as a result of air layering - very interesting! I’d love to see that video 🥑 🪴

[@Mgardener7849]

Love the channel. Have you ever considered using a super-roots air pot. They are great .

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

I haven’t! I may have to look into it ☺️

[@user-su5du9ln8r]

Thanks for an interesting video. If you replaced the "cheapest potting soil" with sand in your planting mix, you wouldn't ever have to worry about root rot, "overwatering", or the size of your pot being too large. Top dress with fertilizer/nutrients and try to keep organic matter that quickly breaks down out of your soil. Keep up with the great work!

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

It’s an interesting idea, to be sure. I wonder about how the roots would anchor in to something so loose… but it might be worth a try!

[@Jadenora]

Hi Scott, my avocado had 7 sprouts and im gonna try to make a bonsai. You have any tips to keep the sprouts alive?

[@CaptainJerry-]

I never had luck growing in water. All of my soil starts have opened up and produced a tree!

[@KaylaGuerrier-xf1ox]

This is my first time growing anything I’m doing a lemon and avocado tree what type of soil is needed ? I was told citrus potting mix any suggestions? My avocado is already starting to grow however not my lemon seeds

[@thebeersandthebees]

Got several going stong in the cheapest nastiest potting mix from bunnings. Honestly that stuff is more like pine bark any moisture just drains right through. Yet to encounter a root rot issue. Never stuffed around blending perlite or husk or whatever.

[@CandysGarden]

Has it worked better for you?

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

Ohhh are you using the bags of CHEAP garden mix? The ones for less than $3 a bag? Whatever works!

[@sinjoy13]

Should I move my young tree indoor during winter ?

[@delsiebarker5145]

I put my 2-year-old avocado tree in the ground about a couple of weeks ago and it seems like it is doing very well but I'm not sure how to take care of it could you give me some hints to take care of my avocado tree and maybe if I should do anything to it it only has like five or six leaves

[@CandysGarden]

Yea, no matter what kind of potting mix I go with, I ALWAYS add more perlite into it ALL the time.

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

I go through a lot of perlite 😜

[@KaylaGuerrier-xf1ox]

I love you hair ❤️❤️

[@tamasd8]

Nobody needs anything else to measure, than mm-s :D

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

Metric is the way to go! 📏

[@TaxEvasion777]

So two smaller avocados in one large pot is okay? They’re different varieties above graft, they might be the same below it idk. They seem okay for now. I have them spaced apart in the pot.

[@tamasd8]

Growlights saved my plants at home, some cheap noname one from Amazon

[@WayneMay]

My parents live in Cape Town, South Africa, and have a very happy avocado tree that grows an overwhelming amount of massive fruits every year. Their soil is 100% sand there.

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

How interesting! Maybe I should try it sometime 🧐 🥑

[@tiga7592]

Hi, I live in a Mediterranean climate on sand soil. We had temps of 37C even before the end if may. Last year I planted a nursery bought healthy avo which just got sunburn and died. Any tips for growing in this situation? I have no indoor space available. We don't get frost predictably. I tried to find out our 'last frost date' as a lot of planting advice is based on that and the only result I got was one word.... rare ! Last year summer temps went up to 46C.

[@WayneMay]

@@tiga7592 are you able to redirect gray water to the avo tree?

[@blackkennedy3966]

Hey Scott, did you see that video from kiwi grower where he gives an update on avocado planted from seed 6 years ago? It’s pretty good proof along with other blogs and forum posts I’ve been reading that avocados do make good fruit pretty often from seed. That the statistics people quote are total baloney Hell if you plant some of your trees if you live in the proper climate you’d probably discover that you have a few gold mines in there. Any of yours flowered yet? 😮

[@karinaprut1659]

Helpful video❤️I replanted mines 4 avocados to the dirt 🙂‍↔️

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

That's great! I’m sure they’ll do well 🥑🪴

[@patricianelson8]

My question is, how big does the leaves have to be before transplanting from water to pot with soil?

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

You can put it in soil anytime! No size requirements 😃 🥑

[@heyna1185]

I kept my avocado tree in water for too long. Eventually it started developing root rot. I was able to catch it though before it got too bad. I dunked it in hydrogen peroxide, scrubbed the roots with a tooth brush and planted it in soil with the top part of the root ball sticking out, so that it would be able to dry out more. It‘s looking better now, I just hope I don’t kill it in the pot now somehow 😅 The reason I waited so long in the first place is cuz I killed too many baby plants by planting them in soil. I think I‘ll buy some perlite and coco peat, that could probably help a lot of my plants.

[@CandysGarden]

I'm going to have to test out how long you can leave an avocado seed in water. I had one growing in water since 10/2022, & barely planted it in soil in 01/2024. It's one of my avobonsai trees I'm working on. It's doing just fine.😊

[@heyna1185]

@@CandysGarden Are you fertilizing it? I didn‘t. I also probably forgot to change the water often enough. I think I put mine in water last May? Not entirely sure but it must have been 11 months in water (without fertilizer) at least. 😅 I‘m optimistic though, because I caught the rot early, dried the roots out and my plant is very full and healthy looking. It only has a few brown spots.

[@CandysGarden]

@@heyna1185 I honestly never fertilized it, & I never changed out the water, I would just top it off as needed. As it's been in the soil, I have yet to fertilize it either.

[@heyna1185]

@@CandysGarden oh wow that‘s impressive! Maybe different avocado seeds can survive for different lengths of time? I‘m guessing the size of the seed is a factor.

[@CandysGarden]

@heyna1185 you can check out my playlist on my avocado trees if you'd like. I am going to share my avobonsai soon, no obligations.

[@ColinClarke-pb8ee]

why the girls hairstyle dude? it's putting me off the video.

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

Lol, alright buddy 🤣

[@miriaml4556]

I put my avocado plants into indirect sunlight inside because I was struggling with long and thin stems but they all lost their leaves after that 😢

[@ScottGrowsanAvocadoTree]

I’m afraid it might be a soil/water issue 😳 I hope it recovers!