The BEST Way to Grow an Avocado Tree

[@jillbarger2593]

I was one of those folks who grew avacados from seed. Once my seed had roots I moved it to a small pot, then a larger one and finally into the ground. This hearty plant grew as tall as our roof line, but no fruit even after 5 yrs. So i decided enough and cut it down to the ground. It proceeded to grow back with a vigor! I cut it back again with the same results. Now I just keep it trimmed as an ornamental and buy my avacados from Costco.😄

[@monicaclark9581]

Looks like you created an ornamental variety. I would of thought since the trees in the wild propagate via the seeds in Central America that you would have the same outcome of getting fruit.

[@bje11675]

Should gave it more time

[@scotthughberry]

avocado

[@titoace408]

I have an avocado from seed and it gave fruit in six years not as good ad the parent seed but still editable

[@micahlouise9539]

Our Hass avocado has been in the ground for 12 years, it started out at about the size of the one you have in the video. It is producing well now and the avocados are delicious, better than the ones from the store. We are in 9a and with our microclimates we can get frosts, so we whip out the frost cloths for the avocado and citrus. Luckily our avocado is growing wider than taller so it can be covered pretty quickly. I just love it!! Anyone who can grow one, should grow one, they are awesome.

[@camis.1347]

Did you grow it from a store bought avocado pit? I am also nearby in zone 9b. I am growing several but they keep dying on me within a year.

[@chrisreck2195]

I have an avocado tree on the side of my house grown from seed. It has produced five avocados and Was twenty four feet tall. The avocados tasted great. But it got hit by frost last year and now's only 6 feet tall. It is a beautiful shade tree if nothing else. Thanks for all your videos I learned so much. Oh I am in north Florida.

[@22trident45]

My one grew from old compost. It's at least 11 years old and has produced nothing but shade. Fair enough. Thanks, and great time mgmt!

[@bethsands7665]

I grew an Avocado from a seed and it is now 20 ft. tall and flowered one time. My husband hates it as it is taking up space, but I have hope it will make tasty avocados one of these days. I only have one tree so it would be tough for it to get pollinated . WOWZA, 1 tree can produce, yay ...so happy. My tree has been in the ground for 15 years !

[@lauranewbie8765]

I planted one from seed three years ago, it almost died from root rot, as i have no experience growing, watering, etc. I saved it, and it's now in a huge pot, about six feet tall, and looks gorgeous! It's sprouting new leaves constantly. I hope it will have fruit in the next few years! 🤗 If I don't end up killing it somehow. 🥺😥

[@loricawley54]

I currently have an avocado tree growing under one of my crepe myrtle trees. I didn’t plant it so I’m assuming a squirrel brought the seed in. I wouldn’t have even known what it was except a plant app told me. I’ve left it there and let it grow since spring of 2023. I’m in zone 8a tho so I know it won’t survive the winter unless I dig it up and pot it to bring inside for the winter. It’s currently about a foot and a half tall lol.

[@neil9274]

Hi l’ve grown my Avocado from seed it’s now 5 years old and 2.5 metres tall plenty of new growth and last year a few flowers and only one fruit Hass it tasted good very surprising. I live in Melbourne Australia we get cold winters some frost,but the tree is protected by two fences and it’s facing Northeast it gets warm north wind in September to February and plenty of sunshine l feed it eatery 4 weeks during the flowering time. I use Sugarcane mulch and cover the whole growing area. I enjoy your show, l’ve been gardening for 45 years lam qualified in Horticulture but not in the trade now.

[@cindyfulk8853]

Good job! Very informing and easy to understand. You are a great teacher, Brian! We got our fist avocado on our tree this year. 😊 Everything you said was true to what happened to our tree. We are in Central Florida 9B. First 2 years after planting our tree, it bloomed, set tiny fruits, but they all fell off.😮Now we know that’s normal. 😉 This year we got 4 Avocados from it! 😃 Thanks for all the reliable info! 💚 🥑

[@mariap.894]

Sorry to intrude. Was your avocado tree from seed? What variety is it? Thank you in advance ❤😊

[@cindyfulk8853]

@@mariap.894 No. It is a grafted one. It was 6’ when we bought it.

[@kerrycarter9428]

I grew up in Santa Monica, very tropical climate. My mother always grew an avocado tree at each house we lived. Most of the time they were Hass. They were wonderful trees and gave us, and the neighbors, an endless supply of great avocados. Now I am in 8b, so no hope for a tree here. Now I have to buy them, not the same flavor as fresh off the tree.

[@monicaclark9581]

I come from So CA, but now live in Oregon. Growing up in LA and Orange County in the 50s and 60s we had avocado trees with most homes we had. I think they were Fuerte and one was a small black skinned variety. We never did any special care for them except to water. No diseases, they gave a lot of fruit. Most homes today don't have the yard space for these large trees.

[@saryati828]

i'm avocados lover my Father plant a lot when i was little girl,and now i'm 41 years old and my Father,my Mom is already leaving in heaven up there 🤲🏻🤲🏻🤲🏻but the avocados trees are still stay strong and always have a lot of fruit ❤❤❤just like how i love anything my Father plant it for the next generation of his Family may god bless you sir 🤲🏻🤲🏻

[@taylorgay1641]

I live in zone 6B and last fall I started an avocado pit indoors under my grow lights. It doubled in size and foliage this summer but before I even hit Midsummer it seems to have just Frozen in it's growth. As soon as fall temperatures start arriving again, about the time that I would transition it back to inside anyways, I will check it's root situation.

[@deborahruth5072]

I am growing an avocado tree from seed for the first time. It is about 12" tall now. It is just hanging out in my garden for looks.

[@mariap.894]

Same! (And shade) Love the look of the tree😊❤

[@slomo1716]

I was able to create several plants from the avocado seed, and planted outside, but quickly understood they would never grow in my zone. It was a fun experiment, which I knew would fail because it takes years and years for the tree to grow. Thanks for this indepth wonderful video about growing avocadoes.

[@marktait954]

Thank you for the info man I had no idea how long it takes to get fruit.

[@darla123]

I have been growing a Haas in a pot for the past year. I watched a video from an avocado grower, and he said to start them in a pot, so I did. Started from two seeds, that took about 4 months to sprout. They took so long to sprout, I was just going to reuse the pots, and realized they had tap roots. One of the trees died when I put them outside in the spring. I am in zone 8a, and plan to bring the pot in again this winter. It is about three feet tall, and looks good. I do not expect to ever have edible avocados, just wanted to see if I could grow the tree.

[@mariap.894]

The tree alone is pretty, in my opinion, isn't it?❤

[@darla123]

@@mariap.894 Yes it is!

[@camis.1347]

Did you sunset it before you put it outside? It can be shock with the temp change and they don't belong in full sun in the first few years as they get sunburned .

[@olgavarela3647]

Best ever and complete video, God bless ❤

[@MichaelRei99]

I wish I could grow avocados. Been eating them from when I was a kid well before the craze started.

[@julseabate4173]

love your videos even when I cant use them!!!!

[@NextLevelGardening]

Thank you!

[@johnlord8337]

Just seen ... there are some avocado trees in San Jose, CA area that are 60-70 feet tall !!!, producing like crazy. Squirrels bite and eat, or cut off and drop onto lawn, onto house roof or concrete/wood patio (cannon boom !!). People set up tarpaulins catching the cados from hitting the roof and patio deck !

[@fyrbyrd71]

Having my own avocado tree would sure be nice! Here in OH, grocery store avocados go for 1.50 to 2.50 EACH since the beer bug hurt the supply chain! Another lost/stolen delicacy...

[@johnlord8337]

Had my first Florida cannon ball cados (couple years back). Instant love (juicy, sweet) from all of the earlier (juicy, oily) CA Bacon, Fuerta, Wurtz, Zutano I love. Now only getting Hass and imported Mexican or Central/South American varieties. Safeway (CA) brought in a box of Florida cados and I almost bought up the whole box - and tell them to ORDER MORE !!! Gave the (Choquette, Hall, Marcus ?) seeds to friends to plant at their houses ... and a lady growing in East Bay San Fran inside concrete patio of her deli restaurant. Been 4-5 years - and this plant is now 5-6 feet tall - growing like a weed. Expect to see results in the near future. If you can get any Florida cannon ball cados in CA, do so. The trees are big, the fruit is big. Tired of only having Hass types to buy. Give me back the sweet, juicy, thin skin cados !

[@mariap.894]

Oh my, we don't like the Florida avocados on our family. We all think they are tasteless and "milky", lacking the richness of the Hass or Fuerte. 😮😮😮😮 Different strokes for different folks🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

[@dottiecunningham2152]

My gardener says the droppings from the avocado should be left under the tree. Is that correct? Is that the natural mulch they need? We put Christmas lights on our trees & set a timer. Never had frost damage. Other neighbors have lost their trees to frost. We did have heat damage to our "Holiday" avocado. I only saved it by misting it hourly when temps were well above 100F.

[@johnlord8337]

The leaves, fruit, seeds, and bark of avocados contain PERSIN, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs, and more serious signs in other animals due to a wide range in sensitivity across species. Birds, horses, and rodents are especially sensitive to avocado toxicity. The avocado leaves are their own antiobiotic, and germicidal properties keeping other weeds and plants from growing underneath them. If you have sowbugs (pill bugs), earwigs, millipedes, centipedes, cockroaches, earthworms, ants, ... all these could/can make their nests in the leaf duff - even snails and slugs if moist enough. Raking out then just transports the toxic leaves (and possible critters) elsewhere making a further toxic (and critter) site. DONT compost with anything else - much like potato, tomato, and eggplant nightshade plants ! Better to just leave and let the cado and nature take care of their own details.

[@micahlouise9539]

Yes, I was told to leave the leaves under my avocado so that is what I have done, it has been in the ground for 12 years and doing well. It is also next to the duck pond so it gets the water from the pond when we drain it to clean it. We put some straw from the duck shed under it too, out further from the leaf drop. It is a wonderful tree, I love it!

[@dottiecunningham2152]

Thanks for the info. I had not considered the drip line. I'll pick up some more of the large bark which I use in all of the walking area. It gets really hot here so the bark helps. @@micahlouise9539

[@josejoaquim4928]

Hi, Very informative indeed, in less then 10 min. I would like to go small/medium size comercial, and as far as I am aware i don't know of any comercial size avocado farmer in the country were i am in East Africa. Do i then go out of the country to buy the plant from another country not knowing the quality of it and only after a couple years, i find out wether it's the right choice or not? Or is there a smarter way to do this? Well, i never farmed before and have no clue,but, i am tired of being scared.

[@dande9981]

toothpicks never worked for me! We peel the pit and wrap in a wet paper towel. Then put it that in a small plastic bag wait for it to split and grow a root and the plant it. This as always worked for us. We just use them as house plants because we live in zone 5.

[@monicaclark9581]

Same experience with me. I couldn't get the tooth picks into the seed., so I also started the pit in a wet folded paper towel in a zip lock bag for about two weeks and when it sproued I planted it in a small pot with soil and its growing nicely,

[@mariap.894]

Funny! I'll add one more experience to the mix. I've try both of those methods and none worked for me, so I started throwing pits in the compost and Voila!!! Like a charm!😂😂😂❤

[@camis.1347]

@@mariap.894HOwfunny! The toothpicks worked once or twice for me, but I do get alot in compost, too

[@BlackJesus8463]

Any timeline on the ancient olive trees? There's some cold-hardy varieties I just learned about but I don't know if they taste good.

[@monicamayer977]

Yes I have seed plant.

[@phillippinter7518]

Are you farmiliar with the lila or opal avocado? Apparently hardy down to as low as 15F or zone 8b with little to no protection according to some websites and i would like to know more about it and where to get it. It is also a very small tree compared to others.

[@NR-ce6lm]

Great information ! Pulling my seed avocado out 😢 What kind of avocado works well as shade tree?

[@NextLevelGardening]

Most of them.

[@johnlord8337]

Big-leafed fruiting (and nut) trees - figs, avocados, walnuts, oaks, maples ... are all good shade trees ... even mango, papaya, and banana if the climate allows.

[@NR-ce6lm]

@@johnlord8337 thank you

[@mariap.894]

​@@johnlord8337Banana and Papaya are not considered "shade" trees here in the tropics. Their "branches" are so skinny ❤

[@ShortbusMooner]

*taking notes 😁👍

[@ArtemisGreenleaf]

My cold-hardy avocados were just starting to produce fruit when we had snowpocolypse in Houson in 2021. I got a Super Haas and we got hit again with 20° temps again. 😢

[@christiensgarden3325]

Great video

[@camicri4263]

I am in zone 8 and love avocado...reed avocado is out but maybe? What do you think? Do I stand a chance?

[@jackiekatz8286]

I'm in 8b too. If it takes 20 years to produce fruit I'd never be able to enjoy the harvest, if your young you might. I love avocado's could eat 3 a day. 😪

[@johnlord8337]

You didn't mention which state. I have the list above of FL, CA, and TX cado commercial grower varieties for their areas. Google Four Winds (CA) or Tropical Acres Farm (FL) for pictures and details - quite informative. Some of these sold are 3 feet tall sold/shipped on large container pots. Others (larger ?) picked up from their retail sites. Google other cado growers in your area - and see what varieties available and what size.

[@genegene3348]

Would it be possible to grow an avacado tree in a warmed greenhouse in zone 7? My sister grows lemons, pineapple and an orange in hers, so i am curious about the avacado.

[@johnlord8337]

If you can grow your citrus and tropicals in that grow house, then cados will also grow. Give large amounts of mulch, compost, fertilizer, heat, sunlight, and watering - and you should have a monster on your hands in no time.

[@taniasulzberger4188]

Where do you get the white fly predators from. I have the white fly in my garden destroying my hibiscus

[@NPC2_4_U]

I have an avocado tree that I started 4 years ago. About 3 months ago I looked up avocado tree care and found out I was wasting my time. There are cold temp avocado trees too. I'm buying one this year. I live in zone 9

[@camis.1347]

I'm in zone 9b but you could just wrap a regular one or bring it in, why get a cold temp one when we only go down low about 3 nights a year?

[@lindavelasco6867]

FYI,,I did grow an avocado tree from a seed and it only took 2-3 years to flower n bear fruit. This tree had produced avocados yearly ( about 7-8 years now) . The other seed was a little behind the other better productive tree n fruiting was wasn’t as good too. I guess it’s just my luck n taking care of it. Not to brag but it’s all true. I even pruned the trees down so they are reachable by a shortie like me(😆😆)

[@dirtdigger949]

Question if you are using a seed say from a fruit from a farmers market how long will it take it to dry to were you can stick the tooth picks in it I plan to have it grow in the house do to extrem temps here in TX thanks.

[@hollywinsman9464]

I do my tooth picks after I eat it. Haas

[@dirtdigger949]

@@hollywinsman9464 Well I was thinking that it maybe to hard that freash but I will give it a try.

[@hollywinsman9464]

@@dirtdigger949 The Haas will be fine but others I don't know.

[@alicearroyo5910]

Can avocado trees be grown in containers?

[@NextLevelGardening]

It would need to be a really big container and even then you couldn't expect a lot of fruit

[@johnlord8337]

Reeds are thick skinned, rounds, and said to be hard to peel, and size of seed to meat is not quite equal. Hopefully, you keep the tree well watered so that you get large fruits.

[@sarazacks1517]

❤honolua!!

[@twoacresintexas]

I place the seeds in a ziplock that has about a 1/2 cup of water and just put it in a dark place and about a month later there are sprouts!

[@michaelmcgourty9535]

You can always start the seed then graft a good variety onto it.. Just saying.

[@janw491]

Not heavy frost /snow tolerant so not for Canada

[@johnlord8337]

Only grocery store cados for you !!!

[@bonsaitreehouse5534]

The reason why avocado fruit from seed don't taste well is because the pollination requires two plants. So the fruit has the genetics of the two plants and it won't taste the same as the original where the seed came from. That is why you have to graft from a known tree that produces good tasting fruit. It is not like other plants like tomatoes that can self pollinate and produce fruit with the same genetics as the original seed.

[@johnlord8337]

The very reason why cultivars - Type A and Type B are used ... or cross-species of the same cultivar type are intermixed (Type A with Type A, Type B with Type B) for pollination and greater production. One would then consider cross-species of the same fruit set (pear-shaped, thin skin with other pear-shaped, thin skins .... thick skinned Hass with other thick skinned Hass... Avocados need just as much cross-pollination just like pawpaws ... and growing fraternities of male trees ... or sororities of female trees - and these resulting in being groves of non-production. You need a single tree alone and they turned into the bitter spinsters of their species - and people get the wrong impression of the species. Always having multiple varieties of the species creates all the needed beneficial cross-DNA for production.

[@henrychien142]

Do you have any recommendations on from whom to buy high quality grafts of the Hass type? I grew a Hass variety from Home Depot out here in Bakersfield but realized I transplanted into ground too close to house and had to transplant again resulting in possible death of tree... And where to also get the Reed and Fuerte types? Lastly, is it possible to grow in containers with resulting good harvests for years?

[@johnlord8337]

@@henrychien142 As container plants, trees need to get to 6 - 8 feet tall with a trunk caliber of 1.5 - 2 inches before they will set fruit. This requires a large, 24 inch pot (15 to 25 gallon). And the bigger 50-100 - + gallon containers the better - for a large root set, large upward (and outward) growth, and eventual massive cado production. Keep strongly irrigated - but don't swamp, drown, and root rot the plant. FourWinds Growers Watsonville (down below me) have your Hass, Reed, and Fuerte types. They sell 18 varieties of 18-36 inch in containers for a "sizable" price. Their site will provide you their retailers' locations. Google "nurseries selling avocado trees near Bakersfield California" (Yellow Pages entry) I see 20 designated nurseries in Bakersfield. Narrow down the tree nurseries vs small plants and herb garden stores. Google "gredalder" Good article on growing. Groves near Visalia (Lemon Cove and Kingsburg). They might be able to assist you. Google "CaliforniaAvocado" site. Pull up the list of their corporate growers and see where they are - these would also be some of the best suppliers (-IF- they would sell you some trees) - or they can point you in the best direction for some quality 6 - 8 foot trees for best planting options. Google "EpicenterAvocado" Santa Cruz - ships out grafted varieties. Check their site (small operation) - but I wouldn't want you to ask for a graft - but actually get a totally grafted tree shipped to you. They have various ones in their product line. Brian being near Los Angeles and more near you should have some thoughts on nearby avocado retailers. These appear to be the best bets - for California grown and container potted varieties that will already be good growers when they are put into the ground.

[@kurtrohlfing5850]

Avocados are like Apples/Crab Apples. The seeds will produce new, different trees unless grafted. So roll the dice for multiple seasons later crop, where the fruit could be meh or get one that someone else hit the jackpot from that lottery. Thank you giant sloths and then the humans that ended them for this delicious fruit.

[@gregj2647]

I guess in Zone 4a we can’t grow for fruit 😂

[@Aldrichfernandez62]

Bro

[@sherylchapman4168]

NOTE: avocados do not make good patio trees as they grow very large. They need ROOM!

[@mariap.894]

I have one that it's only 6 feet tall. I cut the center part of the trunk once it started branching to stunt its height❤

[@sherylchapman4168]

@@mariap.894 the roots are that of a large tree. I have an avocado tree that is growing under the foundation of my house. Unless you can dig up and do root pruning, you have a large tree.

[@johnd7435]

Waste of time.They can only produce from good cuttings.