I bring them in during the winter but they go outside again when it is warm in the spring. Someone told me to cut the top off the left one because it was 7 feet tall, only have 8 foot ceilings. Now it looks stupid. The one on the right always has had the droopies. Can you help them?
Many years ago I grew a little Avocado plant from seed. I cleaned the Avocado Pit, stuck a toothpick in either side, filled a glass jar with water and sat the seed (with toothpicks resting on edge of glass) down into the jar so that just the bottom part of the seed was touching the water. I changed the water once a week to keep it from becoming icky. I don't remember how long it took but eventually there were lots of roots and leaf sprouts. I don't remember what I did with the plant! I might just have to eat an avocado to root the pit again!
I love fresh pineapple too and used to have the produce department at the grocery store shell a fresh pineapple for me and I'd ask for the top so that I could root it. I remember planting one of my pineapple plants in the yard and having it actually set fruit ... it was so cute but someone ended up stealing the little pineapple before it got ripe ... Grrr!
Oh ... I just read your post again. From your heading I thought you were asking about how to grow an Avocado tree from the seed. Your trees look great. The drooping may be from lack of water. Looking at the height of those, they also may need larger pots. Has it been awhile since you've re-potted? I would remove them from their containers and check the roots, it could be they are so root bound that there isn't much soil left to retain moisture.
The drooping one is a year older than the other one. I read where a couple people said that their avocado plants drooped, that one is from a regular size avocado. The one on the left is from an avocado that was twice the size. It also has a little one growing beside it.
There is an easy way to root a pit. Wrap it up in a wet paper towel make sure that the seed point is up. Put it in one of those tiny plastic containers and add water until there is about 1/4" water in the bottom. Put it in a ziploc bag. Now put the container in a warm place. I put mind in the cupboard that has a light under it and over the sink. I usually keep that light on all the time and the bottom shelf is warm. Check your seed in a month or when ever you think about it! The one I have now has roots but no leaves. It just needs more time. I like this way of doing it because with the glass and toothpick thing, I was always spilling the water!
This message was edited Sep 8, 2009 7:58 AM
Man! It this thread a blast from the past, or what?! I'm sure there are thousands of baby boomers (myself included) who will fondly remember one of the classic activities of the 70s... sprouting an avocado pit! I bet that more avocados were sold for the pits than as food outside of the SouthWest and California! I can't remember what happened to my plant, but it probably got left outside to freeze one fall.
Sorry, no help with your trees, but what memories!
I started this one and after it got growing I pinched , well maybe cut the top out and it is
looking pretty good. Just brought it in for the winter. I'll probably have to repot it first thing
next spring if it makes it thru winter . As it grows, I keep pinching.
An avocado pit to plant was probably my first houseplant. But, I kinda lost interest after reading (followed up by my own experience) that no matter what you do it will only live as a houseplant for 3-4 years.
I agree with plantladylin, probably should take it out of the pot and see how the soil and root looks. Some times things will recover amazingly - they had been bone dry inside, the water just ran off.
IF my memory serves me well, I remember a friend (back in the 70s) who kept an avocado tree as a houseplant for at least ten years. It was huge! She put it outside every summer and in a sunny window during the winter. I think the only reason she didn't keep it was that it got too big. I remember it being at least 5' tall. Perhaps she could have kept pruning it severely every spring and kept it like a large bonsai?
I had 1 until a house fire that was probably 6'tall by 4'wide. i painfully forced myself to prune it and it was one of my most prises plants!
SOOOO--
Did any of you that had these huge Avocado plants in the house, actually, get any Avocados????--OR--Was it just a green plant?
I rooted 2 seeds as a lark this Summer---Do not plan to bring them inside.......I have too many plants to winter over as it is. Did this many, many years ago--and, in the house, the Avocado plant got aa lot of bugs. It was pretty, though.
YES! This also reminds me of Elementary School projects....Like--Carrot tops and Pineapple tops......
Gita
No fruit that I ever heard of, just lots of lush foliage. Fun.
but they look so pretty sitting tere, not asking for anything
,but a little light, food, and warmth. I like my tree.
I have one about 2 feet high now. But I live in 8a and we do get freezes (just had one) so I don't think my tree would have a long term future outside. Now he is overwintering indoors. But as I have a gazillion plants inside already and am running out of room for plants, I am hoping to give him away to someone who lives in South Texas where the tree might have a real future. Or I may just have to consider a large greenhouse... I like that idea... just have to talk DH into it... fat chance. :-) Stacey
Wouldn't it be absolutely wonderful to have a greenhouse?
Guess where I would be when DH is running channels on tv?
Aw, it doesn't hurt to dream, does it.
RRM
usually the ones grown from seed don't produce fruit....kind of like citrus.
Hey Track, don't they? I've seen a number of posts of folks growing citrus from seed and getting fruit. Although I have seen folks also mention that the fruit is not true to the parent plant in some cases. I think if the seed is viable and capable of producing a tree, why would it not follow that that tree could produce a fruit (unless it needed a cross-pollinator and you only had one tree :-))? Don't mean to get all technical, but I'm growing a pommelo tree from seed and am expecting it to produce pommelos.
that's why i said "usually". i've seen fruit from seed grown trees but it was scant and not tasty at all. don't worry about getting "all technical". lol i can't understand you if you get too techy on me though! i hope you great lots of great tasting pommelos!
Scant and not tasty... maybe in many many years I'll find out. :-) Oh well, I'll have fun growing it anyways. The leaves smell nice - and it is really my 14 yr old daughter's tree. Her grandparents in FL sent her the seeds and she had visions of large tasty pommelos I'm sure when she planted them. ;-)
I grew one from a pit a number of years ago and it was growing great untill I took it outside and a squirrel decided he wanted the pit which was still attached to the base of the plant. That was the end of my avocado tree.
