Any advice on growing avocado indoors?

Just wondering about this plant as a possibility for our home. Does it really continue to produce fruit indoors? Thought it would be fun to try to start one from a seed with my daughters, but thought I'd better get some info first. I'm assuming the plant can get rather large??? Advise? Thanks!

In this part of the world, seed avocados can take a while to produce...maybe 6 - 10 years. Grafteds, of course, produce sooner. AND, they make wonderful plants...and it is a fun experiment with kids...to see the seed produce a tree!!! Yes...it can get big. Make a great Christmas Tree!!!

Aloha,

Carol

Thanks for the info, Carol :)

We have started an avocado tree from seed before, but it died when my husband took it outside in the cold! Now we have another one starting. We root it in water until it has some leaves, then we pot it. Eventually the rest of the seed falls off. Ours grew quite well, and we didn't do anything special. It was in a south-facing window. I think it takes them a long time to get big. Maybe you could keep it pruned to a decent houseplant size. Maybe then you can try rooting a branch? Certainly a fun houseplant to grow, and a great lesson for kids! Next I want to try tangerine seeds and olive seeds. Popcorn kernels work, too, but we could never grow them taller than about a foot.

FUN! Thanks a lot :)

There are couple of dwarf avocado varieties, too. Avocado trees have about the same cultural requirements as citrus. There are several forms of citrus that are dwarf and do produce fruit indoors. Logee's Greenhouses carry a good selection.

Carol, you sparked a childhood memory! We would dry out an avocaco seed, then with the pointed end up, we would stick a toothpick in the middle on both sides and suspend the seed in water.....leaving half in the water with the top half sticking out. After it was rooted, we planted it. Sorry, but I can't recall how big it got....it was about 50 years ago!! I've demonstrated with a grape in this photo.
Greta

Gretaduck, I can never get avocados to root that way. Could someone please post a photo showing me which end is "up"? (I think I keep sticking the wrong end in the water.) Also, how long should it take to root?

BTW, you can root a pineapple in a couple days -- much easier to start in my humble opinion.

Dogzilla,

How do you do the pineapple? I've heard about that before and would love to try it, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Of course in our area I'll have to do it all indoors.

I have an avocado plant starting, so I'll take a picture for you and post it soon. :)

Thanks, Dana

Okay, pictures are ready. Yes, like Gretaduck said, you place the pointed end UP. I like to use three toothpicks for stability. First the seed splits, then the root emerges, then the shoot. I think it took about a couple weeks for the roots to emerge. We'd guess our plant is probably three months old or so now. I'l probably plant ours soon, and then after awhile longer the pit will fall off completely. I was worried with ours because the tip of the shoot dried out. Luckily the shoot got long enough for two shoots to grow off the stem! Just be patient and I'm sure it will work for you. We have ours in a south window, and as you can see, they grow toward the light! I need to be better about rotating it. :) Have fun!

--DanaK

1. Buy a pineapple from the grocery store. Pick one for which the greenery at the top looks good and healthy. If there's a lot of brown at the tips of the leaves, skip it.
2. Lop off the pineapple fruit from it's green top. Eat the pineapple. Or make pineapple upside-down cake and send a piece to Dogzilla as a reward for her helpful advice. ;>)
3. Clear away all pulpy pineapple flesh from around the base of the pineapple greenery (top). Leave a little as a 'base' t support the plant
4. You'll see little yellowish-white nodes that stick out the bottom. These will grow into roots.
5. Stick the bottom of the pineapple top in a bowl of water. Change the water out to fresh every day.
6. When you see little roots forming around the bottom, you can pot in sandy, well-drained soil (any good potting mix will be fine). Some recommend using rooting hormone; I found that unnecessary.
7. It takes a minimum of two years to produce a pineapple, so patience is key!
8. After a couple years, if you're lucky, the plant will send up a big stalk from which a flower appears at the top. The flower dies, a bitty pineapple appears. When the fruit is yellow halfway up, it's ripe for picking. You can pick as soon as you see a little yellow and continue to ripen inside, well away from pineapple-robbing tree rats (squirrels), 'coons and other obnoxious fruit-stealing critters. (Can you guess what happened to my pineapple fruit I grew so carefully two years ago?)

Pineapples are zone 10 plants, so if you're trying this up north, you'll want to keep them potted as houseplants, repotting as they out grow their pots. These plants are related to bromeliads and I water and treat them just like bromeliads -- keep 'em warm (above 65 degrees) and humid (above 50% humidity) and in full sun. They should get 8-12 hours of full, bright, blazing hot sun each day. This would be a great greenhouse project for all of you snowbound gardeners.

Web sites for further reference:
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2003/12-5-2003/pineapple.html
http://www.wsrcc.com/alison/pineapple.html
www.ccenassau.org/hort/fact_sheets/ a102_pineapple_fuschias_jan03.pdf
http://bsi.org/brom_info/growing/pineapple.html

I PLANTED 8 ALVOCADO SEEDS LAST YEAR RIGHT IN THE DIRT AND 6 CAME UP THEY ARE IN MY BASEMENT RIGHT NOW AND THEY ARE ABOUT 3 FEET TALL. I DID HAVE LITTLE TROUBLE WITH THE WHITE FLIES AT FIRST WHEN THEY WERE IN THE G H . JUST DIDN'T HAVE ROOM FOR THEM TO STAY IN THERE ALL WINTER. THOUGHT I'D TRY MY LUCK IN THE BASEMENT. THEN PUT THEM BACK OUTSIDE WHEN THE WEATHER WILL LET ME. BUT THEY ARE MUCH EASIER TO JUST PUT THEM RIGHT IN THE GROUND.

Thanks for the info, rb :)

Just a quick hello to everyone..I'm a newbie to this site and I really love it already. I was going to ask your question about starting avacado seeds Hugahosta but you beat me to it. Only I am starting one with my two son's. =)

I wanted to know about the Pineapple plant as well...lucky day! Very nice and helpful site. Thanks to all.
Happy weekend ! Mel

Here is a great site I found listing various varieties of Avacado which will grow in some of the lower/cooler Zones.
My personal two favorites from this site are Mexicola and Mexicola Grande both are reported to grow in Zone 7

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/avocado.html


P.S. Welcome Mel, your gonna love it here. :-)

RikerBear, do you actually have avocados planted outside?? I have a couple going inside, but I don't know what I'll do when they get big. I guess keep them pruned well. It sure would be fun to grow one outside, especially around here. Everyone would be amazed!

Mel, I'm glad you found what you were looking for! This site is very helpful, and fun too. Welcome.

--Dana

Not yet Dana, they are still only about a ft tall....I'll wait till maybe next year before risking the info on the web site.

When we make new pineapple plants, we twist the top off the pineapple plant and let them "harden" for 1 week to 3 or 4 months (in case we forget them...they all come up). Then plant in rocks or cinder soil and water. We fertilize putting the fert in the lower bracts. It all works!!!

Carol