Author Topic: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!  (Read 50839 times)

simon_grow

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #50 on: December 02, 2014, 08:23:52 PM »
My soil has a fair amount of clay: not hard at all.
This summer i have lost TWO avocados (bacon and mexicola), I'm assuming because root rot.
I will try the seedling technique, but i wonder if i will able to graft low enough. I'm assuming i will have to use T budding. Cleft grafts usually don't give very low grafts.

Hey Pancrazio, If you think it may be root rot/phytopthora, you may want to graft onto phytopthora resistant rootstock. I can't recall which varieties are resistant but I do remember reading about it somewhere.

Simon

Pancrazio

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #51 on: December 03, 2014, 07:33:47 PM »
Thank you for your suggestion. I have heard about them, but as usual, the problem here is two folded: the first problem is recovering something phytopthora resistant, the second problem is having it from a clone cold hardy enough.
This paired with the fact that avocado are exceedingly rare in Italy (avocados isn't exactly the staple of italian cuisine lol) makes finding a good rootstock a feature of determination all by itself.
I will try for sure, but I will also try the method you suggested at the beginning of this topic. Will let you know!
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barath

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #52 on: December 03, 2014, 09:32:04 PM »
Pancrazio -- maybe you could find someone who can mail you some Zutano seeds?  A lot of nurseries in Northern California use Zutano seedlings as rootstock and they seem to do well in our cold / wet winters.

Pancrazio

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #53 on: December 04, 2014, 02:04:25 PM »
Maybe i can find something, I remember a guy around Rome that grows a Zutano. But i would prefer a mexicola as rootstock.
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NewGen

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #54 on: December 22, 2014, 04:27:20 PM »
How long can I keep an avocado seed before planting? Days, weeks? How should I store it? I should mention that the peel around the seed is gone.
Thanks,

simon_grow

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #55 on: December 22, 2014, 05:52:07 PM »
Avocado seeds loose viability within about a month. It should really be planted or put in wAter within a few days for best results. https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/avocado_ars.html
Simon

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #56 on: December 22, 2014, 06:06:56 PM »
Thanks Simon, I have 2 seeds from avos I picked off the sidewalk from a huge tree that was rocked hard by the statewide rainstorm a couple weeks ago. A bunch of avos fell to the ground, I was late to the area, and only found 2 left.  ;D I figure if this tree can grow in my area to over 20' tall, then I can use it as rootstock and graft reed or haas to it later.

barath

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #57 on: December 23, 2014, 02:13:52 AM »
Anyone have any Avocado seeds from Mexicola or Zutano to spare?  I couldn't get as many Mexicolas from a relative as I was hoping to, and would like to start a bunch more for rootstock.

palmtreeluke

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #58 on: December 23, 2014, 04:42:32 AM »
I've also planted an avocado seed directly in the soil with good results. my technique was for cold hardiness: read below.

in spring time:
I selected a large seed west indian type that had lots of 'energy' for vigor.  I dug a bowl like hole in the sandy soil on the south side of my house. and planted the seed below grade in the center of the hole. covered the seed and place a wire cage away to keep the squirrels from finding my seed.  It grew and then I grafted a 'lila' with wedge graft technique.  wrapped it in shadecloth and waited. It turned out beautifully and  I slowly backfilled the hole to cover the rootstock with sand.  I wanted the 'lila' which is cold hardy to root in since the root stock was tropical and cold sensitive type not good for North Florida.  I slowly added sand throughout the year. after two seasons the tree was 8 ft tall and had its first blooms. surviving 20 degrees.

the key it to plant below grade then bury the grafted portion so the cold hardy tree roots in. Then if you get freezing cold weather the rootstock wont die below your hardy grafted tree.

Home of the Chewy Purple Sugar Apple Annona squamosa 'Isan Indigo'
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Pancrazio

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #59 on: December 23, 2014, 07:54:36 AM »
I see what you have done. With wedge graft you mean a cleft graft?
You technique can also work for me even if, i must admit, i would be scared of root rot on grafted plant. As far as i know plants don't like when their rootstock is buried.
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palmtreeluke

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #60 on: December 24, 2014, 09:40:04 PM »
I cut the top off of the rootstock, solid it down the center, then insert bud wood with a V shape cut into the rootstock. It made for a  perfect straight graft and the seedling had plenty of 'go juice' to get it to grow.

the root stock was just a seedling and not hardened off so it didn't mind being buried with sand. I slowly backfilled around it about 1 month at a time for about 5 months or so. my goof friend John recommended to me this technique and it worked with great results.

a little miracle grow liquid fertilizer drenched around the base to encourage feeder roots from the stem so the grafted wood would root out too. it also grew like a rocket.

like this   
Home of the Chewy Purple Sugar Apple Annona squamosa 'Isan Indigo'
www.greenplanetfarm.com

Pancrazio

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #61 on: December 24, 2014, 09:46:22 PM »
Uhm, seems really interesting I will consider this. Would save me a lot of effort to search for an hardy rootstock.
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NathanC

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #62 on: February 20, 2015, 12:33:55 AM »
I referenced this topic on a post here: http://phoenixtropicals.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=748

starch

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #63 on: March 04, 2015, 12:34:42 PM »
Simon,

I wanted to thank you for putting this post together. I also fall into the the camp of planting avocado trees in vain, to see them do good in the spring but as soon as the stress of summer (especially down here) hits they wither up and die. So I also thought to plant some avocado seeds directly on my mound. I planted a bunch last year of all kinds of different varieties with the thought being that there will be enough genetic variation that will produce a rootstock that can withstand our salty water and high temps. I was not even considering the other factors that you point out in the original post (sprouts in the environment it will be living in so it builds a relationship with the soil microbes and chemistry right off the bat, no transplant shock, taproot is allowed to grow unimpeded and undistrubed, etc.). Over this winter I had 3 decent sized seedling (4-6 inches) that had sprouted during the fall and we had a pretty cold snap in December. My yard got to 26 F and stayed there for a few hours for 2 nights. And these seedlings showed absolutely no cold burn or damage at all, I was shocked. Now I have a dozen or so seedlings of various sizes and I will pick 2 or 3 that weathers the summer the best and graft on to those in the fall.

I had given up on growing avocados here, but now I am full of optimism again. Thank you for sharing your process and thought and the success that you have had with it. I love avocados (Reeds are my all-time favorite) and am looking forward to some fall grafting. Thanks again for this post!
- Mark

darkcoolboo

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #64 on: March 04, 2015, 05:09:28 PM »
Have you seen my post about this subject on http://phoenixtropicals.com/phpbb/index.php, starch? What kind of seedling did you use? I haven't done this before, so can you post some pictures?

starch

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #65 on: March 04, 2015, 07:00:29 PM »
darkcoolboo,

I just followed the link and found this post: http://phoenixtropicals.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=748 . Nice, I like your summary of the method and advantages. The seedling that I planted are very random. I did not try to group them by variety, I just chucked them all out on my mound at random spots after I was done eating them. The seeds that I have out there are: Reed, Bacon, Lamb, Zutano, Hass, Nobel, Pinkerton, Fuerte and MacArthur. The biggest seedlings are either Reed or Lamb (just judging by the size of the pit, both of which are huge). My mound is made up of half native soil and the other half is: sand, garden soil, deodorized manure, citrus and cactus mix. Basically for good drainage. I have a layer of vermicompost and manure on the top and the avocado seeds are buried in that.

Here is what they look like now:


- Mark

simon_grow

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #66 on: March 04, 2015, 09:38:28 PM »
Hey Starch, congratulations on your seedlings!  You are almost there.  If your grafts take, they should grow extremely fast since there is no transplant shock and also because of the taproot.  When you graft, just be sure to graft pretty low, perhaps just below the bottom most true leaf so pretty much an epicotyl graft.  This is important so that the seedling will not sprout a new branch from the leaf axial.  If you perform a high graft with lots of seedling leaves below the graft, you will have a difficult time constantly removing new seedling growth every year. 

You may also want to consider performing a few grafts after your last chance of frost if your seedlings are thick enough.  This will give your graft more time to heal.  Please keep us updated on the progress of your Avocado plants!  I am super excited for you.  I know how frustrating it can be to see avocado plants purchased from the nursery gradually die.  My friend is so happy now with his tree.  Your perseverance will pay off. 

Simon

starch

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #67 on: March 04, 2015, 10:18:48 PM »
Thanks Simon!

That is good advice on the grafts, will do. I will hopefully have a few seedlings to choose from after the summer (see which ones survive our heat the best), so I will likely have some choices in matching calibers low on the stem to the scion. And if I can get my hands on a couple of Reed scions I will probably do a grafts on a couple of different seedlings to up my chances for a successful tree.

I will definitely keep you updated, thanks for the support and encouragement!
- Mark

darkcoolboo

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #68 on: March 04, 2015, 10:48:41 PM »
Great! I'm glad people are reading (since you guys don't really respond on that website)! Did you start the seeds in a seed starting mix, or just dig the hole, amend and toss them in? Also, a silly question, but where do you buy California avocado fruit in Arizona, notable the Reed?

starch

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #69 on: March 05, 2015, 08:48:22 AM »
No starting mix, just made a small hole and put them on the mound and covered them back up. I would say I get the most germination when the top of the pit is about 1/2" below the surface (enough coverage to just keep it moist but shallow enough so the sun warms it easily).

There are a few services out there that will ship you CA avocados. The one that I use is Avocado Diva (http://www.avocadodiva.com/). She basically drives up and down the coast to small ranches between San Diego and LA and with her crew picks them fresh off the tree and ships them that week. We get our avocados and they typically ripen 7-10 days after we receive them. Because they are small ranches they have lots of different trees so we get to experience the full range of the CA avocado seasons. For someone like me who is a major avocado lover and doesn't live anywhere near avocado country, it is a really awesome service. I have been absolutely happy with it.
- Mark

starch

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #70 on: March 05, 2015, 08:57:00 AM »
Oh, and speaking of the Reed specifically: Avocado Diva ships them when they are in season. But I have also found them the last 2 years at the Whole Foods at 101 and Ray (they might be at other area Whole Foods too, I can only confirm this one). So every week starting in August I am up there snooping around for Reeds. They are my favorites.
- Mark

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #71 on: March 05, 2015, 02:10:29 PM »
Oh Simon - can you pull off one  more miracle and advise me on how to get my
twice transplanted 6 foot tall, semi-dwarf Mexican (I think) avocado to flower...
and maybe even FRUIT!!!!

Hints, tips, tricks, voodoo, moon dancing....whatever you think might help out
here in the desert!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Amigo!



Gary

simon_grow

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #72 on: March 05, 2015, 04:13:28 PM »
Hey Gary, I'm definitely no Avocado expert but letme try to help. Do you have a picture of your tree? How is the health of your tree and what do you think is the reason your tree is not fliwering and fruiting? Is your tree grafted?

Simon


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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #73 on: March 05, 2015, 05:02:26 PM »
Yes grafted, bought at Lowe's I believe, and went through a dry spell (meaning didn't get
enough water) late last year and is just now recovering....I know it looks pitiful....but lots
of little growth sprouts....

Oops - camera battery just went on the blink - let me re-charge it and post a bit later...

G

darkcoolboo

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Re: Success planting an Avocado after 8 years of failures and 5 dead trees!
« Reply #74 on: March 05, 2015, 08:17:31 PM »
Starch, I did a little research and found that it is true what you said about August. I marked it on my calendar even before you posted! People say you can find from the end of July to early October, but  the shipment mostly comes in August. What %s of sand, garden soil, deodorized manure, citrus and cactus mix is your amendment mix?