Unexpected Nishikawa Avocado in my life, needing some parental advice

[JakeFruit]

So I found myself driving through St. Pete (FL) close to Jene's Tropicals https://www.jenestropicals.com/ and couldn't resist taking a look around. What a great selection of mangoes & avocados they have (plus citrus, but I was trying to stay focused). Lots of varieties I haven't seen locally. I was planning on being tempted into buying a Coconut Cream mango, but it was the Nishikawa that caught my eye. I impulse-bought a healthy ~3' tree:


I'll read around on the proper soil mix and all the other long-term care topics, but I did have some immediate questions about pruning this little guy. I'm fairly versed in pruning and caring for mangoes, hoping somebody(s) can give me some insight on the following:

1. Can I top it now like I would a mango?
2. Do I tip branches at 10-12" to encourage bushy behavior?
3. If I do top it, can I use the cutting like I would a mango scion? I have a few avocados grown from seed that I've been growing to graft onto.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

jake

[chad6159]

Very interested in seeing some replies on this. I am also interested in how to prune an avocado.

[spaugh]

Plant it and leave it alone for a while to grow before cutting it up.  It doesnt really look like it needs any trimming.  Once they get 3 or 4ft tall, I like to remove any limbs below about 1.5ft just to keep the canopy off the ground a bit. 

[chad6159]

Plant it and leave it alone for a while to grow before cutting it up.  It doesnt really look like it needs any trimming.  Once they get 3 or 4ft tall, I like to remove any limbs below about 1.5ft just to keep the canopy off the ground a bit.

Do you tip prune it like a mango to make it branch out? If so how long do you let the get before doing so.

I have seen a lot of lanky avocado trees and I would like for mine to be bushy if possible.

[spaugh]

No I dont really do that.  On annona, mangos, and stone fruit I do but not on avocado.  Avocados usually need corrective pruning or size reduction.  Not so much tip pruning.  They branch out and get bushy without need for that.  You tree has a good central leader, I would let it go a while then maybe tip it to form a bush shape once its a bit bigger.  Theres definitly no need to go and hack up a new and perfectly nice looking tree IMO. 

[spaugh]

Its easy to screw up an avocado tree from bad pruning practices by the way.  I have lots of screwed up trees from topping them.  Because avocado tends to have droopy canopy, topping can expose branches and cause sunburn and cause bad forked shaped trees. 

This of course depends a lot on the particular cultivar and maybe also your climate.  So your mileage may vary. 

[JakeFruit]

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately I'll be growing little Niki in a (progressively larger) container for a few years. The guy at the nursery actually recommended topping it now, at least that's what I thought he was saying.

[spaugh]

I would not touch that central leader.  The 2 side branches will go out like arms and you will have a lame plant.  Trust me I've screwed up lots of avocado and figured it out the hard way. 

[OCchris1]

Agree with Brad. Let it grow. Nice looking little tree! Good job

[JakeFruit]

Thanks guys, I will heed your advice and spare it from clipping for awhile.