Has anyone else had success using this method of direct seeding avocado seeds and grafting onto the seedling? I just visited my friend and his tree is doing great. He has also grafted a couple other varieties onto the Reed seedling right next to the Hass I grafted for him.
Hi!
I have always wanted an avocado in my home, so after 3 dead trees i have been looking forward to apply this method to get finally the plants I want. Last year I managed to seed two avocados in place. I guess they were pinkerton seeds (grocery store). I was hoping to have them grafted with a couple of cultivars: one of them was Mexicola and the other one is a chance seedling a friend of mine grew that was able to withstand pretty extreme cold snaps (-8/-10C or 14/17F) and of decent quality.
At the end of last summer i was able to graft only this variety on the seedling i planted... but too bad, after initial the initial attempt to push (graft was healed) the winter came, and the union point died back during winter (is a common problem for me, i think because if grafts joins too late in winter callous tissue can't differentiate in mature enough wood before winter comes.... and winter for me is pretty cold/damp).
So, this year started again with two seeds, but i didn't plant them directly in ground - in fact I’m ashamed to admit that grafting low in the stem young avocados that were already situated in a hole in the ground has been remarkably difficult for me. So i prepared a couple of pretty long pots, filled them with the soil taken from the exact space I’m going to plant the avocados (it is pretty rich in clay, actually) and i have grown the seedling there. I think that they will be ready to accept graft in a couple of week.
I have just a major setback in the fact that i'm unable to locate a source of Mexicola avocadoes in europe, but as far asthe other avocado is concerned, i should be able to get at least a plant.
I hope to be able to obtain, using the same soil of the desired location and the pot growing, bot the advantages of this method and the easiness for grafts of the pot grown plants.
Too bad avocado seeds are really slow to sprout, the two plants i'm about to graft are from fruits i used in january.