My Theory on Avocados

[Gnarled J Trunk]

I haven't had a lot of luck with 3 gallon Avocado trees from the box stores after planting in the ground. Usually you get a green stick that's well rooted in the pot and has small bushy branches full of nice green leaves. Usually when I buy one I bring it home water it and plant it in the ground within a few days. It always seems to struggle. Some of them have die but most of them have just died back almost to the graft and then just lingering there before after a couple of years finally taking off. I think I have read on this forum that it's common that when planting in the ground an avocados roots will go into shock. For whatever reason it seems that the scion has a hard time drawing enough water and or nutrients from the roots to keep itself alive. I've noticed that a lot of times when it dies all the way back it will sprout new growth from below the graft. I wonder if the root stock in its condition of shock is out of self preservation recognizing the graft area as an injury zone and purposely cutting itself off from the scion? In any case I'm thinking of getting a new avocado this spring and I'm going to try something new. I'm going to help out the root stock by cutting off all the branches and snipping of the main stem atleast by half. There will be no leaves left and I will only moderately water and no fertilizer. On another note I have bought 3 gallon avocado trees from nurseries that look like they are older than the ones from the box stores with darker more gnarly trunks and I've never had problems after planting these trees. I think the grafts on these have more fully healed and that is why there is a notable difference.

[Doug]

Thanks for your ideas and theory. But, after a lot of experience trying to grow avocado trees, I also have a theory...avocado trees are simply a complete pain in the ass to grow!

[Vernmented]

Avocados are always very rootbound. Same with mango, jackfruit and definitely canistel and many others. It is best to grow your own well manicured rootstock and graft your own. If not, plant the garbage tree and approach graft a seedling rootstock next to it.

I highly recommend planting it in a large mound of decent soil in a well drained part of your property and mulch heavily.

The trees can grow out of the commercial nursery treatment but this way they are light years ahead.

[bsbullie]

Avocados are always very rootbound. Same with mango, jackfruit and definitely canistel and many others. It is best to grow your own well manicured rootstock and graft your own. If not, plant the garbage tree and approach graft a seedling rootstock next to it.

I highly recommend planting it in a large mound of decent soil in a well drained part of your property and mulch heavily.

The trees can grow out of the commercial nursery treatment but this way they are light years ahead.

Always rootbound???     Where are you buying your trees from?  Select the right specimen and no rootbound problems will exist.  Buy a tree thats been in a 3 gal pot for 3+ years...yes, may have a problem.

I think many may be overwatering their young newly planted avocados or keeping the roots too wet.

[Vernmented]

If you break down most tropical fruit trees and especially the ones with very vigorous root systems like jackfruit, canistel, black sapote, whatever from pot size you bought it in, the next layer will have circling roots, down to the next layer of circling roots, down the one gallon they planted the rootstock tree in or sometimes even the plug tray. Do you know of any wholesale nurseries that root prune each tree between stepping up? Stuff like Jaboticaba and Sapodilla seem to have a more delicate and fibrous root system and the larger specimens I have planted were acceptable.

Check out this Cinnamomum verum I purchased from an unnamed wholesale nursery. I ended up tossing this on the ground instead of stepping it up. I don't know if this video will work here since I have never posted one this way. It looks like it will play if you click on it.
IMG_4726 by Joshua Starry, on Flickr

[Vernmented]

I just remembered I have a skeleton in the yard still so I ran out and shot this video. I have been doing a major overhaul here and almost everything going in will be grown and grafted by myself. Here is an avocado that originated from a wholesale nursery. You can see they will live and can grow out of it but YIKES. These are not exceptions. Go buy a mango, pull it out of the pot and take a hose to the roots until you get to the 1 gal circular root system. Again, if you click on the picture you can play the video from the flickr page.

IMG_4777.MOV by Joshua Starry, on Flickr

[Cookie Monster]

A pot bound tree isn't that big of a deal for most of what we grow here in FL. They will normally grow out of it. For trees like the one pictured, I'll normally just snip off the thick circling roots. Like pruning limbs, the root will send out shoots from the prune point.

I've actually tried growing perfectly manicured rootstocks in the biggest tree pots I could find (16 - 18  inches deep: https://www.stuewe.com/products/datasheets/treepots.pdf) to allow the taproot to fully form. However rather humorously, several years on, those trees are actually not doing as well as the ones that were confined to the typical 3 gallon liners that are found in FL nurseries. The ones grown in tree pots focused their root growth vertically, where the latter group had a much better horizontal root system. Since our soil tends to be shallow, the ones with the large and well formed taproots took longer to develop roots horizontally.

I've planted a few avocados in my day, and I've never witnessed one perish due to transplant shock. There is something else involved. The most common source of transplant tree death is watering -- either too much or too little.

[Cookie Monster]

That actually looks like a healthy root system. Shallow lateral growth is what you want here. I wold have simply snipped the circling root at the bottom.

I just remembered I have a skeleton in the yard still so I ran out and shot this video. I have been doing a major overhaul here and almost everything going in will be grown and grafted by myself. Here is an avocado that originated from a wholesale nursery. You can see they will live and can grow out of it but YIKES. These are not exceptions. Go buy a mango, pull it out of the pot and take a hose to the roots until you get to the 1 gal circular root system. Again, if you click on the picture you can play the video from the flickr page.

IMG_4777.MOV by Joshua Starry, on Flickr

[Vernmented]

Yes! Totally agree. Root prune the garbage out. You want a branching root system instead of circling. Roots tend to react like branches. If they tip they branch out.

https://rootmaker.com/sites/default/files/pdf/4inchRuleWeb.pdf

I have seen trees that never came out of the swirl as well.

[Gnarled J Trunk]

I agree with Vernmentend that planting seedlings and grafting your own trees is the ideal. Unfortunately if you don't have easy access to scions you're relegated to visiting the box stores or a committing to a road trip to pick up rarer stuff. I will update you all on my experiment. Mi casa es tu casa.

[CTMIAMI]

Never buy an avocado that has been in a pot for more than 12 months they root bound  easily. If I ever plant another grove I will plant seeds and graft later

[bsbullie]

I agree with Vernmentend that planting seedlings and grafting your own trees is the ideal. Unfortunately if you don't have easy access to scions you're relegated to visiting the box stores or a committing to a road trip to pick up rarer stuff. I will update you all on my experiment. Mi casa es tu casa.

Honestly ridiculous.   You do realize the majority of people with producing trees came from nurseries and the trees are doing quite well.  I will repeat, you buy a Charlie Brown tree, you k ow what you are getting.  Buy a 6 foot tree with a 2+" trunk in a 3 gal, you know what you are getting....and so on.

Be a smart shopper and your trees will be perfectly healthy and grow just fine.

[fruitlovers]

Avocados in my experience don't like being in a pot too long, it stunts them.
Another possible reason for shock when planting in the ground is lack of acclimatization period to new sunlight/climate conditions. If the plant you buy has been in shaded/protected greenhouse environment, and then you suddenly put them into bright sunlight and wind, that can cause the dieback of the plant. If i want to plant something right into the ground without hardening it off first, then i use a wire cage with shade cloth over it, and keep plants well moistened. This protects from sun, wind, and even critters.

[Vernmented]

I agree with Vernmentend that planting seedlings and grafting your own trees is the ideal. Unfortunately if you don't have easy access to scions you're relegated to visiting the box stores or a committing to a road trip to pick up rarer stuff. I will update you all on my experiment. Mi casa es tu casa.

Honestly ridiculous.   You do realize the majority of people with producing trees came from nurseries and the trees are doing quite well.  I will repeat, you buy a Charlie Brown tree, you k ow what you are getting.  Buy a 6 foot tree with a 2+" trunk in a 3 gal, you know what you are getting....and so on.

Be a smart shopper and your trees will be perfectly healthy and grow just fine.

I totally get it. Many trees grow out of it. Some don't. Certain genus are much more aggressive and you have to take special care to get them off to a good start. I like to root prune and open up a root ball when I plant. I am multi rootstocking everything with rootmaker grown rootstocks at them moment but I am still early on and my rootstocks are now getting up to size.

Do you root prune when you plant?

That avocado was a small 3 gal when I planted it. Most of that contorted garbage you see is the shape of a one gallon.

Here is a Kwai Muk rootstock I am building.


Do you have to go to these extremes? No. Will it improve performance? I am going to find out. So far everything is working fantastic. I have taken so many pictures of circled roots. I recently dug up a mango tree that was in the ground for 17 years at a clients house. He chopped it back to top work it and the new shoots died off. When I dug it out I could clearly see that it was planted as a 15 gal.

[Vernmented]

Never buy an avocado that has been in a pot for more than 12 months they root bound  easily. If I ever plant another grove I will plant seeds and graft later

Nice ones Carlos!

[spaugh]

It must be your soil.  I am just an amatuer home gardender but Ive planted 23 grafted avocado trees at all times of the year and do very little for them and they all take easily and grow really fast.  Its the low rainfall and decomposed granite soil that drains well that makes it easy. 

[ricshaw]

It must be your soil.  I am just an amatuer home gardender but Ive planted 23 grafted avocado trees at all times of the year and do very little for them and they all take easily and grow really fast.  Its the low rainfall and decomposed granite soil that drains well that makes it easy.

I notice one difference from other posters....  "California".

[FrankDrebinOfFruits]

It must be your soil.  I am just an amatuer home gardender but Ive planted 23 grafted avocado trees at all times of the year and do very little for them and they all take easily and grow really fast.  Its the low rainfall and decomposed granite soil that drains well that makes it easy.

Yup. Well draining soil is a must. I mix sand, fine perlite, small rock, anything to help the water drain out. Then I don't water it until its almost all the way dried out.  When planting, I fill the hole with water, and let it seep into the soil so when the tree goes in its never going into dry soil.  I try to always plant avocados on hillsides, never in a valley, and ensure water will never pond.

[johnb51]

I haven't had any problems with planting avocado trees, but my soil drains very well.  I always choose young trees that look healthy.

[roblack]

Picked up an Oro Negro from PIN about a year-and-a-half ago. They were out of 3 gal, and I talked them into selling me a 1 gallon. Has worked out great. Since it has been in the ground, has grown to about 5.5 feet in 1 year. Bet it would have outgrown most 3 gallons planted at the same time.

[Gnarled J Trunk]

Oro Negro in the ground 3 years



Choquette in ground 2 years



Catalina in the ground 2 years

[Cookie Monster]

The pics are small, but my guess is that they didn't get enough water during our dry season.

[roblack]

Here is mine after 1 year in the ground. Was one foot+ when planted.

[spaugh]

In post #20 it looks like the weeds need to be cleared and the trees planted in a mound and mulched.  It also looks shaded, too much shade could cause them to grow poorly and rot. 

Here is a photo of some of my trees.  The large ones are the oldest at about 1.5 years old. They were 5 gallon 2 to 3 ft tall trees when planted.  They are 10ft tall 10ft wide after one summer now.

[Gnarled J Trunk]

Here's the Catalina again