My avocado first flowering

[Lory]

In february 2013 i planted an avocado seed in a pot and a couple of months later i transplanted the small seedling in my garden.
This is as it looked in may 2013





The area is rocky and has been levelled adding limestone as it's evedend in the picture. Before planting i dug a hole and i filled it with soil.
The tree managed to survive and grew well during the first year.
This is as it appeared some one year later






now the tree is 3 years old and much bigger (about  3.5 meters )  even if not so nicely shaped.
An unknown fungine infection defoliated it a couple of times and i had probably to prune it earlier.

Ths picture was taken a week ago





Today as i was watering i noticed something new among the new leaves flush: a couple of FLOWERS! 



I couldn't believe my eyes after just THREE years from planting.
I inspected carefully the tree but i found out these are the only flowers.

I know that avocado are quite "complicated" about pollination and since there are no other avocadoes blossoming at this time, do you think i still have a possibility to get even just one fruit?
Is there anything i could do to help the pollination process ?
Or maybe these are just "juvenile" flowers so they will just eventually fall down?
Any advice or suggestion is welcome thanks!

[gnappi]

My two avo (now gone) had tons of fruit and I never saw another avocado within walking distance of a few miles around my house, AFAIK they're self fertile. Paging Carlos! :-)

Both my avo were seedlings and gave excellent fruit within 5-6 years of planting, yours is pretty large, hopefully it will support some fruit.

PS. I'll never crab about my soil in south Florida again!

[treefrog]

i don't know if this will work, but if you don't try it, it surely will not.

get a small artist's paintbrush - such as a watercolor brush- and gently brush the flowers as they open.  mid morning and mid afternoon.  there may be some viable pollen that clings to the brush long enough to do the trick.  then again maybe not. 
there is little to lose, only a little effort and the cost of the brush

[Lory]

My two avo (now gone) had tons of fruit and I never saw another avocado within walking distance of a few miles around my house, AFAIK they're self fertile. Paging Carlos! :-)

Both my avo were seedlings and gave excellent fruit within 5-6 years of planting, yours is pretty large, hopefully it will support some fruit.

PS. I'll never crab about my soil in south Florida again!

That would be a wonderful i wish i could have even just one fruit, i am too curious to see if it's similar or true to the fruit whose seed i plantes 3 years ago!

[Lory]

i don't know if this will work, but if you don't try it, it surely will not.

get a small artist's paintbrush - such as a watercolor brush- and gently brush the flowers as they open.  mid morning and mid afternoon.  there may be some viable pollen that clings to the brush long enough to do the trick.  then again maybe not. 
there is little to lose, only a little effort and the cost of the brush

Thanks for your advice i wil lsurely try it 

[Mark in Texas]

Should self pollinate.

[Lory]

I keep my fingers crossed

[JF]

Daley 11

[Lory]

WOW, I LOVE IT! 
How old is this tree? Is it grafted?

[Delvi83]

I have a 3 years old seedling Avocado (in pot & protected during winter)......I knew that Avocado will not flower before 8-10 year if not grafted....instead also mine flowered this year.
Probably it depends from the type......normally they need 8 years, sometimes less...

[LivingParadise]

Great story and pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Do you have an idea what variety your avocado is?

Did you water it regularly, or mostly leave it to its own devices? Did you fertilize it or give it any other supplementation?


This gives me hope that I can get one to fruit in the harsh conditions here. You have better consistent rainfall, but it looks like similar soil. Maybe if I just throw a bag of good soil in with it, that will be enough to get it started and sturdy...

[Lory]

I have a 3 years old seedling Avocado (in pot & protected during winter)......I knew that Avocado will not flower before 8-10 year if not grafted....instead also mine flowered this year.
Probably it depends from the type......normally they need 8 years, sometimes less...

Yes probably the variety makes a difference together with other many varibales like climate/soil/watering etc.
By the way, i'm italian and congratulations for your interesting blog 

[Lory]

Great story and pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Do you have an idea what variety your avocado is?

Did you water it regularly, or mostly leave it to its own devices? Did you fertilize it or give it any other supplementation?


This gives me hope that I can get one to fruit in the harsh conditions here. You have better consistent rainfall, but it looks like similar soil. Maybe if I just throw a bag of good soil in with it, that will be enough to get it started and sturdy...

Thanks 
I've no idea of the variety of this avocado.
Unfortunately here in the Philippines avocado they are grown just from seed and noone has an idea of the variety! What i know is that the fruit it's coming from was average size, pear shaped dark red skin when ripe and yellow-green buttery flesh.
It tasted amazing that's why i decide to plany the seed 
Here the land is completely rocky and it was levelled using a kind of limestone called guizo.
I dug a hole and i filled it with soil upon planting the seed.
I fertilize seldom and YES i do water regularly because here in our place (Moalboal - Cebu island) rainfall is very irregular and sometimes we experience severe drought like in the last 10-14 months because of El Nino