You can learn how to grow avocados by reading the recommendations of experienced gardeners. Compliance with all the rules and recommendations, proper care and patience will help you grow an exotic tree at home that will decorate your interior.
What does an avocado tree look like at home?
An avocado plant at home can be grown up to 2-2.5 meters; it will be more of a decorative decoration than a fruit-bearing crop. A relative of the laurel, the avocado has glossy, varnished leaves that are dark green in color. The fruit of this exotic tree looks like a pear, the color of which is varied - from green to purple.
The crown should be shaped like a shrub, then the evergreen tropical plant will look more attractive, otherwise it will look like a weakly leafy tree with an elongated trunk. You can grow avocados at home, you just need to know that when growing indoors, the plant may not bloom and will not bear fruit.
How to grow avocados at home?
Growing avocados indoors is attractive because this exotic tree is easy to grow from a seed, so you don’t have to look for ready-made seedlings on sale. Its advantage is the unique feature of purifying the air in the house. To understand how to grow an avocado, understand the intricacies of the process; it is not complicated, the plant is not capricious, the main problem is to achieve flowering and fruit appearance. In apartment conditions, avocados rarely bloom and bear fruit, so exotic lovers, setting themselves the goal of achieving a harvest, must strictly adhere to the following rules:
- a certain microclimate is created in the room, the air must be humidified daily;
- the plant needs abundant watering in summer, and moderate watering in the cold season;
- mandatory fertilizing; in the warm season, combined mineral compositions based on iron and zinc are required in the fall;
- good lighting, bright, but not hot, sunlight;
- in winter - creation of additional lighting;
- regular pruning, crown formation, pinching;
- annual replanting into a larger container;
- If possible, place the pot with the plant in the open air in the summer, for example, in the country, under trees.
How does avocado bloom at home?
Plant lovers want to see how an avocado blooms at home, what fruits can be grown on a tree, but this is not always possible. By correctly carrying out all agrotechnical measures, you can see flowering in 5-7 years; to speed up this process you need to get vaccinated. A 3-year-old grafted plant can bloom for the first time, at which time its crown is covered with a large number of white or yellowish flowers. Having achieved flowering, it is necessary to cross-pollinate the inflorescences artificially, using a brush, to grow fruit, do this several times.
Do avocados bear fruit at home?
An avocado grown indoors can produce a harvest once it reaches a height of two meters and is provided with vaccinations (ready-made grafted seedlings are sold in specialized stores). It is fashionable to grow avocado fruits at home in about five percent of cases, and the remaining 95% of plants do not bloom and do not produce a harvest, remaining only a decorative decoration for the interior.
To grow an avocado and make it bear fruit, you need to stimulate it; this can be done by pinching the top parts of the branches. But even the most careful and proper care, the creation of the necessary conditions and the required microclimate in the room, cannot guarantee that the plant will begin to bloom and fruit will appear. If you're lucky, you'll reap the harvest in five to seven years.
How to plant avocados at home?
The task of how to germinate an avocado from a seed at home does not require much effort; you just need to choose the right fruit from which you extract it. A fruit that is not ripe or overripe is not worth buying; its seed is not suitable for planting. Remove the seed carefully, without damaging its integrity, then rinse thoroughly under running water, saturating the surface with moisture. It is possible to germinate a seed in the ground or in water, the first option will take up to 30-40 days, the second method will give results faster.
When planting in the ground, we choose the most common soil intended for home flowers. We lower the seed into the ground with the blunt end down, water it moderately (after providing it first) and place the container in a well-lit place. The soil should not dry out; keep it constantly moist, but do not overdo it. To germinate in water, insert three toothpicks into the seed, which will allow you to hold it suspended above the container, 1/3 of the way, plunging the blunt tip into the water. After the roots appear (at least 2-3 cm in length), plant the seed in the soil.
How to grow an avocado from a seed?
To plant a seed in the ground, choose a small container. Growing avocados from seed at home in the first weeks consists of regular but moderate watering, lighting and good drainage. After 7-10 days, a sprout appears, reddish in color, which will begin to rapidly grow in height (provided that it is healthy). Intensive growth and development occurs over 3-3.5 months; during this period, its top should be pinched in order for the forcing of lateral branches to begin.
How to grow avocado at home - pot
You need to choose a pot for growing avocados at home based on the size of the plant, giving preference to natural materials. Transplant the tree, which has reached a height of 12-15 cm, from the original planting pot into a larger container; if necessary, this procedure is repeated annually. A plant, being in cramped conditions, may lose bushiness, become faded and begin to lose foliage. An adult tree does not require such frequent replanting, since its root system slows down its growth.
Land for avocados at home
The soil for growing avocados is not acidic or heavy; to grow a healthy plant, neutral soil, well loosened and nourished, is suitable. When buying soil in a store, you can choose soil “for citrus fruits.” To independently prepare the necessary soil mixture to grow avocados, take the following elements:
- 2 parts of garden soil;
- 2 parts sand;
- 2 parts organic matter, peat;
- 1/2 part of crushed expanded clay, polystyrene foam;
- 1 tbsp lime.
This soil is used when planting a seed or replanting a plant annually. Garden soil may contain harmful microbes, so the resulting mixture should be disinfected by pouring boiling water over it or keeping it in a preheated oven. Carry out this procedure a day before planting a seed or sprout. In order for the seed to “breathe” in the ground, and later water does not stagnate in the roots, you need good drainage, at least 1.5-2 cm.
How to pinch an avocado at home?
To make an avocado tree at home look highly decorative and bushy, the top should be pinched. This procedure is carried out after the first 6-8 leaves appear on the plant; it will stimulate the appearance of lateral branches. Pinch out new shoots after 4-6 leaves. Pinching is best done in the spring; this will help the tree form a beautiful, lush crown within 1.5-2.5 years.
How to care for avocados at home?
Caring for avocados at home is not difficult, but it must be constant, especially for young plants. Create the following comfortable conditions for the tree to grow it correctly:
- lighting (use artificial lighting if necessary, especially in autumn and winter), although this plant tolerates partial shade perfectly;
- temperature above room temperature in summer, at least +20° C – in winter, with less comfortable temperature conditions, leaf shedding is possible;
- regular watering, increased during the growing season, moderate in the autumn-winter;
- air humidity, this parameter is necessary to maintain the beauty of the plant; during the heating season, spray the tree with warm water more often;
- fertilizing with various complexes, this should be done in spring-summer and early autumn, later the plant does not need fertilizers;
- pruning is necessary to form a beautiful crown and decorative appearance.
Watering avocados at home
In order to decide whether it is necessary to water the avocado again, dig your finger 4-5 cm into the soil; if you feel moisture, there is no need to water it. Use settled water, preferably its temperature should be 3-5° C degrees above room temperature. In summer, water more often, immediately after the top layer has dried; in the cold season, intensive watering is not required.
Avocado is a tropical plant and does not tolerate dry air; spray water around it often, avoiding getting it on the leaves. You can grow an avocado tree from a seed by placing the pot in a tray with either moss or well-soaked expanded clay, especially if you are leaving home for several days and cannot water the tree on time. When using this method, do not let the bottom of the pot touch the water.
Growing avocados at home - feeding
Having learned all the details about how to properly grow an avocado, pay special attention to the feeding process. Caring for avocados at home requires the mandatory application of fertilizer to the soil; this should be done during the active period of plant development, that is, in spring and summer. The frequency of use of mineral, organic complexes or special compositions for citrus fruits is one to two weeks.
When thinking about how to grow an avocado at home, exotic lovers should know that if favorable conditions are created for it, it can have a height of up to 2-2.5 meters and have a lush, branched crown. Being an evergreen, decorative tree, it will decorate any room, and with special care and proper care, you will see it bloom and taste delicious fruits.
Many amateur flower growers have already created tropics on their windowsills and balconies. They also grow such exotic plants at home as avocado. Scientific name avocado– Persea americana (Persea americana). Laurel family. Actually, avocado- not an indoor plant, but easily grown from seed. In just a few years, the sprout turns into a meter-tall tree, delighting its owners.
Instructions
1. U avocado sparse crown, few branches. Therefore, for better branching, the crown is pinched. It is necessary to pinch the tree in the spring. If you do this before, unwanted shoots may grow in the spring. The first pinch is made over the eighth leaf. Later this tree plucking avocado will begin to branch. Pinch every new branch just above the fifth or sixth leaf. With this pinching, the crown of the tree will take up half the room in three years.
2. look after avocado It's not difficult at all. You only need to know the data of its table of contents at home. soil avocado chooses loose and moisture-absorbing soil that should not cake or become compacted.
3. Acidic soil avocado can't stand it. To improve the soil, add sand, peat, moss or expanded clay.
4. Avocado does not like direct, clear rays, so choose a well-lit place for it, where these direct, clear rays do not fall (say, near a north window).
5. In summer avocado It is necessary to water richly, but in winter watering must be reduced. The best air temperature for avocado- eighteen degrees. By following these simple rules, you will get a charming evergreen tree.
If you put in some effort, you can grow a small tree from an avocado bought in a store. Indeed, “homemade” avocados do not bear fruit; they create a tropical ambience in the apartment and perfectly purify the air.
Instructions
1. Buy a ripe and juicy avocado, remove the pit from it. It is impossible to grow a plant from the seed of an unripe fruit.
2. Think about how to plant an avocado: with or without germination. Keep in mind that a seed germinated in advance will sprout much faster, and if planted without germination, you will have to wait longer for the first sprouts.
3. How to germinate an avocado? Make 3-4 small holes around the circumference of the bone (on the middle tier) at an equal distance from each other. Insert matches or toothpicks into the holes - they will support the bone above the water.
4. Place the blunt end of an avocado seed into a glass of cool, boiled water. Due to the supports, the bone should be immersed in water by approximately ?.
5. Make sure that the avocado pit is in contact with water at all times. When some of the water has evaporated, add more. In a few weeks, roots 3-4 cm long will appear. Perhaps the first sprout will hatch from the sharp end of the seed.
6. Prepare the soil mixture. The soil for avocados should consist of equal parts of garden soil, humus/raw peat and coarse sand. When preparing the earthen mixture, add a pinch of lime, since avocados do not like acidic soils.
7. Immerse the sprouted seed 1/3 into the soil with the blunt end down and water the soil. If the seed is planted without prior germination, make sure that the seed is given high humidity levels. To do this, cover the pot with a glass container or plastic bag and place it in a warm place with diffused clear light or unnatural lighting.
8. Avocado cultivation data is primitive. The plant loves warmth, moisture and brilliant diffused light. The soil should always remain moist, so do not forget to water the plant regularly, and do not allow the tree to be exposed to direct, clear light.
9. Avocados at home can reach a height of 1 to 2.5 meters. To make the plant grow more branchy, pinch the ends of the stems.
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Helpful advice
It is better to plant avocados in a plastic pot. Because clay pots absorb the moisture that the plant needs. The bottom of the pot should have enough holes for water to drain out. It is also advisable to make drainage from special granules. The first planting of avocados can be done in a rather large pot. When the tree grows, it can be transplanted into a larger pot. In spring and summer, it is good to feed the plant with fertilizers prepared for tropical plants. To prevent avocado leaves from drying out, they must be sprayed with water. Spraying is only necessary in hot summers and during the heating season.
Avocado is a beautiful plant of the laurel family that grows in the forests of South America. Growing on your windowsill, it will ultimately not bear juicy fruits, but will delight you at any time of the year, creating a tropical ambiance in your apartment.
You will need
- – avocado seed;
- – toothpicks;
- – raw peat;
- - sand;
- – garden soil;
- – humus;
- – lime;
- – pot;
- – water;
- – fertilizer.
Instructions
1. Buy a juicy ripe fruit and remove the seed from it. Rinse it and wipe it clean. To germinate an avocado seed, place it in a jar of water so that it is partially immersed in the liquid.
2. It is also recommended to make three equally spaced holes at an angle in the central part of the thick side of the bone. String the bone onto three matches or toothpicks and place it on the “legs” in a jar of boiled cool water. The bone should only lightly touch the water. It is also possible to use a structure made of cardboard or foam to support it.
3. Make sure to maintain the proper level of water in the jar, adding more as it evaporates.
4. In a few weeks, roots will appear. When their length reaches 3 centimeters, plant the seed in the substrate. Prepare the soil by taking equal parts of garden soil, humus, coarse sand and raw peat. Use raw peat, otherwise the required proportions will be violated. Do not completely fill the seed, immersing it only a third into the soil.
5. Avocados do not like acidic soil, therefore, when mixing the soil for the substrate, add a pinch of it to it. Use a plastic pot to plant the plant, since the clay container will absorb the moisture needed for the avocado. To ensure that the bottom of the pot allows water to pass through well, make several additional holes in it and arrange drainage from expanded clay granules.
6. Because avocados are prone to stretching, when growing them at home, pinch them regularly. Place the plant near a north window or shade it. With the help of phytolamps, which can be purchased at a flower shop in winter, increase the daylight hours for avocados.
7. Moisture plays a significant role in the life of a plant. Even slight drying out of the soil causes the leaves to drop. In summer, watering should be more abundant than in winter. In dry microclimates, it is recommended to continuously moisten the plant by spraying.
8. A particularly suitable temperature for avocados ranges from 16 to 20 degrees. In spring and summer, fertilize it with mineral fertilizers for tropical plants. Use liquid formulations.
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Note!
Figs, laurel, lemon, coffee - sometimes you really want to grow all this and test your probabilities. Is it allowed to grow avocados at home? Yes. But we can’t count on a harvest. Avocado (Persea) belongs to the Laurel family. In nature it grows as a tree up to 20 m high. This plant is cross-pollinated.
Helpful advice
And now, perhaps, you will be amazed, but it is easy to grow an avocado at home: just plant the seed in damp, loose soil and place the pot in a warm, clear place. In about a month, a sprout will appear. Well, at home, the plant must be replanted annually, provide high air humidity and excellent lighting - tea is a tropical fruit. In greenhouses it is possible to achieve both flowering and fruiting.
Surely every gardener dreams of growing an avocado in a pot at home. For beginners in floriculture, it seems that growing this tropical tree indoors from a seed is difficult, and maybe even impossible. But this is a misconception. Anyone who is passionate about indoor floriculture can grow it. True, for this you need to know some of the features of this plant and the secrets of caring for it.
Avocados have wide leaves and flexible stems. This feature of the plant allows you to form original decorative compositions from it. As a rule, three trees are planted in a pot at once, from which cute braids are subsequently formed. There is a belief that growing an avocado in a pot at home harmonizes family relationships and creates a pleasant romantic atmosphere.
Where to begin?
To begin with, novice gardeners should be warned that avocados are grown in indoor floriculture as an ornamental plant. It fits perfectly into any interior, creates a special indescribable atmosphere, purifies the air, releasing a lot of oxygen. But even if we grow avocados from seed at home in compliance with all the rules, providing the plant with the most careful care, we are unlikely to see it bloom, much less bear fruit. But we don’t always plant a persimmon or orange seed in the hope of getting fruit harvests. Unfortunately, a fruiting avocado at home in a pot is rather a rare exception to the rule.
But let's get back to growing a flower. First, you should buy a ripened avocado from the store. To understand how ripe it is, press the fruit on both sides with your palms and then release. The ripe fruit will immediately restore its structure, so it is quite suitable for growing a new plant. If you had to buy an unripe avocado (there was no other one in the store), don’t worry - it will ripen over time. This process can be speeded up by placing the fruit next to bananas or apples, since these fruits produce ethylene, which promotes rapid ripening.
Sprouting a seed
Don't try to just plant an avocado seed in a pot of soil. It should be prepared in advance. To do this, soak it in fairly hot water (but not boiling water) for half an hour. Then the shell is removed from the heated bone, the tip is cut off from the narrow side and the cut is treated with an antifungal drug, which is purchased in advance at any of the specialized stores.
After this, the pit with the wide end is placed one third into the pre-prepared soil mixture. We will tell you what kind of soil an avocado needs in a pot a little later. After this, the seed is left alone - until it germinates, it only needs watering once a week.
Lovers of indoor plants use another method of growing avocados in a pot, which they consider more reliable. Take three or four toothpicks, make punctures in the center of the bone around the perimeter and insert the toothpicks into them to a depth of 2-5 mm. This structure is placed in a glass of settled water. It should be at room temperature. It is necessary that the blunt end of the bone is in water and the punctures are dry.
Many gardeners recommend adding a little charcoal to the settled water. If you don't have one, use an activated one. While waiting for the sprout to sprout, carefully monitor the quantity and quality of water in the glass. Dust and debris slow down the germination process. Every two to three days, remove the stone and replace the water in the glass with fresh water. No more than 30 days will pass and you will see the first young roots, and then a sprout.
When the roots reach four centimeters in length, the seed is ready to be planted in the soil.
Choosing a container for planting
Look at the sprouted seed and it will become clear to you what kind of pot is needed for the avocado. At the first stage of plant development, you will need a small container with a diameter of no more than 12 cm. It is advisable that the pot has drainage holes. As the flower grows, it will need to be changed to a more spacious one.
Soil preparation
Avocados do not tolerate soils that are too heavy, clayey, or acidic, so soil brought from a garden plot is not suitable for this plant. The soil mixture must be prepared independently. It is necessary to mix peat, garden soil, humus, coarse sand and a pinch of lime in equal proportions.
Since garden soil can be affected by harmful microbes, the prepared mixture must be disinfected. The day before planting the seed, it must be poured with boiling water. The same soil is used when planting seeds directly into the ground. The soil should not be too dense. It must be loosened to ensure moisture and air exchange.
Planting in the soil
It's time to figure out how to plant an avocado seed in the ground at home. A regular plastic pot is suitable for planting. It is better not to use a ceramic container for the first planting, since the walls of such a pot will allow moisture to pass through, which is vital for the plant during this period.
The bottom of the pot should not retain moisture and have a drainage layer made of special granules or ordinary expanded clay. Only a third of the seed and sprout are buried in the soil. This must be done very carefully so as not to damage the young roots.
Plant care: choosing a place for a flower
Knowing how to plant an avocado seed at home, it is important to provide the tree with proper care. This is a light-loving plant, but it also feels quite comfortable in partial shade. Direct sunlight is harmful to it. The ideal option for placing the plant is the window sill of a west-facing window.
Temperature
Since avocado grown in a pot is a tropical plant, it is quite natural that it loves warmth. When the air temperature in the room drops sharply or the slightest draft occurs, the avocado shows its displeasure - it simply drops all its leaves. It is for this reason that it is not advisable to take it outside even on warm summer days.
The room should be maintained at a constant temperature. In the warm season, high room temperatures are favorable for the plant, and in winter, during the dormant period, +20 °C will be enough for it. If the room temperature drops to +12 °C, the avocado will react instantly - it will drop its leaves and “go into hibernation.” With constant temperature conditions and proper care, this happens extremely rarely, since the plant is considered evergreen.
How to water an avocado?
Watering avocados at home should be abundant and regular, but taking into account the time of year and temperature indicators. Overwatering this tropical plant can be harmful. In summer it is watered more often than in winter. After the top layer of soil dries, at least two days must pass before there is a need to water the plant - when the top part of the soil dries, the required amount of moisture remains inside the pot for another two days.
Air humidity
Air humidity is also important for avocados in a pot. The air in our apartments is almost always quite dry. Daily spraying will help solve the problem. It is important that during these water procedures it is not the plant itself that is moistened, but only the air around it.
Many gardeners prefer a different method of moisturizing. They use a special tray filled with moistened expanded clay.
Fertilizers and fertilizers
From mid-September to March, avocados do not need feeding. The rest of the time, the plant is fed with citrus fertilizer or an infusion of ash is used to feed the plants. It is not difficult to prepare such a composition. To do this, you need to pour three tablespoons (tablespoons) of wood ash into a liter of settled water. The composition should infuse within a week. It must be shaken daily so that the ash particles dissolve evenly. An infusion of ash is used to feed the plant once a week. Watering is carried out at the root.
Avocado transplant
Since you are growing avocados from seeds at home, very soon you will be faced with the issue of replanting the plant. Under natural conditions, avocados grow up to twenty meters in height. Although it does not reach such sizes in indoor floriculture, it grows quite actively and needs frequent replanting.
Very soon the very first small pot will become small. As soon as the tree reaches 15 centimeters in height, it must be transplanted into a larger container. The young plant is replanted annually, and then every three years.
The plant is transplanted into a new pot using the transshipment method. Carefully transfer the tree to the prepared container along with a lump of earth, being careful not to disturb it. Fill the free space in the pot with new soil.
Diseases and pests
Like most indoor plants, avocados are afraid of many pests - spider mites, scale insects, whiteflies. The voracious and insatiable spider mite can not only destroy all the leaves, but also transmit various diseases to other indoor plants. The scale extracts juice from plants. After its appearance, dry, wrinkled leaves remain on the flowers. The fight against these plants consists of spraying with insecticides. The drug "Aktara" has proven itself well. Of the diseases, the greatest danger to the plant is powdery mildew.
Possible problems during cultivation
If you notice that the tips of the leaves of the tree are drying, then most likely the watering regime has been disrupted - the plant does not have enough moisture, low air humidity. You should arrange regular watering of the plant and constantly humidify the air in the room.
We have already mentioned that the plant sheds its leaves in two cases - when the air temperature in the room drops and in drafts. In this case, there is only one piece of advice - maintain the temperature regime and place the plant in a place where there are no drafts.
Avocado leaves may turn pale if there is insufficient light. Find a more suitable place for the plant, and if this is not possible, then you should organize additional lighting. This is especially important in winter.
Genus avocado or otherwise, Persea has at least 150 species of fruit trees and shrubs, the main species being Persea americana, Guatemalan, Mexican, Antillean, Indian, Bourbon, and at least 400 varieties of fruits. Their sizes vary from very small to kilogram fruits, the colors are also varied, from delicate green to deep purple.
Landing
Avocado is by no means a domestic plant, but it can easily grow in indoor conditions, subject to certain requirements; however, getting Persea to bloom, or even more so, bear fruit, is very problematic, so when choosing this plant as an indoor inhabitant, you should not be guided by desire to grow your own homemade fruit. In its homeland, Mexico and Central America, it grows in forests with abundant moisture and reaches a height of 20-30 meters, while in room conditions the maximum that can be achieved from this plant is three meters, and more often it reaches only one meters, which allows it to be grown as an ornamental plant.
As a rule, in specialized stores it is problematic to purchase an already formed plant, so you have to grow an avocado yourself. But it's not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.
To plant an avocado, you need to choose only ripe seeds; green ones will not be able to germinate. When choosing the soil required for planting, it should be taken into account that the mixture must be drained and fertile; these two conditions will help to fulfill the following proportions: two parts of turf soil, one sand and one humus, or equal parts of leaf soil, peat and sand. When starting to sow, you should prepare fresh seeds, fill a container with one of the indicated substrates, and place the seed deep in the soil so that its top is level with the ground. After that, the container with the seed is covered with a polymer bag or glass cap and placed in a bright place with a constant temperature of about 21 degrees, not forgetting to constantly ventilate and moisten the substrate. The process of sprouting can take 6 months; when the first signs of germination appear, the cap is removed. Already strengthened seedlings are distributed into separate pots.
Location and lighting
Avocados do best in enough indirect sunlight. That is, the room where the perseus is located should be bright, but the lighting should be diffused. Direct sunlight must be avoided. Young plants are especially sensitive to the effects of direct sunlight; burns can even form on their trunk, so they should receive the sun in doses, gradually getting used to it. You can even cover the trunk of the plant with white paint to take additional precautions. In the winter season, it is worth maximizing your exposure to the sun, or using phytolamps.
Pot size
The container for growing avocados should be spacious, but adequately related to the size of the plant, with the expectation that as the avocado grows, it quickly gains root mass and, being constrained by the volume of the container, may lose some of its characteristics, such as bushiness and foliage color. When choosing an avocado pot made from natural materials, you should pre-treat it with an antiseptic to avoid infecting the plant with possible bacteria and pests. If the choice fell on a plastic pot, then, keeping in mind the previous point, it is better to purchase a previously unused one, especially since its cost is low. Whatever material you choose for the pot, it is better if there are holes in it, since avocados need constant moisture.
The soil
It is better to choose the substrate for growing a plant such as an avocado carefully, without giving preference to the soil from the site, since it may contain pests that threaten not only the avocado, but also other plants in the house. The following requirements are imposed on the soil: good ventilation ability, fertility, ability to retain moisture.
Examples for composing soil for avocados could be as follows: two parts of soil against equal parts of sand and humus; one part each of soil, wet peat, humus and sand. When choosing soil, it is worth considering that avocados do not tolerate acidic soil well, so you can add a little alkali to any of the proportions. Expanded clay and wet moss will help increase humidity and improve the quality of ventilation.
Transfer
Young plants are replanted annually in the spring, from March to May. Already mature, strong plants are replanted every two to three years. Expanded clay or sand is added to the soil. In the case when a complete transplant of an avocado is impossible, there is the following solution: its top layer is removed from the substrate, and the remaining mass is thoroughly washed with boiled water to wash away excess salts. The container for growing avocados should be selected taking into account the high growth rates of the plant.
Fertilizer and feeding
Avocado feeding should be done in the period March-August; both mineral and organic fertilizers are suitable, as well as universal fertilizers for decorative foliage plants. All of them must alternate with each other. The autumn and winter months are not used for feeding. During this period, about two to three feedings should be done monthly. Fertilizer is added both to the soil and sprayed on the leaves. Feeding methods should also alternate.
Watering
In the summer and spring months, abundant regular watering is necessary; the soil should not be allowed to dry out. In autumn and winter, watering avocados is reduced to once every two to three days, since you should not over-water the soil.
Temperature
Perseus is a very heat-loving tree; in spring and summer, a temperature of 25-30 degrees is suitable for it, while in winter the favorable temperature is 18-20 degrees. If you lower the temperature to 10-12 degrees, persea may shed its leaves.
Humidity
Avocados need moisture; the air in the room where the avocado is located must be constantly humidified. It vitally needs frequent spraying of foliage. During the heating season, it will be useful to use a humidifier. To constantly maintain the required level of humidity, you can place the pot of avocado on a tray with expanded clay, pebbles or wet moss, but only so that the pot does not touch the water.
Trimming
Avocados can easily achieve high decorative value if proper efforts are made. For example, you can collect several avocados in one pot and braid their trunks, and to prevent the tree from growing like a so-called fishing rod, you should definitely pinch it. When seven or eight leaves appear, the top is pinched, this will improve the stimulation of the growth of side shoots. The side shoots, in turn, are pinched when they have five or six leaves.
Avocado pruning should be done in the spring; this activity serves not only sanitary purposes, but also helps shape the crown of the tree in accordance with your desires.
Pests and diseases
Growing at home, Persea often suffers from pests such as scale insects and spider mites. You can try to cope with them by first increasing the air humidity, as well as removing insects manually with a soap solution, but if this does not bring results, then the latest control tool is insecticidal treatment. Powdery mildew also often affects avocados; upon seeing the first signs, it is necessary to treat the plant with a suitable fungicide. Due to the above diseases, Persea leaves turn yellow and fall off.
Many avocado diseases are caused not only by insects, but also by improperly managed care. Due to excessive or insufficient watering, cold water for irrigation, as well as drafts, the leaves may turn brown, dry out and fall off. Dry air is detrimental to this plant; with this lack of care, the leaves turn brown, first at the tips, and later completely. Insufficient lighting leads to discoloration of leaves. In this case, the pot should be moved as close to the window as possible and additional light should be provided, not forgetting that when moving from a dark place to light, the plant must be acclimated gradually.
Bloom
In nature, the height of the avocado trunk reaches from 10 to 20 meters. It has small, inconspicuous bisexual flowers, which are collected in inflorescences.
In indoor conditions, the decorative value of avocado is questionable, since it almost does not bloom, not to mention bear fruit. But despite this, some avocado owners get decent results. Perseus blossoms and even bears fruit. The avocado tree, of course, has the ability to self-pollinate, however, cross-pollination is required to produce a harvest. Even growing in its homeland, having a decent height, and being completely covered with flowers, the avocado has a small number of fruits for its parameters - about 150-200.
Reproduction
It will not be possible to propagate avocados from cuttings, as they do not root well. You can grow an avocado from a seed, but remember that only a mature seed will germinate.
It must be fixed with three wooden sticks, located at an angle of approximately 120 degrees, above a container of water, so that the blunt end of the stone only touches the water, but does not get wet; it is very important to constantly monitor the water level. Germination will take about a month, the sprout will appear from a crack in the seed. When a sufficient number of roots appear, the seed and sprout are transplanted into the ground.
There is another way, you need to put the seed on a surface that will be constantly damp, such as cotton wool or moss, as soon as it cracks, it is transplanted into the soil, later, after one or two weeks, a sprout will hatch.
Rest period
The dormant period for avocados is from October to March, the temperature should be kept around 18-20 degrees, watering should be moderated to two to three times a week, no fertilizing should be done, and the lighting should be good.
Virulence. Beneficial features
Naturally, the most valuable thing in the avocado plant is its fruit. It can be used both for food and for cosmetic purposes. Only the pulp of the fruit is suitable for food, containing many vitamins and minerals, as well as monosaturated fats that are well absorbed by the body. Eating avocado pulp reduces the risk of heart disease, helps cleanse the blood of bad cholesterol, protects the body from free radicals, and improves immunity. Nutritionists recommend using this product for diabetes and gastrointestinal diseases. Avocado fruit also has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and is an excellent source of protein. In cosmetology, its range of applications is quite wide, but not only the pulp is used, but also the oil, which one fruit contains up to 20-30%. An example is the preparation of various masks for the face, body and hair. The oil has a bactericidal and wound-healing effect, which is used for various skin diseases.
But not all parts of the plant are beneficial. The leaves of the avocado plant contain toxic substances that can significantly increase allergies in a person prone to allergies, oddly enough, to latex, as well as citrus fruits; avocado, by the way, is classified as a fruit. These substances are more dangerous for animals. You should not try to taste the fruit seed. Avocado juice is highly susceptible to contamination by the dangerous bacterium Listeria Monocytogenes, which can cause an infectious disease accompanied by a number of unpleasant symptoms. Also, you should not eat the fruit in case of individual intolerance. The poison contained in the leaves, if ingested, can cause disturbances in the digestive system.
Avocado is an exotic evergreen plant. Many lovers of floriculture know that it is not easy to grow avocados at home, much less wait for the harvest. Its fruits, unique in taste, could please more than one grower. But, unfortunately, avocados with fruits at home are rather an exception to the rule. Although they don’t always plant an orange or persimmon seed, hoping for quick results. You can wait for more than one year, hope and at the same time enjoy a fruit bush or tree.
If you really want to, you can plant an avocado seed and patiently follow all the necessary rules for growing and caring for it. What if your dream comes true and you wait for the harvest at home?
To grow this unusual overseas plant, you will definitely need a ripe avocado fruit. Only the seed of such a fruit has a great chance of germination. This process can be carried out in two ways:
- The first method (closed) is simple and simple. The avocado seed needs to be inserted into the soil with its wide bottom side to a shallow depth (approximately 2 centimeters). If favorable conditions are created, it should germinate in about 30 days.
- The second method (open) is interesting and even, one might say, exotic.
Before planting in the ground, the seed must be germinated in water in a suspended position. First you need to thoroughly wash and clean it. Then, approximately in the middle of the bone along the circle line, you need to carefully drill three or four holes, into which you then need to insert thin wooden sticks (for example, matches or toothpicks). They will act as a support when the wide lower part of the bone is lowered into a container of water. These sticks, like clamps, will hold the bone at the required height. The main thing is to constantly monitor the amount of water in the container. The bottom of the bone should always be in water.
Instead of water, special polymer granules (hydrogel) can be used to germinate avocado seeds. This polymer material can hold large amounts of water for a long time. In this method it is very convenient; you do not need to monitor the level.
Only 20-30 days will pass, and the first young roots will appear, and then a sprout. The seed will be ready for planting in the ground when the roots reach 4 centimeters in length.
First you will need a small flower pot with large holes. The earth should not be dense. It needs to be loosened well to ensure the necessary air and moisture exchange. The seed is planted in the soil so that two-thirds of its part is on the surface of the soil. There is no need to remove the shell on the bone.
Avocado - growing and care at home
Location and lighting
Avocado is a light-loving plant, but partial shade is also suitable for it. It needs to be protected from direct sunlight. If your house or apartment has a room with west-facing windows, then such a window sill will be the ideal place for this fruit.
Temperature
Since the avocado is native to the tropics, it naturally loves warmth. In the event of a sharp drop in temperature or the slightest draft, the plant will begin to show its dissatisfaction - all the leaves will fall off immediately. Therefore, even in warm summer weather, it is not advisable to take it outside.
And the room must also maintain a constant temperature. In the warm season, high room temperature will be favorable for avocados, but in the cold winter, 20 degrees Celsius will be enough for it.
The plant also has a dormant period in winter. If in winter the temperature in the room drops to 12 degrees, then the avocado will immediately react - it will drop its leaves and switch to “hibernation” mode. But with proper care and constant temperature balance, this cannot happen. This tropical plant is considered evergreen.
Watering rules
Avocados at home should be watered regularly and abundantly, but taking into account the temperature and time of year. Excessive watering can be harmful. In summer it is watered more often than in winter. After the top layer of soil has dried, it will take another couple of days before you start watering the plant. Only its upper part dries out immediately, and the moisture necessary for the avocado remains inside the pot for about two more days.
Air humidity
Air humidity is also of great importance. The air in the room is almost always dry, and this is very harmful for this plant. Daily spraying will help solve the problem. It is very important that during such water procedures only the air near the avocado is humidified, but not the plant itself. Even small droplets should not fall on its leaves.
There is another way of moistening - this is a special tray for a pot with moistened expanded clay.
Feeding and fertilizers
From September to March the plant does not need feeding. But the rest of the time, once a month, the avocado needs to be fed with fertilizer recommended for citrus fruits or any other complex fertilizer.
Avocado transplant
In nature, avocados grow up to 20 meters in height. Although at home it will not reach such heights, it grows quite actively and requires frequent replanting. Very soon the first small pot will become too small for him. As soon as the tree grows to 15 centimeters, it is time to transplant it into a larger container. At a young age, avocados are replanted every year, and then once every three years.
The soil in which it grows is of great importance for the development and growth of a plant. Specifically for avocados, you need any loose and light soil, but not sour soil. It would be good to add wood ash or dolomite flour to such soil.
When replanting a plant into a new pot, use the transshipment method. Carefully carry the tree along with the lump of earth.
You can prepare a soil mixture that is healthy for avocados yourself. For this you will need: peat (or humus), garden soil and coarse river sand. All components must be mixed in equal parts.
Trimming
This tropical plant at home can easily become a decorative decoration for a room. True, this will require a little experience in floriculture. For example, you can grow several plants from avocado seeds and plant them all together in one flower pot. In the meantime, while the plants are young and flexible, their stems can be intertwined with a pigtail.
To ensure that the plant does not stretch in height, but acquires splendor in the form of side shoots, it must be pinched. This procedure can be carried out only when the tree has a sufficient number of leaves (at least eight). First, pinch the top of the plant, this promotes the development of side branches. And after they are sufficiently formed and have their own leaves, you can pinch them too.
Pruning is carried out in early spring. It is necessary to improve the growth and development of the plant, as well as to form the crown you need. It can be completely different. It all depends on the imagination of the gardener.
Diseases, pests and other problems
Avocado, like all indoor plants, is afraid of the same pests - scale insects and spider mites. The voracious spider mite can not only destroy all the leaves on the plant, but can also transmit various diseases to other indoor flowers. The scale insect feeds on plant sap. After its appearance, only dry leaves remain. You can fight such pests with various traditional methods or insecticidal preparations.
Among diseases, the main danger to avocados is powdery mildew.
Other problems may arise during the growing process:
The tips of the leaves dry out. Reasons: watering rules are not followed (lack of moisture), insufficient air humidity. It is necessary to establish regular watering (only after the top layer of soil has dried) and humidify the air in the room using spraying.
Leaves are falling. The reasons are drafts and a decrease in air temperature in the apartment. It is necessary to maintain optimal temperature conditions in the room and avoid drafts.
Pale leaves. Reasons: lack of lighting. It is necessary to find a suitable place for the plant or organize additional (artificial) lighting for it, especially in winter.
Avocado is an exotic fruit that grows on a tall tropical tree. From the seed of this fruit you can grow a strong seedling, which, with proper care, grows up to 2.5 m in height, depending on the volume of the pot.
You will not get fruits from such a tree. In order for it to bear fruit, it is necessary to graft a fruiting branch onto the rootstock, which is why many lovers of exotic plants grow avocado as a green houseplant.
Place to grow avocados
An avocado seedling requires a large amount of sunlight and heat for normal growth and development, so the pot with the plant is placed on a southern windowsill. The avocado root system does not tolerate stagnant water. Therefore, when planting a seed, you need to take into account several conditions:
- the pot for planting must be filled with loose sandy loam soil: the basis for the soil mixture is sand and leaf soil;
- in order to retain moisture, the soil is mulched;
- in winter, watering is reduced so that the leaves of the tree do not begin to turn yellow and fall off.
You can use hay, garden perlite or vermiculite as mulch. To decorate a pot with an avocado tree, you can plant herbaceous plants around the perimeter of the container.
Avocado feeding and processing
The avocado tree responds very well to fertilizing. In the summer, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied to the soil, and foliar treatment is also carried out with a solution of hydrogen peroxide. After treatment, the leaves of the plant will acquire a rich green color, and the tree will form new strong shoots.
You should not pick off leaves with dried edges, as the tree may die due to insufficient chlorophyll formation. Such leaves are removed only after healthy shoots have formed.
In winter, add a little nitrogen fertilizer to the soil to maintain normal leaf color. All fertilizers are applied in the form of warm solutions. One part of nitrogen-containing organic fertilizer must be dissolved in ten parts of water. This proportion must also be observed when preparing a solution of hydrogen peroxide.
In the fall, you can add wood ash to the soil. After six months of this maintenance, the avocado tree will grow up to 2 m in height. It needs to be replanted into a larger pot every three months. For additional water drainage, you need to pour broken brick, garden perlite or vermiculite into the bottom of the pot with drainage holes.
In the fall, just for fun, I planted an avocado seed (this way I have already managed to get an indoor lemon). The experiment was a success - the seed has sprouted and is gradually growing leaves. Tell me how to care for avocados at home? Does it need bright light or can the flowerpot be placed on a north window?
Recently, lovers of exotic plants have become increasingly common among flower growers. Thanks to them, some cultures living in the wild have safely migrated to our homes and are doing quite well there. Take the avocado, for example, a tall evergreen tree with original green fruits native to distant Mexico. Lovers of indoor plants liked its large bright green leaves so much that the exotic Mexican began to be used for decorative purposes for landscaping indoors.
In nature, avocado grows up to 30 m in height, but indoors it grows in the form of a small tree (no more than 2.5 m), and does not bear fruit.
Growing an avocado is not very difficult. If you create conditions that are as close to natural as possible and properly care for it, you can get a very beautiful and compact plant.
Caring for avocados at home consists of a set of measures, namely:
- choosing a suitable location for the bush (with the necessary lighting and air temperature);
- proper watering and fertilizing;
- formative pruning;
- regular transplant.
Where is the best place to grow avocados?
Before choosing a flowerpot with a young bush for permanent residence, it is worth considering that avocados do not tolerate direct sunlight - they cause burns on the leaves. But otherwise it is quite unpretentious and grows well even in partial shade, although it prefers good, but diffused, lighting.
You can put the flowerpot on the northern window sill: there will be enough sun for avocados in the summer, and in the autumn-winter period you can simply install additional lighting.
As for air temperature and humidity, the evergreen bush needs warmth, but is able to winter in an unheated room with a temperature of at least 5 degrees Celsius, however, in this case it turns into a deciduous plant and sheds its leaves.
How to water and feed?
In the summer, avocados should be watered frequently and sprayed regularly. In winter, the frequency of watering depends on the wintering conditions: the lower the temperature, the less often the bush is watered.
The avocado itself grows quickly, so it does not need frequent feeding, but it should be taken into account that the tree has a limited amount of soil in the pot and the nutrients there quickly run out. To replenish them, complex mineral preparations must be applied from spring to the end of summer (but not more than 2 times a month).
How to prune and when to replant?
In indoor conditions, avocados often stretch, so formative pruning is an important step in caring for them. To do this in the spring, you need to pinch or cut off the shoots after the 8th leaf to stimulate branching. Repeat the procedure all summer on each young branch.
Avocados also need frequent replanting because they grow very quickly. Young bushes are replanted annually in the spring, transferring them to a larger pot. If possible, large specimens are transshipped every three years or simply replace the top layer of soil with fresh ones.
Features of growing indoor avocado - video
The exotic avocado plant does not bloom or bear fruit at home, but it has dense foliage of a rich green color and is completely unpretentious in care. You can grow it from an ordinary fruit seed or purchase a young cutting. Proper care of an avocado in a flower pot is the topic of our article.
Landing
If you decide to grow exotic plants such as avocado, agave and others at home, you need to be prepared for the fact that at home they will grow differently than in nature. And you will need to care for them more carefully, protecting them, moreover, from pests and diseases.
Avocado cuttings, unfortunately, are very difficult to find on sale, so home gardeners have become adept at growing this plant from an ordinary fruit seed, which must be ripe. It should first be placed in a suitable container of water so that its sharp edge peeks out of the water. And to feed this bone, charcoal poured on the bottom is perfect. The seed will lie in the water for 1 - 2 months, this period is usually enough for it to develop its first shoots.
Place the bone in a suitable container with water.
Next, it’s time to prepare a special soil for your future indoor avocado, which is a mixture of peat and expanded clay, and select a pot suitable for planting it. The seed is planted in the ground with the blunt end down, after which the pot is covered with polyethylene or a glass jar and placed in a well-lit and warm place. This is necessary to create a mini-greenhouse.
It will take about 6 months for the seed to germinate, but after the first sprout appears on the surface of the soil, it will very quickly become stronger, begin to gain strength and begin to grow.
First avocado sprout
This method is quite slow, but sure. With proper care and choosing the right pot, a modest avocado sprout will soon turn into an ornamental plant that will wonderfully decorate your interior. In winter, an indoor avocado can shed all its leaves; there is no need to be afraid of this; in the spring, young leaves will appear on its trunk again.
It is recommended to place the avocado pot in partial shade so that it is not in direct sunlight, but at the same time receives a sufficient amount of light. A year after planting, the young plant will need to be replanted.
Avocado care
Avocados grown at home also require constant care. This is especially true for young plants grown from seed. When caring for them, you need to take into account all the following nuances, which provide this plant with comfortable conditions for development and growth:
- lighting;
- temperature;
- watering;
- air humidity;
- feeding;
- circumcision.
When caring for them, you need to take into account comfortable conditions for development and growth.
As mentioned above, avocados love partial shade, but at the same time require a sufficient amount of light. That is why in the autumn-winter period you need to take care of the normal illumination of the room in which the pot with this exotic plant is located, and, if necessary, equip it with lighting, using special phytolamps for this purpose.
In summer, avocados feel comfortable at high temperatures, which may even be slightly above room temperature. In winter, the optimal temperature for its growth is +20 degrees. If for any reason the temperature in the room drops below + 12, this southern plant will shed its leaves.
As for watering, it should be plentiful during the growing season, and moderate in winter and autumn. The humidity of the room in which it grows is of great importance for its beauty and decorativeness.
Avocado loves humidity, so during the heating season it will need regular spraying and additional moisture.
In the autumn-winter period, this plant does not need feeding, but during its vegetative growth it needs to be fertilized every 2 - 3 weeks, using mineral fertilizers and organic matter. In addition, to give it a decorative appearance, pruning should be done every spring - pinching the tops of the shoots.
Pest and disease control
Avocado or, as it is popularly called, alligator pear is very susceptible to pests and diseases. As for this tropical plant, the following will be dangerous for it:
- Shchitovka;
- Spider mite;
- Powdery mildew.
Fortunately, there are a huge number of modern remedies that will quickly help cure the plant and prevent it from dying.
In addition, the sickly appearance of an alligator pear may indicate improper care for it or a lack of light or moisture. Recognizing them, taking into account our recommendations, is quite simple:
- the tips of the leaves dry out - insufficient watering, dry air in the room and too high a temperature;
- the leaves turn pale - the plant does not have enough light;
- leaves turn yellow and fly off - possible infection with spider mites;
- the leaves dry out and fly off completely - the air in the room is not humid enough.
But, despite all this, avocados grow quite well at home and quickly adapt after transplantation. Proper care and regular care of it will provide you with a chic indoor tree with a beautiful and spreading crown, which will become your pride and will surprise your guests.
