
Two Easy Ways to Start Avocado Trees From Seed
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I started my Avocado tree from a seed, it’s an Avocado from Florida, I planted about ten years ago and last year it produced flowers and then they had falling off and no seeds, I thought sure that was a sign it was going to produce and start the fruit, but it was just leaves again, is there anything I can do to help it produce the Avocados, it’s about 30 feet tall.
Hi Patrick,
This sounds like a frustrating result after what looked like a promising sign of an avocado crop. But don’t be discouraged. Avocados grown from seeds can take up to 13 years to produce fruit. It can happen sooner, but it is a crop that requires some patience. With that being said, there are a few factors that can prevent flowers from turning into fruit. One is fertilization and maintaining a regular schedule.
Another has to do with the flowers and their pollination. Avocados have a unique flowering behavior called ‘protogynous dichogamy,’ which means that the tree has both functional male and female organs in each flower. Avocado flowering patterns are divided into two groups: “A” and “B” type flowers. Over a 2-day period, A types open first as a female before closing and then reopening as a male. B type flowers are opposite. One way to help with pollination is to have another avocado tree nearby to increase the amount of pollen available to be transferred to female flowers when they are open.
Avocado trees have the ability to self-pollinate as well, but it can take time for it to happen.
Hope this helps!
In the how to care section, point 2 says “ When the plant is about a foot high, cut it back to 6 inches so that new shoots will sprout.”. Just to confirm, the remaining part will just be a 6” long stem with no leaves? Essentially I’m cutting off all the leaves along with 6” of stem then?
Hi, Bruce-
You will want to leave at least 2 leaves on the plant.
Thanks for clarification.
I have an avocado pit plant that is just roots. Will it ever grow a stem? I started 2 pits, in water, at the same time. Sometimes the only root pit, looks like new roots sprout from them. If this root pit is not going to sprout leaves may I toss it?
Hi SoJourner,
Thanks for your question. It is hard to know if your avocado pit will ever produce a stem. Typically, a stem will begin to emerge soon after the roots appear at the bottom of the pit. Depending on how long the roots have been out, it may or may not produce a stem. You can wait another week or two to see if there is any sign of a stem. If nothing appears, it is not likely that a stem will emerge and you can discard the pit and try again.
If your pit does produce a stem, you will want to pinch off any initial leaves that appear as this will encourage your plant to grow a stronger stem and well-established root system. Eventually you will want to plant your avocado in a pot filled with potting soil (see above for more instructions).
So will this tree grown from a seed produce fruit? Or will it just be a non-fruit bearing tree forever? Thanks!
Most likely, the tree will not bear fruit. It takes about 5 to 15 years for an avocado tree planted from seed to start fruiting, if it does at all. It is best to start with a plant grafted on rootstock from a nursery in order to be sure it will be true to type; otherwise, fruit quality and yield will vary. (Grafted plants take about 3 to 5 years to fruit.) Also, some hybrid varieties won’t produce viable seeds, so you might not get fruit even after years of waiting. In addition, for best pollination, it is good to have at least two avocado trees that produce two different types of flowers (called Type A and Type B, describing when the flowers open and close and release pollen); you might still get fruit with just one plant, but not as many. Some varieties, though, can not self-pollinate.
WONDERFUL, helpful newsletter. Have you considered making a condensed, compressed (no picture) printer version?