Priyanshu Uniyal

Here is my container growing avocado tree update (Mexicola scion and hass seedling). It is flowering every year but is not able to fruit yet. Last winter for the 1st time I had put it outside in the balcony facing south east. It survived with a minimal protection with leaf damages. I added a white cover to protect it from late january to march. I placed 3-4 other container plants around the tree to give it some extra warmth. It snowed here for few days (3 to 4 days in total if i remember well) and winters were very chilly. I have a limited space so can't plant it on the ground. I hardly watered the young tree during winters (Once in 2 weeks). This spring I have completely removed commercial potting soil (even from the root ball) and made my own soil mixture according to Gary Matsuka's soil tips to avoid root rot. It was in complete shock but recovered in a month. The new soil comprises of a mixture of pumice, peat moss, vermiculite, perlite and river sand. I am only adding Osmocote (long term fertilizer) and very less amount of compost uptop with old avocado leaves and wood chips. Not sure how the tree will react to the soil change during winters if I think about the overall temperature inside the soil. But it is doing really well so I am satisfied with the result. I'll surely repot it next year onto a bigger container.

There is a research paper which you might saw already : https://www.cropj.com/Roa_18_09_2024_547_554.pdf

Mike Guye wrote:..
St Leonards-on-Sea....917
Inner London..............1365
Axarquia.....................2800-3200
...
With a much lower GDD, here in St Leonards-on-Sea compared to inner London, I suspect that regular flowering/fruiting may out of reach.

Interesting, how much was the GDD level for the year when your avocado tree got flowers (As compared to London. ) ?

Winn Sawyer wrote:
Is yours indoors? Indoor trees may flower almost any time of year.

Thanks for your message. No, It is in a sunny place on my balcony. If I remember well, last time when I brought it inside was from mid-january to early april this year to protect it from freezing temperature. I live in Parisian region in France. Got some high fluctuating temperatures here since late september. Will flowers survive freezing weather ?

Hi,

Is it normal for a mexicola avocado tree to have flower buds in october ? My young grafted plant got these buds this month. Last time, I got flower buds for the first time on the same tree in february this year.

Thanks,

Priyanshu

I have a monoembryonic mango seed germinated few days back but it has multiple shoots after germination. I saw it rarely with monoembryonic seeds. Is this ordinary ? Here are 2 images. The closeup one has one shoot hidden in the soil. I guess they are different branches as it was only one embryo. Does it have incident on true to fruit ? Normally, monoembryonic mango seeds are not true to fruit.

Thanks for your feedback,

Priyanshu

A quick video update from last year avocado graft to flower removal.

The minerals commonly......  Therefore, in conclusion, no benefit is gained by boiling your irrigation water - in fact it could be harmful.

Thanks Mike, it's interesting to know about boiling water. I added an organic fertilizer to give something new to the plant after flushing. I guess that helped it not to loose necessary nutrients needed. Also, I removed all flowers finally... Was painful but leaves are growing fast now which is a good sign. There are no brown tips for the time being. I will repot the plant after winter holidays.

Yikes! What was that exactly..

I flushed the plant with water that was boiled and cooled off to a normal temperature before pouring.

In the short-term flower-removal  is best, as the plant already looks very stressed, as evidenced by the brown leaves and small size. Bearing fruit would be an additional stress and I'm uncertain if it would survive. If I were you, after flower removal, repot it into a nice large pot so the roots can develop more (they hate root restriction). Plant it into a commercial potting compost, ideally one that includes loam. To lighten the mix, you could add some vermiculite...

Thanks Mike. Yes, I will soon repot it onto a larger container and remove those flowers. But I am bound to keep the plant in a pot as I have no garden, just a long narrow balcony (sigh...).

Yes, it is in stress but I don't think that it is a rootbound issue. New leaves don't have brown tips (Although, I agree that they are smaller in size). Infact, leaves turned brown only when it was really cold outside (-2 to -5). And the growth is steady. I think boiling water did the trick to get rid off the salt accumulation.
I tested rootbound issue in december by just sliding down the pot carefully (Was very scared to give my plant a shock at the same time as it was not easy). The roots were fairly far from the edges on all sides including the bottom area where I have covered drainage holes with pebbles. I brought it inside in late january and I am pretty happy the way it took the cold weather for 1st year. As the spring season is arriving soon, yes, repotting will be nice to promote overall healthy growth for coming spring n summer 2023.

When the scion is more developed, you taking cuttings from it and try and root them, though I'm sure you've already thought of that.

Yes, I am eagerly waiting for them to grow a bit more to lay out cloning tests.

Happy gardening !