avocado plant

[tinkertontom]

this year I have successfully grown an avocado plant from the stone it is now about 18ins high and looking very healthy ,does anyone know how big it can grow, if it will flower and how long it will last

[jenstar]

It'll grow into a full-size tree if you've got the space. It'll take a few years before it gets really big though. If it gets too big you can always donate it to your local botanical gardens - that's what we did with ours!

[Curitiba]

Yes, tinkertonton is completely right.

I've lived in Brazil for many years and used to come accross lovely huge avocado trees in Balneario Camboriu in the state of Santa Catarina.

Try to cut an avocado in half, take the halved stone out, put one spoon of honey, mush all together with a fork, still in the skin. The skin will serve as a bowl. Add more honey if you like. The misture very tasty and healthy. Can also be used on your hair and skin if you fancy of bit of pampering.

[WendyS]

Think you will have to keep it indoors though as they're not winter hardy in this country. I once grew one from a stone and got it to over a foot high. Left it in a sheltered spot outside during the winter but the frost killed it.

[FrWv]

Strictly speaking I'd call it a tree. I used to have one in the garden in Africa - about 35 feet tall I think and about 20 feet across. At a guess I would get about a thousand advocados a year off it.
I didn't like them then but love them now. The dogs used to eat them as well which I thought was strange.

[tinkertontom]

bloody hell FrWv I don't think I want one that big ,I think I'll leave it growing in its pot indoors and see how long it lasts . I dont like avocados to eat ,this was the first one I'd ever bought and thought I'd have a go at growing it,it makes a nice houseplant

[Trillipse]

tinkertontom, can you supply an idiot's guide to growing one from scratch? i would like to try it. and i am irrefutably an idiot...

[Chappers]

We had one growing in our old greenhouse, it was well over 8ft tall by the time the greenhouse was torn down. It never produced any fruit but it shows that it's feasable that an Avocado tree could produce fruit given good conditions and space to do so.

[tinkertontom]

trillipse I grew mine from an organic avocado don't know if that helped in someway ,but i planted it in some house plant compost in a small pot and put it in the cupboard under the sink in the bathroom were it is moderatly warm and dark ,I watered it every couple of days until a shoot appeared ,which was about six or seven weeks. I then put it on the window sill in a sunny spot and its just got bigger and bigger . I've since had to put it in a bigger pot.
good luck trillipse I hope you can get one to grow and I can't believe that you are an idiot really

[Trillipse]

thanks tinkertontom - will let you know the results! don't know why you don't think i can really be an idiot, but am flattered, nonetheless!

[tinkertontom]

your welcome we aim to please

[susan6540_0]

Ours is growing inside it is about 2 ft tall now. To grow it we used a shop bought avdcado. We put three cocktail sticks into the sides of the stone and suspended half of it in water using the cocktail sticks to balance on the top of a cup of water. Keep the water topped up. After a few weeks the stone will spilt , a root and a shoot will appear from the top and bottom and then it is ready to be planted in compost. We put it in the kitchen window sill so it got plenty of sunshine and just keeps growing. We had one given to us last year and that has spent the summer outside as it is too big. It must be about 4 or 5 foot tall now, not sure what we are going to do with it in the winter, may try keeping it in the shed by the window so it gets sunlight,

[katerich48]

My friend has one that is now about 3ft high and she has it in a pot outside... she never brings it in it's left outside all year round... This is in London by the way... so they are fairly hardy it seems....

[tinkertontom]

thanks for that katerich48 I was wondering wether to put it outside, I shall go ahead and do that next spring