sjors
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Re: Avocado Tree as Indoor Bonsai?

I might do that when she recovers, now she is kinda struggling to keep the leaves nog hanging, gave her a little fertilizer en some extra water. do I need to cover the ground on the trunk with some plastic or something? or is it fine like this for the roots?

thanks for your answer! looking forward to your next post

garmy yo
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What may be the worst pairing between a plant and a pot, ever. Good thing it is only temporary. But then again, considering it is an avocado on a rock, maybe it is perfect..
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rainbowgardener
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yeah, the pot is pretty awful. But what you do with avocado seedlings is just amazing!

Asica
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I love y
What you did with those trees. My favorite has to be the avocado in a black cup. I love that combination.

hacosaw
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can you post updated photo of the avocado in tea cup? its pretty awesome, I started my own bonsai avocado after I fell in love with that one.

here is mine, its still small didnt had to trim it yet, gonna let it get little bit highers before doing that. u can also notice I broke the pit to half, it fell and broke but didnt die O:)

Imagecapture

sjors
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The avocado on the rock still looks beautifull!
I am also looking forward to new update pictures

garmy yo
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A couple updates:
I am considering changing the angle of the teacup avocado once the seed falls off.
I made a rather drastic change to the bare root avocado. I like it much better this way.
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hacosaw
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This is art, I really love what your'e doing. Now I'm sprouting litchi seeds gonna try my own exposed root over rock, thx for the update keep them coming!

Nyrm
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Registered on the forum just to be able to reply to this thread. Garmy yo, that's some amazing art!

I'd love to hear some details on how you've treated the plants. Did you plant the pits directly into the soil? How long did you keep the foil over the rock and roots before uncovering? Been doing anything in particular with the roots on either of the trees?

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102christa
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I am so inspired right now, I managed to sprout some avo's last year but unfortunately they didn't survive the winter. I didn't know you could keep them indoors, but I'm definitely trying that braided look!

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applestar
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:() ...here's the one I've added to my Bonsai Wannabe collection. I have no idea what I'm doing, not ready to attempt wiring and such, but wanted to add "movement" so I've been tilting the pot on end, up on rim of the black tray, etc.

I don't know if its the stress or what, but this seed has been sprouting multiple shoots 8)
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ActualAir
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I never thought an avocado bonsai would be possible. It is so lovely and exciting to see this experiment see such success. Would love to see an update from the OP or anyone else who has started working on an avo bonsai.

Starting a new avo plant this week and strongly considering the bonsai approach. :)

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OGYardens
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Signed up to say how much I like the avocado bonsai. I've currently got two going. One is two years old now and another under six months. I'm just now training the 2 yo for imperial size because I am interested in getting fruit some day, but the younger has been subjected to the bonsai torture much earlier since seeing this progress post.

Reinaldo13
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Hello everyone! I've been growing an avocado bonsai from about 4 months! I took some tips from some posts here! I'm taking pictures to show the process!

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rainbowgardener
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Hi Reinaldo! Welcome to the Forum! Looking forward to seeing your photos.

garmy yo
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Here is the latest update photo of the coffee cup bonsai. A lot has changed. The seed fell off, I repotted and changed the angle, and I trimmed her back quite a bit. Now to just let her grow under a light for the fall/winter.
Cheers!
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Danielé
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Amazing job! you inspired me, thank you!

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AimeeHoward
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That's really spectacular. It really inspired me, now I wish to try planting one at home.

sjors
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Last time I posted my frankenstein avocado on a trunk, sadly it survived and looks like a turd now.. BUT I got a new project wich you inspired me on! I planted a avocado on a rock, I let the roots grow in water so they would be long enough to get over the rock into the soil. I used the same method and now a few months later it is doing alright ! Trying wiring and bending with different thechniques and it lookt OK I think. I have one question, when en where to cut branches and leaves to create smaller leaves and more branches? The seed is still on it so as you said it should have enough energy to grow. But I am still a bit scared to cut the leaves of.. What would happen if I cut the top of one of the branches?

You realy inspire me with your nice projects! keep up the good work and keep us updated.
Below there are some pictures of my project
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garmy yo
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I haven't updated in quite a while, so here are the two avocados now:
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garmy yo
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For an update on the twisted trunk avocado bonsai, the original three plants have died. I am now on #'s 4 and 5 and soon to add a sixth. Maybe avocados don't like to share a small space with other avocados? Don't play well with others?
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garmy yo
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A couple days ago, my avocado blew off its' shelf during a thunderstorm. The coffee cup shattered on another pot below. Luckily, I had an empty pot waiting for a plant. I was lately thinking the avocado may have outgrown the coffee cup. I like it in its' new home, and now I have a wabi sabi coffee cup. I didn't do a very good job with the kintsugi, though. I have a couple other pots in need of repair, so I will have to improve.
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applestar
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Oh! What a bummer about your teacup planter. But you are right, the tree looks very much at home in the new bowl. Looking great!

Would it be too tchotchke to stamp something with the gold to the left of the crack? A kanji or maybe a fern leaf print?

garmy yo
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Hi, Applestar
Yeah, I see where you are going with that. Or maybe bamboo? I already have a ficus picked out to put in it. I have until the end of September to figure something out.
Cheers!

cosmosis
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Garmy yo, this is really cool! I notice you haven't posted in a while. How are the plants doing now??

Alxarin
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Wow! I was completely stunned by these avocados, and had to have a try :) I'm hoping to share with you another pretty plant :)
It took two months from puting in water, to seeing the first root, and from then only 2 weeks for the sprouting.
7. april. 2018
7. april. 2018
31. May 2018
31. May 2018
10. june 2018
10. june 2018
After a week more, the root was already reaching the bottom of the pot, so I've decided to try with an exposed root, and built a similar stand as Garmy.
17. june 2018
17. june 2018
Will be happy to get any advice, as this is my first try at bonsai.
thanks, have a lovely day :mrgreen:

garmy yo
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Hello everyone!
I’m back for a yearly update..
Since my last post I have been letting the “coffee cup” avocado grow out before cutting back. Right now she is in a cut back point:
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garmy yo
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I recently started a new bonsai. I’m going to keep this one in a small mame pot, just to see how she does. I have her on a tray filled with gravel and water to let the escaping roots grow.
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imafan26
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I gotta say, in my neighborhood avocado trees are not understory trees. They get 40-50 ft tall and they have long internodes. Where communities have height restrictions it is very difficult to keep an avocado tree under 15 ft and still get decent fruiting. Since avocado is primarily a fruiting tree here, I have never seen anyone try to bonsai them.

However, I did know a doctor who had a 2 acre lot. Rich people here are the only ones who can afford to pay a million dollars for a 2 acre farm lot. They don't really farm. The build a house and buy a John Deere to cut the grass. Most of us would not even have a big enough yard to even store a lawn tractor. Anyway, he did have a large collection of avocado trees. Among them was a mexican avocado that was a mini, complete with mini fruit about the size of a tennis ball, and that tree was probably small enough to attempt to keep it as a potted plant. Most of the avocadoes people grow are for the fruit, and they are large trees.

garmy yo
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applestar
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I think these are really fun. I’m amazed you got that one to grow a good side branch so low. ...but it’s really trying to escape with the roots! Do you usually root prune them?

WarKing__
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Hi,

I just started growing a avocado when I stepped into this thread and decided to grow a bonsai out of it.
After the roots reached to bottom of the glas and the top began to grow, I planted the seed in a mixture of bonsaiearth (I use the same for my carnivores) and seramis clay granules. I tied the roots on a rock and burried it all under the earth. So far it works fine. The roots getting bigger and bigger and the top of the avocado gets a nice shape.
But now the first leaves start growing very fast and I have no clue how to trim or prune a bonsai :()

When do I trim my avocado?
Which leaves should I cut?
Should I cut all leaves or just a few?

Hope you can help me :)

Btw: Very nice avocado-bonsais you all grew :)
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imafan26
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It is an unusual choice. Avocado trees grow upwards of 40 ft here and they produce very long young branches. The roots are fine but very expansive and can travel fifty feet or more. My friend found avocado tree roots at the bottom of his "hill" from a neighbor's tree that was upslope 35 ft away. The leaves are very large and it is a semi-deciduous tree by tropical standards.

Traditional bonsai are not just a tree in a pot. They should still be in proportion and a miniature version of their natural form. Most bonsai trees are long lived and grow slowly. They must be able to tolerate root pruning and leaves are usually small.

In training, the leaves will get smaller, and I have seen magnolia bonsai even though they have large leaves.

It would be an interesting experiment to try.

I don't even attempt to keep an avocado as a potted fruit tree because I have never been able to control the growth of the long branches or kept the roots in check from regular avocado trees that we grow for the fruit. There are dwarf avocado from Mexico that are naturally smaller with fruit the size of a tennis ball. Those might have a better chance if you want to control the top growth.

garmy yo
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Well, looks like someone needs a hair cut

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That’s better

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garmy yo
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Update after she has recovered from her trimming:
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applestar
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It’s amazing how resilient avocado seedling can be. Looking good! :D

Dooleyz
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Sorry for reviving an old thread but garmy yo has there been any updates on your plants? Extremely intrigued, been wanting to do this as long as I have been growing avocado trees indoors from seeds. I have a few larger plants but a couple that might still be in the early stages where they can be manipulated.

imafan26
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There are dwarf avocado but the best bonsai have a long life, flexible branches and small leaves. Small leaves is a plus, otherwise the leaves will be out of scale to the size of the tree. Stunting will make leaves smaller, but big leaves are not going to shrink that much. To get the leaves smaller, you have to pinch the tips and increase the branching. Avocados like to put out long branches. You can bonsai a deciduous tree, but it is a little harder than an evergreen.

Marujill
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Hello everyone,
I know this thread is so old, but I wanted to add my avocado to this forum and hear everybody’s opinion!

The tree is 7 months old and I pruned it back twice this whole time.

The whole journey is on my insta account for those who are interested:
https://instagram.com/littleplantswoman ... sr52217ezs
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Miladyb
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Hi Everyone!
I’m so glad I came across this thread. On a whim I decided to try and bonsai my avocado seedlings even though I have no idea what I’m doing. Most forums say don’t do it, so it was incredibly helpful to see the beautiful plants here.

I’d love to see more updates on everyone’s plants, especially Garmy’s. Here’s where my two plants are. Not sure when to start pruning or how, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out. Did I mention I’ve never bonsai’d before?

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