Ameliora
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Avocado plant in water

Could I potentially keep this tree in water for years? Will it survive? If not, is it too late to pot It?
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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

It’s not possible to grow avocado in water since it’s a tree, I would pot up the other ones that have roots growing already. The oldest one you have is still OK to plant — you Just need to be more careful and it will be tedious. If you do the big one first, the others will be a breeze in comparison.

For the big one, prepare a pot with good drainage holes that is at least 1/2 again deeper than the glass. Use good quality potting mix — I like ones that have added mycorrhiza, especially for tropical trees. If you want to get something special, get the mixture sold for citrus. Avocado needs good draining mix, so don’t get anything that says moisture control or retentive. Depending on the way the mix looks, I would add more perlite or builder’s sand, but be aware that avocado is sensitive to salt, so you may need to rinse them first, and be careful of coir that might contain excess salt.

Moisten the mix first — a handful squeezed in your hand Should feel like well wrung out laundry or sponge. Fill the container half full and press/tamp down gently but firmly to fill the bottom corners. Hold the avocado pit gently and suspend the roots to check for fit. The pit should only nestle no more than 1/3 in the top of the mix (which should be about 1” below the rim), so you are going to be filling a lot around the roots.

What I do is loosely fill to the top of the container and then PUSH the mix to the side so one half is mostly filled, then you can lay the container on it’s side or better yet, lean it on something at an angle and you can sort of lay/rest the roots on the mix while you fill the rest.

Some people will actually chop the top growth in half at this point — don’t worry new side shoots will grow. I tend to put them in much brighter light and let them grow without cutting them, though I do experiement when I have more than one. I think the blinds are blocking the light too much. If privacy is not an issue, I would raise the blinds during the day. Slowly acclimate them to more light after 3-4 days of resting without direct sun or only filtered sun.

Ameliora
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Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:01 am

Thank you for the thorough response! It's actually a month younger than the left plant and 1 week older than the right. It's thriving so well I'm afraid to kill it. But now with your thorough explanation I think I feel better about moving it into a pot. Thank you again!



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