Growing AdvocadosI live in Luxor

I have never tried to grow avocado but have had a quick look on the internet and give you these two links:
http://www.willsavocados.com/index.php/grow-avocado-tree
http://www.avocado.org/grow-your-own-tree
The first says that avocado will only produce fruit if it is a grafted tree - I don't understand that.
The second is more positive and says that seed grown avocado take seven to fifteen years to produce fruit!
There is still plenty of time yet, Akshar, so just be patient and keep them irrigated.

Well that is encouraging, I don't mind waiting. if I get the results eventually. Although it would have been nice if it was quicker. I would have thought Luxor is the ideal country for them. I remember in Zambia eating fresh avocados from a tree in the garden, wonderful.

Thank you

Yes, Akshar, but Zambia and California have a lot of rain. The same cannot be said for Upper Egypt which is very arid. You are obviously growing in an irregated area near to the Nile so good luck with them and enjoy your avocado when they appear.

90% of Egyptian live within the irrigated areas and these are well supplied with water, I have oranges, guavas, grapes, figs and dates all growing here so yes hopefully my avocados will be as successful eventually.

thank you

Akshar, we were in Luxor in January, leaving just a few days before your 'Arab Spring', and saw just how little of your land was irregated and productive. I admire the way that your people work so hard to produce your food with such limited resources.

There are a number of areas near San Diego, California that grow avocadoes commercially, so aridity isn't a serious problem, as long as they get enough irrigation. I would be concerned about the summer highs, since Zambia and eastern San Diego County have somewhat cooler summers than Luxor is likely to, but if that were a problem, it would have shown up by now. Since guavas grow there, frost shouldn't be a problem, either. It sounds like they just need a little more time, Akshar! : )

Bulbaholic, I think what you read about Avocado not producing fruit unless they are grafted means they won't fruit or if they do they won't come true. In the case of apples grown from a pip the chances of them bearing fruit is not high, if they do fruit it is highly unlikely that they will produce fruit of the same type or quality that the seed came from, about a 1 in 10,000 chance. They would probably revert back to a crab apple or something not too desirable and take about 10 years to bear fruit for the first time if at all they did.

Fruit trees for commercial use have been extensively crossed and modified for maximum yield, flavour, resistance to disease, etc, and I suspect the avocado is no exception.

If you have a few Avacados then I would suggest that you try and graft one or two, this would leave some as they are to see what happens. You never know, you might have created a new species of Avacado from the ungrafted ones, a slim chance, but some new fruit trees have been created this way.

When you graft a tree you use two trees, one is the root stock, which would be one of the plants that you grew, and a branch or bud from the tree that you you want to copy (the scion). Its a case of chopping back the root stock and growing the branch or bud from the donor tree into the rooted tree which becomes one tree.

The tree then takes on the same characteristics as the donor tree, it will be an exact clone of it the same as if you took cuttings from plants and grew them.

The advantage of doing it this way Akshar is that:

1. You will end up with a tree the same as the donor tree.

2. It will fruit in a year or two as the tree will be kidded into thinking that it's the same age as the scion or donor tree.

3. Your root stock is already established and from what you say appears healthy.

All this of course depends on the graft being successful and you will need to Google information on grafting beforehand as there are many ways to do it.

I think it would also be possible to grow more than one type onto the same root stock. For example, I have grafted an apple and a pear onto the same root. Iv'e also had success grafting an orange onto a rootstock grown from an orange pip a few years ago and the tree is starting to fruit. I have grown some orange from pips which I intend to use as root stock for my project next year which is to graft a lemon, an orange and a lime on to create a fruit cocktail tree.

Hope that this helps?

wow what a lot of great information, many thanks.

BTW I am British married to an Egyptian but thanks for the comments about this wonderful country.

Grafting sounds way beyond my skills anyway there are no advocado trees near me

I am quite content to wait in hope, if it happens it is a bonus. Just glad that there is some hope

Jane Akshar

My pleasure Jane. I was under the assumption that Avocado grew over there, sorry. It would have been nice if you could have aquired a cutting or two from a tree to try. It's not too dificult but I must admit, the success rate for some species can be a little erratic even for commercial growers. Not too sure about Avocado.

Never mind, as you said, just leave it and see what happens. I'm sure that it will make a nice shady foliage tree in years to come and will look nice even if it doesn't fruit. I believe it's an evergreen tree so that will be a plus I think.

I would suggest you try some grafting of whatever species are grown locally to you. Maybe grow some apple, pear citrus, etc, from seed and use that plant as the root stock and take a cutting from a donor plant for the scion. I have been doing this for a number of years with varying success and it's very rewarding to see the graft take, grow, and produce fruit. As I mentioned Jane, there are a number of publications on the internet describing the process of grafting if you're interested, some in great detail.

Stay Well,

Myron

I just added a picture of the tree so you can see what i was talking about. It brother is next door and you can see it on the edge of the picture. That is how high it has grown in 4 years

What superb trees Jane, they look really healthy and are a nice shape. I'de leave them as they are then and see what develops. If they don't fruit, they will make nice feature trees. Are the trees not too close to each other though?

Yes possible they are too close, I had no idea it would grow so big. I have two others at another garden and they are no more than 4ft. The one in the picture is a beauty though. Its brother is about 5 feet away, i think moving it would be impossible without killing it, so i guess we just wait and see.