How to Grow Avocado

Learn how to grow Avocado (Persea americana) at home and what to make with your abundant avocado crops! Avocado is a popular fruit that can be a little tricky to grow. Choosing the right variety for your climate and getting some key care points right should have you picking homegrown avocados for years to come!

Avocados can be used as evergreen shade trees or grown in pots for urban areas. Avocado trees can reach heights of 12+ meters if they are not pruned. Smaller dwarf trees will reach maximum heights of around 4 meters, but can also be pruned to keep them smaller.

Avocados are best grown from grafted trees. Growing an Avocado from seed can take anywhere from 4 to 13 years or longer to get fruit. Even then, you have no idea what the fruit will be like, as it will not be identical to the plant the seed came from. Grafted trees have mature fruiting stems grafted onto allow the tree to bear fruit within a year or two.

What parts of Avocado are edible?

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Quick Tips on How to Grow Avocado at Home

PLANT

Plant trees end of Winter, Spring or Autumn.

SOIL

Free-draining compost-rich soil. Mounded above ground in clay soil.

LOCATION

Full sun – part. 6-8 hours. Can benefit from afternoon shade.

CARE

Keep weed-free and well-mulched. Protect from wind and hot afternoon sun when young.

FERTILISE

Feed with compost and mulch.

PESTS

Excess water and fungal diseases are the most common cause. Rats may eat the fruit.

HARVEST

Fruit takes about 1 year on the tree to ripen. Skin goes dull and some may drop from the tree.

REPRODUCE

Can be grown by seed but may take 10+ years to fruit. Mature wood grafted from fruiting-age trees is best.

Why Grow Your Own Avocado?

Here are some of the many reasons to grow Avocados.

Evergreen shade-giving tree
Perennial crops
It can be expensive to buy!
Can be used in sweet and savoury dishes
Prolific producer
Long harvests
High in vitamin E and folate
High in fibre
Substitute for butter

Popular Avocado Varieties to Grow

Avocados come in A and B varieties. Each type flowers as male and female at different times of the day. Having both an A and a B-type Avocado will mean you will get more avocados due to an increase in pollination. Most avocados will be self-fertile, but having a second will increase the amount you get. Dwarf or semi-dwarf avocados will grow to be smaller trees, but unlike other swarf fruit trees, they will still be up to 4m high. Keeping them pruned can maintain their size.

Type (A) Varieties

Hass – Popular small dark-skinned avocado. Most commonly found in stores due to its tough skin for transport. Small fruit, a great producer.

Reed – Large green round fruit 200-800 grams. Mild and buttery flavour. The tree tends to grow upright rather than outwards.

Choquette – Large green round fruit weighing over 1kg! Creamy, rich flesh. A cross between a Guatemalan and a West Indian type.

Semi Dwarf

Lamb Hass – Large dark-skinned avocado. Semi-dwarf tree growing 3-4 metres. Late-season fruits.

Pinkerton – Medium-sized green-skinned fruit. Semi-dwarf tree growing 3-4 metres. High oil content.

Wurtz – Medium-sized green pear-shaped fruit. Semi-dwarf tree growing 3-4 metres. Weeping branches that hang downward.

Type (B) Varieties

Shepard – Popular commercial variety. Green skin and yellow firm flesh. Smaller tree size 6-8 metres.

Bacon – Most cold-tolerant variety (may survive -5 degrees). Large pear-shaped fruit with green skin.

Fuerte – Small – medium-sized green fruit. Thin skin and buttery flesh. Produces both normal-sized and mini seedless avocados called “cukes”. Crops more biannually (every second season). Vigorous spreading tree.

Zutano – Pear-shaped fruit with green glossy skin. Low oil content and can be quite watery.

Edranol – Rough, bumpy skin with soft buttery flesh. Handles coastal environments best.

Sharwill – Medium-sized oval fruit with green skin. Rich flavour and small seeds. Frost sensitive.

Linda – Large fruit with dark purple skin. Fruits from 400-1100g each. Thick skin that is easy to peel.

TOP TIPS TO GROW AVOCADO

Choose a sunny location
Shelter from the wind or able to create shelter
Prepare the soil with plenty of compost
Free draining is key!
Avocados hate clay soils – mound up above the ground rather than planting down in a hole
Do not disturb roots when removing from the pot!
Protect from the hot afternoon sun
Keep grass and weeds away from the base
Keep weed-free and well-mulched

When to Plant Avocados

Avocados don’t like the cold or the extreme heat, so avoid planting them in winter or summer. Choose a day when the weather will be mild for a few consecutive days.

How to Grow an Avocado

Choose a sunny location with 6-8 hours of sunlight.
Choose a location that can be protected from winds (shade cloth can help)
Dig a hole and prepare the soil with compost. Mix compost and sandy soil together. For clay soils, backfill with compost and sandy soil, and create a mound above the ground.
Carefully remove the Avocado carefully by cutting the bag or gently easing it from the pot. Try not to disturb roots when possible.
Gently push soil against the root ball and push down with your hands to remove air pockets.
Add a stake to help secure the tree, but do not push it through the root ball.
Add mulch as wide as you can approx 1m but pull back from the trunk so it does not touch (this can cause collar rot)
Add a shelter of shade cloth to the side that gets wind and afternoon hot sun.
Paint any exposed stems with water-based white paint (nontoxic) at a ratio of about 50% paint and 50% water. This acts as sunscreen, which is important for Perth summers!

Care/ Maintenance

Avocados like plenty of food, regular top-ups with compost and mulch are important. The biggest issue with Avocados is too much water, sun or wind.

Feeding

Feed with compost or composted manure at the end of winter, before spring, and end of summer.

Watering

Deep water, especially in summer. Push your finger into the soil to the second knuckle; if it comes out dry, water well. If the soil on your finger sticks and is mois,t leave it be.

Harvesting

Avocados, like many fruit trees, should be prevented from fruiting for the first 1-3 years. Wait until the flowers sprout on long stems, then remove them. Once you start letting your Avocado fruit, it will take 1 year from when the fruit sets until it is ready to harvest. Some Avocados stay green when they are ready and ripen off the tree, so here are a few ways to tell if they are ready to pick.

Skin turns from glossy to dull
Stem lightens
It’s within the varieties’ “mature fruit months” (research for your variety and area)
Pick one and let it ripen on the bench for a week or two. If it is delicious and buttery, you can harvest more. If it shrivels and goes black, it is not ready and try again in 2-3 weeks.
Fruit starts falling on the ground.

Pruning

The Avocado tree can grow to be a huge 10 m+ tree if left unpruned. Once your tree reaches 2m or your desired height, you can start pruning it. Be selective and try to remove branches whilst still allowing shade to the other parts of the tree. Try not to remove the bottom “skirt branches” as these protect the stem from being burnt. If once you prune the tree, there are areas of stem exposed, paint with white water-based paint (50:50 water mixed) to add protection.

Pests / Disease

Avocados mainly succumb to bacterial diseases due to excess water. Don’t water the leaves when possible and allow good drainage for the roots.

Reproducing

Seeds from the Avocados can be grown and will produce a new variety. Seed-grown Avocados can take 10+ years to actually fruit, and you never know what the fruit will be like. The best way to reproduce is to grow an Avocado from seed and then graft onto it from a tree that is already fruiting and mature. But also, if you have the room, there is no reason not to try seed grown as you may end up with an exciting new variety.

Cooking and Using

Avocado is a powerhouse in the kitchen and can be used in a wide array of ways.

Avocado pairs well with: Tomato, onion, garlic, rocket, seafood, strawberry, nuts, lemon, potato, radish, spinach, mint, mango, kiwifruit, cucumber, corn, coconut, artichoke

Avocado ideas: