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Post by drocknut on Mar 23, 2014 16:14:07 GMT -5
Ok, so it's not exactly a story but when I got some avocados from Jean (rockpickerforever) at the BBQ in January my mom decided to try to sprout one of the pits. Well it took a long time and we may not get avocados out of it but it finally sprouted and seems to be growing. Don't know if it will survive but it's pretty darn cool to me that it even sprouted. I won't be able to follow it's growth since I'm headed back home soon but at least I got to see it sprout.    Sort of reminds me of growing a bean in an elementary school science class when I was a kid. Thanks Jean, and may your avocados always be tasty. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2014 16:31:26 GMT -5
Unfortunately the tree may never produce a fruit as the one the stone came from.the majority of avacados are grafted on to rootstock.never the less it is a very cool thing to do.my kids love doing that.
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Post by beefjello on Mar 23, 2014 17:05:09 GMT -5
Looks like it's off to a good start! Your mom will need to plant it in a well shaded area as the AZ summers may be too brutal for it. Got my fingers crossed for ya  |
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 23, 2014 18:32:09 GMT -5
Cool!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2014 22:01:02 GMT -5
I did that in grade school. I was in my twenties when the tree fruited! over 15 years.
The resultant fruit was yucky. They do not breed true to parent.
I hope you have better results.
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Post by drocknut on Mar 24, 2014 13:24:00 GMT -5
I'll tell my mom about that Beef, thanks for the tip.
Yeah, we know it probably won't produce avocados it is just an experiment to see if it will grow. It might be a pretty cool plant and conversation piece.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 24, 2014 17:49:21 GMT -5
Hey, Diane drocknut. I can't believe you've never done that before? When I miss picking fruit high up in the tree, and it gets old, the pits will actually sprout inside the avo! You don't know it until they fall - splat! - to the ground and spit open.
Bob is always planting seeds from stuff in the yard. At one time, I had three avo pits sprouted, and growing in my garden along the edge. All three were from my tree, and do you know, the growth form (main stem, etc) and leaves all looked slightly different? Avocados do really well here, most of my neighbors have at least one, usually three or four trees in their yards. So cross pollinating between types is more than a probability, it's almost a certainty. What Scott said, they likely will produce fruit, eventually, but you don't know what you'll get.
My intention was to grow them from seed for a couple years (using them as root stock), then graft a fresh shoot from off the big tree. Never got around to doing it, ended up pulling up all three plants one year (to do a thorough job rototilling) when they were about four or five feet tall. One tree produces more than I need, and don't need to use any more water than I already do.
I've got a peach/nectarine tree about five feet tall, coming up under my fig tree - a seed "someone" planted, no doubt. I've threatened a few times to pull it up, just haven't done so yet. I was sure it would not be viable, but this year, it actually had some pink blooms on it, and now some small green fruit on it! I guess now it gets a reprieve, I'll have to wait a little bit longer now. Will be interesting to see what it is, and how good it tastes! |
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 24, 2014 20:06:47 GMT -5
Yup, what you'll get there is what we call a "seeding of chance" or "chance seedling". Most avocado seedlings, unfortunately, revert back to the wild type rootstock which is pretty much seed and just a little flesh. Once and awhile you can get a good type but not that often. Every now and then someone will get a chance seedling that is really incredible and an new variety will be born. Horticultural avocado types, as has been pointed out, are all grafted trees. Easy to graft avocados though, if you want to. Both bud and cleft grafts work well...Mel
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 24, 2014 20:25:10 GMT -5
And here's the peach/nectarine/? - will know in a few months, lol!
I was sure this would not produce fruit... |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 24, 2014 21:22:59 GMT -5
Got a cousin with an acre of old orange trees. He grafts 3 and 4 different hybrids to one tree. Suppose the same could be done with avocados.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 24, 2014 22:34:32 GMT -5
You know, I've had, in the past very good luck with chance seedlings from stone fruits. Had a really cool plume tree grow from a Elephant Heart seed, kind of half Elephant Heart, half Santa Rosa and the best apricot tree in my old yard was from a chance seedling. Not a heavy bearer but the fruit were absolutely monstrous peach sized apricots. Had a buddy grew an incredible apple tree from seed too. It was so good he tried to patent it. I think that's the way the Last Chance peach was discovered. It was just a seed that sprouted in a guy's yard and became super popular for California high desert country.....Mel
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Mar 24, 2014 23:07:34 GMT -5
Once and awhile you can get a good type but not that often. Every now and then someone will get a chance seedling that is really incredible and an new variety will be born. I probably lost my only chance in life to become rich and leave a legacy when I failed to patent an avocado that came from a seedling. It was grown by my step-Dad in Shell Beach near San Luis Obispo and the tree produced the most amazing avocados I've ever seen. They were huge with small pits and incredible flavor. The tree produced bumper harvests year after year. But my life at that time was very unsettled and I didn't follow through. When I sold the property the tree was among the first things to go to make way for a new house. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2014 10:49:26 GMT -5
Once and awhile you can get a good type but not that often. Every now and then someone will get a chance seedling that is really incredible and an new variety will be born. I probably lost my only chance in life to become rich and leave a legacy when I failed to patent an avocado that came from a seedling. It was grown by my step-Dad in Shell Beach near San Luis Obispo and the tree produced the most amazing avocados I've ever seen. They were huge with small pits and incredible flavor. The tree produced bumper harvests year after year. But my life at that time was very unsettled and I didn't follow through. When I sold the property the tree was among the first things to go to make way for a new house. sad..... we all had those days Rick. |
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Post by drocknut on Mar 25, 2014 19:36:27 GMT -5
Never grown an avocado before but plenty of beans plants in school. Sounds like you really have a green thumb and maybe even some peaches in the near future. I'm not sure if avocados will grow here because of how hot and dry it is but my mom may baby it enough to keep it alive at least for a little while longer. She's already talking about putting it into a bigger pot.
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herchenx
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Post by herchenx on Mar 28, 2014 15:58:16 GMT -5
I've got one of Jean's in my window on top of a jar of water too. I don't expect to get any fruit out of it but it would be cool if we could grow it. We typically excel at killing anything green.
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Post by drocknut on Mar 28, 2014 18:19:37 GMT -5
I've got one of Jean's in my window on top of a jar of water too. I don't expect to get any fruit out of it but it would be cool if we could grow it. We typically excel at killing anything green. My mom's not bad at growing things but with the high temps and dryness here I don't think it will grow for very long. Hope it surprises us. |
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herchenx
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Post by herchenx on Mar 28, 2014 18:23:48 GMT -5
drocknut it is very dry here too, my parents somehow managed to grow a fairly tall (~6 foot) avacado here a few years ago. I would think the heat would be good for yours, but you'll need to find a way to keep it moist. Maybe cover the dirt around it with a towel or something?
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Post by drocknut on Mar 28, 2014 18:29:15 GMT -5
Don't know about that John, my mom is going to be taking care of this one since I'm headed back to Montana this weekend. She waters the plants and trees around her place but that's about it. She is thinking of keeping it in a pot on the porch. I'll see if it stays alive and maybe get to see it next year when I come back down here.
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