Avocado Tree Falling Over

Hi everyone!

Hopefully this is the right place to post. I have an avocado plant I grew from seed which is doing startlingly well, considering it is growing only in my kitchen window.

However, now it's too big for my window and I need to figure out where to put it.

1. I only have one north and three east facing windows in my apartment, the light is not great. Should I try to put it out on the rooftop terrace for the summer, knowing I'll have to bring it in again for the winter?

2. It's used to growing against the window, so now it falls over when not supported. What's protocol here? I see at fancy gardening stores, they twist the stems. Is that good? Is it too late for that? Should I just use some cane to hold it up? I think I was supposed to have pruned it at some point, but I'm scared!!

Here's what the plant looks like, unsupported



Here's is a photo its current home:


Thanks for all the help!

Marissa

 

Hi Marissa,
avocados make excellent houseplants. I had one for over 10 years until it got so pot bound it had to go.

For now, I'd go for a sturdy cane support or an obelisk type of support structure so that you can tie the stems straight at several points. The plant will man up and start to go woodier probably next year and then it's just a matter of pruning and tying things up so that the shape allows you to move past it.

Best place is near bright, tall window. If it has outgrown the windowsill, can you set up a small table or stool next to it to maximise light? If possible, keep it far away from radiator.

When the plant matures it will be tree shaped so can stand on the floor as the stem doesn't then need light.

Braiding stems will restrict the plant's growth but because avocado seeds come for free, why not try next spring? It's always fun to experiment a bit.

 

Good points, thanks John! I move a lot, so just looking for a houseplant, not fruit. I'll save my pruning for the winter then. Good reason to procrastinate :D

 

Thank you!! This is exactly the advice I was looking for.

 

Follow-up: Is there a way to prevent the plant from becoming pot bound? Any advice?

 

@Selleri tagging you for the question above. And maybe another: any tips for successful pruning? John mentioned waiting for winter as one.

 

I pruned my plant just to trim off branches growing into awkward directions or when something looked tatty. In general avocado grows into a nice shape on it's own so doesn't need much shaping. I have heard that sometimes the plant refuses to grow branches unless the top is trimmed but mine have always branched nicely.

I used to pot my plant on every spring into a pot a couple of fingerfuls bigger than the previous size. Potbounding really became a problem when I couldn't face planting it into larger than its 50cm container. It was fine in there for a few years, with just the topsoil replaced but in the end the plant started to show stress so a new generation was called for. The youngsters are now about the same size as yours.

And the old plant got a second life as sturdy plant supports and Degus' favourite nibbling sticks