1. Forum
  2. Usenet
  3. REC.GARDENS

  • Grafting avocados

    From bob prohaska@21:1/5 to All on Tue Feb 28 03:07:20 2023
    Does anybody reading this group have experience grafting avocados?

    I ask because I'm about to embark on the journey and it seems wise
    to solicit whatever experience can be accumulated.

    About twelve years ago I sprouted a couple tens of avocado pits,
    ending up with eight trees worth planting in the yard. I'm down
    to five, two of which are doing quite well, apart from declining
    to bloom. They're ~2" diameter at the base and over ten feet tall.

    It looks like I've found some budstock from a grower I met at the
    California Rare Fruit Grower's scion exchange this past Sunday.

    The tactics of the grafting aren't obvious to me: graft to branches,
    or graft to trunks? The former look easier to do, if only to make
    more scion wood. Grafting to trunks looks harder, but it's ultimately
    what I want: producing fruit bearing trees using the well-established
    roots developed over the past decade.

    I'd like to capitalize on the root systems already established, so
    buying new trees seems wasteful and risky, since there's no assurance
    edible varieties will survive here, in the southern Sacramento Valley.

    Thanks for reading and any related experiences.

    bob prohaska

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Leon Fisk@21:1/5 to bob prohaska on Tue Feb 28 09:37:24 2023
    On Tue, 28 Feb 2023 03:07:20 -0000 (UTC)
    bob prohaska <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:

    <snip>
    The tactics of the grafting aren't obvious to me: graft to branches,
    or graft to trunks? The former look easier to do, if only to make
    more scion wood. Grafting to trunks looks harder, but it's ultimately
    what I want: producing fruit bearing trees using the well-established
    roots developed over the past decade.

    I'd like to capitalize on the root systems already established, so
    buying new trees seems wasteful and risky, since there's no assurance
    edible varieties will survive here, in the southern Sacramento Valley.

    Thanks for reading and any related experiences.

    The old Bailey's Horticulture Cyclopedia has some info on Avocados. I
    have this set and will peruse it when researching subjects like
    this...

    https://archive.org/details/standardcycloped01bail/page/438/mode/2up

    --
    Leon Fisk
    Grand Rapids MI

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Boron Elgar@21:1/5 to bp@www.zefox.net on Tue Feb 28 12:36:13 2023
    On Tue, 28 Feb 2023 03:07:20 -0000 (UTC), bob prohaska
    <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:

    Does anybody reading this group have experience grafting avocados?

    I ask because I'm about to embark on the journey and it seems wise
    to solicit whatever experience can be accumulated.

    About twelve years ago I sprouted a couple tens of avocado pits,
    ending up with eight trees worth planting in the yard. I'm down
    to five, two of which are doing quite well, apart from declining
    to bloom. They're ~2" diameter at the base and over ten feet tall.

    It looks like I've found some budstock from a grower I met at the
    California Rare Fruit Grower's scion exchange this past Sunday.

    The tactics of the grafting aren't obvious to me: graft to branches,
    or graft to trunks? The former look easier to do, if only to make
    more scion wood. Grafting to trunks looks harder, but it's ultimately
    what I want: producing fruit bearing trees using the well-established
    roots developed over the past decade.

    I'd like to capitalize on the root systems already established, so
    buying new trees seems wasteful and risky, since there's no assurance
    edible varieties will survive here, in the southern Sacramento Valley.

    Thanks for reading and any related experiences.

    bob prohaska

    The grafting procedure isn't much different front other fruit bearers
    (with some exceptions, natch). There is a lot of info here and it is
    pretty straightforward.

    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/avocado/avocado-tree-grafting.htm

    Often, though, an ungrafted avocado would have fruited by this age.
    You might want to check into appropriate soil and sun conditions and
    determine is there is anything else preventing fruiting.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bob prohaska@21:1/5 to Boron Elgar on Tue Feb 28 23:00:28 2023
    Boron Elgar <boron_elgar@hotmail.com> wrote:

    Often, though, an ungrafted avocado would have fruited by this age.
    You might want to check into appropriate soil and sun conditions and determine is there is anything else preventing fruiting.

    The plants aren't suffering in any obvious way, though I have
    found suggestions that fruiting can take up to fifteen years.
    Somewhat curiously, the only tree to have bloomed at all, two
    years ago and only once at that, isn't the largest.

    I have reports of successful avocado trees in my area, so the
    climate, while certainly not ideal, isn't a showstopper. And,
    by most accounts, it's getting better. The soil and sun being
    "what they are", grafting seems a worthwhile gamble and somewhat
    entertaining.

    Thanks for writing,

    bob prohaska

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bob prohaska@21:1/5 to Leon Fisk on Tue Feb 28 23:01:20 2023
    Leon Fisk <lfiskgr@gmail.invalid> wrote:

    The old Bailey's Horticulture Cyclopedia has some info on Avocados. I
    have this set and will peruse it when researching subjects like
    this...

    https://archive.org/details/standardcycloped01bail/page/438/mode/2up


    Interesting link, thank you!

    bob prohaska

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)