Have room for one tree but have one of each type. Would it work to plant both, say 2 feet apart and then keep trimmed on the close side. Or, would it be easy to take a cutting from one and graft it to the other. What are your thoughts on this. Thanks
budgel,
Oct 20, 12:38pm
I think it would work to plant both, even if you only had one, you would need to prune it as they can grow quite big. An advantage of having two is that different varieties tend to fruit at different times.
The espalier system looks interesting. They are very frost sensitive when young, so you will need to protect them well for 2-3 years at least. They can grow 40 feet tall in 20 years, but if you are clever at pruning, you can keep them contained while still getting fruit off them. What type of trees do you have?
pisces47,
Oct 22, 2:36am
Have Haas seedlings grown from pit. Looking at other info on u-tube etc looks like it best to get one that is grafted. There are four types at garden centre so will ask which is best for what we want and like. As the area is narrow I think I will try to espalier. Will do the same other side of garden with the feijoa's
mojo49,
Oct 22, 6:00am
The most common rootstock is Zutano seedling which is moderately phytophthora tolerant. Hass as a rootstock has very low tolerance, hence the grafting process. Avocado hate wet roots and will die after 24 hours of water logged soil conditions. They have their feeder roots in the first 150mm of soil and it is critical to keep that friable and aerated. I have seen the espalier above and that looks like it could work. It will take quite a bit of skill to keep rejuvenating the tree, keeping it small and still getting a crop. They are a complex tree to manage and allowing them to grow huge leads to tree decline. Best of luck and enjoy the fruits of you labour. I saw avocados in Countdown yesterday for $3.29 each. We would not even pick fruit of that rubbish quality and at best would drop it on the ground so if you can get fruit the effort is worth it. Oh and your Hass seedling will not be a true Hass. You can only get true Hass from grafting a Hass cutting.
holmda,
Oct 23, 6:18am
I have only one grown from a Haas pit. It was growing by my compost bin for a few years and was about one and a half metres tall when I transplanted it to against the fence. It looked a bit sad in the beginning but now seems to be settling down. I chopped it back quite severely during the transplant. Hopefully I will get fruit. It will be a wait and see game.
Be mindful of position - they can grow to 15 meters in diameter.
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