How to Grow and Care for an Avocado Plant Indoors

Growing avocados outdoors as productive fruit trees can be tricky, but growing them as houseplants is fun and easy, resulting in a seedling that will eventually turn into an attractive little specimen with glossy, oval leaves 4 to 8 inches long. True, it's unlikely your tree will ever bear fruit (unless you give it about 10 years), and even if it does, the fruit from the offspring most likely won't resemble the original.

But as an indoor plant, an avocado has plenty of merit as a decorative novelty that grows fast in its pot, potentially growing several feet in one year. Keep in mind that all parts of the avocado plant are toxic to animals.

Avocado Plant Care

When avocado is grown as a houseplant, it is often grown from seed (the fruit pits) that can be sprouted in water or directly in potting soil.

Established plants will do best in sunny windows. Fertilize them regularly in spring and summer with a balanced granular fertilizer.

Avocados grown indoors are mostly novelty plants. If you want it to bear fruit and turn into the tree it really is, you'll have to move your avocado outside, but this may only work if you live in a warmer climate.

Light

Like banana trees, avocado plants thrive in full sun. They will tolerate some shade, but potted indoor plants generally need the brightest spot you can find. If you're starting from a seed, the seed can be kept on a bright windowsill until roots form, and the first leaves emerge.

Water

Give the plant water when the soil is dry to the touch. Avocado plants should be kept continuously moist, but never soggy, and adequate drainage is essential. Watch for leaf yellowing, which is a sign of too much water.

Temperature

Avocado plants prefer warm growing seasons, but can take winter temperatures down to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, when growth will slow.

Soil

A rich, fast-draining potting soil mix is ideal.

Fertilizer

Indoor avocado houseplants have vastly different fertilizer needs than outdoor avocado trees. To keep your avocado houseplant's deep green leaves, fertilize it with a small amount of water-soluble food about every three months.

Types of Avocado Plants

Although there are about 1,000 varieties of avocado, the one most likely to find its way into your home is the Haas avocado, which is grown in tremendous quantities in California and throughout Latin America. These are small, pebbly avocados with high-fat content and delicious flesh. Larger, lighter green Florida avocados are also found in season. You'll find plenty of healthy pits inside any of these types of avocados that you can use to grow your plants.

Pruning

The first serious trimming should occur when the plant is only 12 inches tall. At that time, cut it back to 6 inches and allow for new leaves and stems to form.

As it gets taller, pinch off new growth throughout the summer to force new branches to form, because avocado fruit develops on new growth. Keeping the new growth pinched off will also keep the plant bushy while controlling its size.

Propagating Avocado Plants

Avocado plants can be propagated in a number of ways., but it is usually done for avocado trees planted in the landscape. Professionals graft desirable avocado varieties onto disease-resistant root-stock to produce a healthy tree with the desired kind of fruit or preferred size.

They can also be propagated by air-layering: encouraging roots to grow by scarring a tree branch, wrapping the wounded area with a small amount of rooting medium, and allowing a bundle of roots to develop while the branch is still on the tree. Once a network of roots is developed, the branch is snipped off and planted in soil.

How to Grow Avocado Plants From Seed

Just like a papaya houseplant that quickly grows from an easily accessible seed, you can use the seed of an avocado plant to propagate a new plant. The seed of an avocado is the large brown pit. Here's how to grow your avocado houseplant:

1. To sprout an avocado seed, insert three toothpicks into the seed and suspend it with the broad end down over a glass of water.
2. Cover about an inch of the seed with water.
3. Keep it in a warm place, but not in direct sunlight.
4. The seed should sprout in two to six weeks. Let the young plant grow to 6 inches, then cut it back to 3 inches to encourage stronger root growth.
5. When the roots have grown thick and the stem has new leaves again, plant in soil in a pot about 10 inches in diameter, leaving half the seed still exposed above the soil. Make sure the pot has a drainage hole.

Potting and Repotting Avocado Plants

Repot your avocado every spring when the plant begins to grow again. For the first few years, trimming your avocado is necessary to encourage a bushy plant. You can place the avocado outside during summer, and bring it inside before the first frost.

Overwintering

Bring your plants inside if it's going to be below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter's lack of humidity may cause your plant to lose leaves, but they will come back when the weather is warm.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Look for symptoms like leaf yellowing, which can indicate too much water or sluggish drainage. They may develop root rot in overly wet potting soil.

When grown outdoors, avocado trees are threatened by laurel wilt, caused by the Raffaelea lauricola fungus. It is transmitted by several different species of ambrosia beetle. Infected trees usually succumb within 4 to 8 weeks.

Common Problems With Avocado

The most common problem with the otherwise easy-to-grow avocado houseplant is excess salt in the soil. Keep an eye out for a white crust on the soil, which means there's an excess of salt build-up from the fertilizer. Flush the pot regularly.