How to grow Avocado Houseplant Indoors?

Growing avocados outside as fruit trees can be hard, but growing them as houseplants is fun and easy, and the result is a seedling that will grow into a cute little plant with glossy, oval leaves that are 4 to 8 inches long. True, it’s unlikely that your tree will ever bear fruit (unless you wait about 10 years), and even if it does, the fruit from the offspring probably won’t look like the original . If you want to grow indoor fruits then lemon is a great option and read here to know how! But as an indoor plant, an avocado has a lot of potential as a decorative novelty that grows quickly in its pot and could grow several feet in a year. Keep in mind that all parts of the avocado plant are harmful to animals. Read this article to grow a beautiful Avocado houseplant with glossy leaves to give a new look to your interior decor.

Tips for Caring Avocado Houseplant

When avocado is grown as a houseplant, it is usually grown from fruit pits, which can be sprouted in water or directly in potting soil.Plants that are already grown will do best in sunny windows. Use a balanced granular fertilizer on them often in the spring and summer.

Most avocados grown indoors are grown as decorations. If you want your avocado to bear fruit and grow into the tree it really is, you’ll have to move it outside, but this may only work if you live in a warmer climate.

(1) Planting Avocado Houseplant Indoors

Whether you start your avocado plant from a seed or buy an avocado plant already grown as a houseplant, you’ll need to know how to plant your future tree. Most of these trees grow to be at least 20 feet tall in the wild, but the pot you choose will limit their size, so they won’t get as big as they would if they were outside. So, choosing the right pot for your Avocado houseplant is important. Knowing how to care for an avocado tree inside is also important.

(a) Choose the Right Size Pot

When your tree grows, you’ll need a pot with a diameter of 15 cm. You’ll need a bigger pot as your Avocado houseplant tree grows.Another choice is just to buy a 15-gallon pot. This is the biggest pot your tree will fit in. Make sure it has more than one hole for water to drain out.

(b) Potting Mix

These trees need soil that is light and has a lot of aeration. Also, the soil you choose should drain easily. You don’t want heavy potting soil. The plant won’t get enough air because the soil will be too slightly damp.
A light textured soil for succulents is a great option for Avocado houseplant. Another great idea is to mix potting soil with sand.  Learn more about growing media for herbs and houseplants here.

(2) Light

Avocado trees grow best in full sun, just like banana trees. They can handle some shade, but most pot houseplants need to be in the brightest place possible. If you start with a seed, you can put the Avocado houseplant on a sunny windowsill until the roots grow and the first leaves appear.

(3) Water

When the soil feels dry to the touch, water the plant, you should always keep avocado houseplants moist but never soggy, and they need to drain well. If your avocado houseplant leaves turn yellow, that means the plant is getting too much water.

(4) Temperature

Avocado houseplant grows best in warm weather, but they can survive temperatures as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter when growth slows.

(5) Fertilizer

Regarding fertilizer, avocado houseplants have very different needs than avocado trees that grow outside. About every three months, give your avocado houseplant a small amount of fertilizer that dissolves in water. Granular fertilizer is also great idea.This will keep the leaves a deep green color in Avocado houseplant.

(6) Pruning

It would be best to do the first serious trimming when the plant is only 12 inches tall. At that point, cut it back to about 6 inches and let it grow new leaves and stems.

As the Avocado houseplant grows taller, pinch off new growth during the summer to make it grow new branches since avocado fruit grows on new growth. You can keep the plant bushy by pinching off the new growth and controlling its size.

Propagating Avocado Houseplant

(a) Rootstock

There are several ways to grow avocado plants; however, they are typically propagated by planting avocado trees in the landscape. Professionals transplant attractive avocado cultivars onto disease-resistant rootstock to create a healthy tree with the desired fruit type or size.

(b) Air-layering

You can also propagate Avocado houseplant by air-layering, which involves scarring a tree branch, wrapping the wound with a small amount of rooting medium, and letting a bundle of roots grow while the branch is still on the tree. Once there is a network of roots, the branch is cut off and put in the soil.

(c) Seed

You can use an avocado fruit pit(hard seed) to create a new plant, as a papaya houseplant grows swiftly from a readily accessible seed. The big brown pit in the middle of an avocado is the (pit) seed. Here’s how to look after your avocado houseplant at home:

•  Poke three toothpicks into the seed and hold it over a glass of water with the wide end down. 
• Cover the seed with about an inch of water. 
• Keep it somewhere warm, but not in the sun. 
• In two to six weeks, the seed should start to grow.

Let the young Avocado houseplant grow until it is 6 inches tall, then cut it back to 3 inches to help the roots grow stronger.
When the roots are thick and the stem has new leaves, plant the seed in the soil in a 10-inch-diameter pot, but leave half of the seed above the soil. Make sure the pot has a hole for water to drain.

Potting and Repotting Avocado Plant

When the plant starts to grow again every spring, you should repot it. You need to trim your avocado plant for the first few years to make it bushy. During the summer, you can put the Avocado houseplant outside, and before the first frost, you can bring it inside.

Common Plant Pests and Diseases

Look for signs like yellowing leaves, which can mean the Avocado houseplant has too much water or slow drainage. If the soil is too wet, the root may rot.

An avocado houseplant is at risk of getting laurel wilt caused by the Raffaelea lauricola fungus. Indoor plants are at lower risk than outdoors. Several different kinds of ambrosia beetles can spread it. Most trees that have been infected die within 4 to 8 weeks in outdoor conditions.

Problems Often Seen with Avocado Plant

The most common problem with avocado plants, which are otherwise easy to grow, is too much salt in the soil. Keep an eye out for a white crust on the soil. This means that the fertilizer has caused too much salt to build up. Clean the pot often.

(Also Read- Grow Starfruit: Unique Tropical Fruit Plant )

Conclusion

Avocado trees are surprisingly good houseplants. They have big, shiny green leaves and are easy to grow from an avocado stone. Why not go to the store, buy a fresh avocado, and try it?An avocado pit, a glass of water, and direct sunlight are all you need to grow your own avocado tree indoors. Another popular choice is to start with a dwarf tree. To make sure your avocado seed grows into a beautiful Avocado houseplant, you’ll need to know a few things, though. With these tips, you can ensure that your new Avocado houseplant grows well though it will not give you fruit.