What to do with a not-particularly-attractive avocado tree

[editor]

My last girlfriend thought it would be great to grow an avocado from a seed. And this is how it looks now after 4 years. I've added a green stick to prop up the main stem while the newer one of the left has just flopped about.
It looks pretty unattractive to my eyes so I've added some solar fairy lights to tart it up a bit.

But I'm wondering what I can do with it. I figure it wouldn't survive if I put it in our balcony, but I'm not exactly enjoying its sprawl over the kitchen.

Any ideas?

 

[Callie]

You want rid? Sell on FB marketplace/local selling groups for a few quid. Offer it up on this here forum that you made

I don't know how it would respond to pruning but if you're after making it bushier that's usually the way to go but....there are rules!!!

I think it's quite a feat to successfully grow one in the UK btw!

 

[Callie]

Ok you could try lopping it or some of it off to encourage it to bush out more. Deciding exactly where though may be tricky! You could lop the taller stem back to nearer the section where the other stem branches off but that looks high up too?

Are roots poking out the bottom of the pot?

Do you feed it? Baby bio or some such?

It also might like being misted

 

[klang]

it wouldn't survive if I put it in our balcony

we had a home-grown one in our garden which survived a few winters. Don't know if that's normal.
Garden was very well protected with plenty of sunlight.
It grew very very slowly.

 

[jontz01]

It's.not going to bear fruit. Fuck it off and get a proper houseplant.

 

[oryx]

we had a home-grown one in our garden which survived a few winters. Don't know if that's normal.
Garden was very well protected with plenty of sunlight.
It grew very very slowly.

Yes, I've managed to grow a few from seed and despite their reputation as delicate plants, they seem to survive outside in UK winters.

My older two are looking very ropey after appearing to have had their leaves eaten by something (slugs? ants?) but I hope they'll recover. Got a third one growing on the kitchen windowsill.

I think it would be fine on a balcony.

 

[klang]

Yes, I've managed to grow a few from seed and despite their reputation as delicate plants, they seem to survive outside in UK winters.

My older two are looking very ropey after appearing to have had their leaves eaten by something (slugs? ants?) but I hope they'll recover. Got a third one growing on the kitchen windowsill.

I think it would be fine on a balcony.

Mine eventually got dug up and destroyed by a fox.
It didn't hugely upset me tbh.

 

[The39thStep]

Severely prune to make it bushier or if it’s boring throw it out or give it to someone.

 

[ice-is-forming]

View attachment 390444

My last girlfriend thought it would be great to grow an avocado from a seed. And this is how it looks now after 4 years. I've added a green stick to prop up the main stem while the newer one of the left has just flopped about.
It looks pretty unattractive to my eyes so I've added some solar fairy lights to tart it up a bit.

But I'm wondering what I can do with it. I figure it wouldn't survive if I put it in our balcony, but I'm not exactly enjoying its sprawl over the kitchen.

Any ideas?

I'm reporting you to the rspcavocados

 

[Tanya1982]

Just throw it off the balcony if you don’t love it. See if it grows wherever it lands.

I actually didn’t know they grew on trees. I think I vaguely assumed it was a potato situation.

 

[gentlegreen]

There's a fruiting avocado tree somewhere in London....

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

There's a fruiting avocado tree somewhere in London....

Oh wow, just think of all the avocado on toast.

 

[RubyToogood]

View attachment 390444

My last girlfriend thought it would be great to grow an avocado from a seed. And this is how it looks now after 4 years. I've added a green stick to prop up the main stem while the newer one of the left has just flopped about.
It looks pretty unattractive to my eyes so I've added some solar fairy lights to tart it up a bit.

But I'm wondering what I can do with it. I figure it wouldn't survive if I put it in our balcony, but I'm not exactly enjoying its sprawl over the kitchen.

Any ideas?

I've just given away a houseplant on Olio. Was snapped up straight away. Someone will love it and help it live its best life.

 

[Epona]

There's a fruiting avocado tree somewhere in London....

On a related note, I've had a chat with someone a while back who is involved in a project mapping fruit trees in London, with particular interest in non-native trees and how their planting relates to immigration and culture, I don't know a lot about the project but it sounded interesting.

 

[Raheem]

I've read all your replies, imagining them to the tune of "In An English Country Garden".

 

[A380]

Well, presumably if you don't have to buy avocados you can afford a four bed house in central London?

 

[story]

There's a fruiting avocado tree somewhere in London....

This is why I’ve not planted my avocado in the ground!

I’ve heard about a bearing avo tree in South London but never known where it was.

Mine is about 50 years old and it lives in an old metal dustbin. It’s bonsaied really. I love it. My dad grew it from a stone.

editor
Do you still have yours?

They’re evergreen and pretty hardy. They can easily live outside. Mine does.

The wind damages the leaves in winter and spring and I just remove them. They sometimes get frosted and once in a while all the leaves have died after a hard frost. I cut it back, feed it and off it goes again. Gives me a lot of pleasure. The young leaves have a sort of golden colour.

Would recommend.

 

[story]

On a related note, I've had a chat with someone a while back who is involved in a project mapping fruit trees in London, with particular interest in non-native trees and how their planting relates to immigration and culture, I don't know a lot about the project but it sounded interesting.

One of my favourite projects is that one which maps the old fruit orchards of California. People have reported fruit trees on streets and in their gardens, wherever they are, and the old lost orchards emerge out of the maps as a result.


Theres also the Falling Fruits project which maps fruits and a lot of other stuff all over the world.

Falling Fruit

A massive, collaborative map of the urban harvest uniting the efforts of foragers, freegans, and foresters around the world. Explore and share information about the sources of free food in your neighborhood.

fallingfruit.org

Peronally, I keep some of my urban foraging spots secret. Like my patch of Piopino mushrooms in downtown Brixton. I’m not sharing that! Although I do sometimes share the harvest.

 

[story]

Here’s a taste test of the avo from that tree in that video.






I really want to know where it is!

 

[story]

Here’s another vid of a South London avocado tree.




Yiu can see the gold hue in the young leaves that I mentioned.

 

[story]

Blimey they’re all over the place!






editor if you still have the tree I bet it would be happy sheltered within the barrier block. Whether or not it bears fruit is another matter tho

 

[ouirdeaux]

I feel sorry for the avocado tree, which has no way of leaving a relationship in which it is obviously not appreciated. Surely there must be someone out there who could love it.

 

[girasol]

I want an avocado tree! I love avocado! I vote for finding a spot for it and letting it grow au naturel!

 

[story]

Here’s one growing by the London Wall. It doesn’t look too happy though, compared to the others up there










eta
update
This one seems to have died. A.though I thought mine had died after a bad winter and it came back…

 

[story]

This is the same one that gentlegreen posted earlier.

 

[story]

Well now

There are loads of avocado trees in London. One in Cheyne Walk, another in Chelsea Physic Garden.…

I‘ve glimpsed the event horizon of this rabbit hole so I’m now going to retreat from the edge and get on with some RL stuff in my own world.

 

[cesare]

Happy to plant it in or near the Tiny Forest near us.

Tiny Forest - Earthwatch

Tiny Forests are fast-growing miniature urban woods pioneered by Earthwatch Europe. Discover Tiny Forest and how you can get involved.

earthwatch.org.uk

 

[RubyToogood]

It sounds like there's a strong case for finding somewhere to plant it out. Particularly as summers are unlikely to get colder.

 

[editor]

I'm going to exile it to a sheltered corner of my balcony and hope it flourishes better than the relationship that spawned it.

Oh, and thanks for the replies/offers.

 

[JimW]

Just keep it as it is. Sorry, just playing devil's avocado.