Avocado Trees in MD

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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So... I have an avocado tree coming up in my compost pile. Is there any way to keep it alive in MD without putting much effort into it? What are the chances it keeps going, even if suboptimally?
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
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So... I have an avocado tree coming up in my compost pile. Is there any way to keep it alive in MD without putting much effort into it? What are the chances it keeps going, even if suboptimally?

Have no experience with Avocado, but you'll need to bring it into the house. quick googling
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,460
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Looks hopeless. I keep my house at 56F and dark in the winter. I'm also not enthused about several repottings. It might have survived last winter outside, but not a typical winter. Oh well. I might move it somewhere outside, and just see what happens. Only takes a bit of time.
 

NetWareHead

THAT guy
Aug 10, 2002
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I dont think it will survive in MD climate.

That being said, my father did manage to keep a fig tree alive outdoors for years. But in the fall before the temperatures started dipping below 60, he would prune down the tree and wrap it in house insulation. Put a plastic bag and a wooden box like cover to keep the snow off of it. He uncovered the fig in the spring when temps became warm again. I couldn't believe that the fig tree survived AND gave us plenty of figs. It thrived and grew back many of the pruned limbs year after year.
 
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Mike64

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2011
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So... I have an avocado tree coming up in my compost pile. Is there any way to keep it alive in MD without putting much effort into it? What are the chances it keeps going, even if suboptimally?
Outdoors, all year round? No, and none. Full stop. Avocados are subtropical. A mature tree can survive a brief, light frost, but anything much colder than that will just flat out kill them, and a young one won't have a chance..

Mid-Fall through early Spring indoors, even with 56F? Sure, but not with poor lighting. Unless "suboptimally" includes letting it try to send a spindly trunk up to your ceiling reaching for whatever light there might be, and having to hack it way back every year... And they look hideous when you do that, so there's really no point to it at all.
 
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Linflas

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Jan 30, 2001
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I have a 25 year old Key Lime tree in a pot that I keep in the driveway from late April-late October in Northern Virginia. I just move it along with a miniature orange and a Meyer lemon tree into the garage when it starts getting close to frost time. I just harvested enough limes off of it to make 8 Key Lime pies last weekend.
 

turtile

Senior member
Aug 19, 2014
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Looks hopeless. I keep my house at 56F and dark in the winter. I'm also not enthused about several repottings. It might have survived last winter outside, but not a typical winter. Oh well. I might move it somewhere outside, and just see what happens. Only takes a bit of time.


Actually it's ideal to store the Avocado where it's cool and dark. If you have a cross space that it 50F or lower, it will stop growth given it's dark. You don't want to take it inside as the sun isn't intense and there is no wind/rain/temp fluctation to toughen up the tree. So when you take it back outside, all of the new growth will fry and the plant will take months to fully recover (if it can).