feed-back welcome about seeding, moving and planting avocado trees
- avocado seeds-pits germination need very tall pots or bags , the double height of usual trees or more,
- ideally the seed is germinated in the final location - not in pots or bags,
because they send a fast growing taproot that will hit the pot bottom very fast and start coiling : SS
- if you have them in short pots or bags i would transplant them into a taller pot or bag
(or cut the bottom of the current pot or bag and simply
place this pot or bag over the soil of a taller bag with living soil
so the roots continue on growing through the soil below without being disturbed in the proccess)
the double or triple height but the same width or so. maybe this tall pots need to be "taylored made"
- planting in the final spot proccess:
1 dig a as deep as possible hole so you get a 50 cm deeper then the height of the roots/bag or pot,
2 insert a 1 inch or so pipe in the hole, length equal to the depth the hole - later watering will reach deeper through this pipe.
3 mix sand or sandy soil 1/3 with local soil 1/3 and compost 1/3 and throw to the bottom of the hole,
4 press well the mix so the air is squeezed out, water well,
and
5 then insert the plant in the hole - VERY carefully - not to break the tap root
if that happens, the tree will still survive.
(or insert the "under the pot bag" in the hole, just make a few cuts but do not remove the bag so as not to disturb the roots)
6 add the local soil mixed with sand and compost - same ratio - press around the tree.
7 mulch well with 10% compost mixed with woodchips or such shredded carbon/brown rich material.
8 water everything very well.
i would plant them sheltered from the cold wind and valley frost cold air drainage route
maybe against a southwest facing tall wall
during the first hear i woull create a shade hut
so that the young tree will be shaded both in summer and winter,
and make it not so shaded during spring and autumn if frost will not happen..
this thicker shade hut (with palm leaves or such) in winter should also protect from frost - during the first 3-4 years.
if the tree is shaded the leaves become darkgreen and bigger.
if it is exposed to direct sunlight - in very sunny spot - leaves become smaller and light green.
if your soil is mostly mineral soil - clay or sand or silt,
maybe dig a 1 m3 large hole and import some living / organic soil from a nearby location
to fill this hole/"big pot" and plant the avocado in there.
is not ideal, but maybe it will be worth trying,
avocado trees will live for more than 100 years!
