Avocado plant care: watering, pruning & more
Once you have managed to successfully grow avocado plants from a pit, you now need to take proper care of them to ensure they grow big and strong.
Once you have found a suitable location for your avocado plant (Persea americana), caring for it is not as difficult as you might think. In our part of the world, avocado plants can only be kept indoors and do not usually bear fruit, so the focus is on the impressively large leaves. Find out how to maintain their vitality and shine.
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Avocado plant care: watering
When it comes to avocado plant care, it is always a matter of finding the perfect balance. After successfully growing an avocado plant from a pit, proper care of the avocado is the be-all and end-all. Avocado plants have a moderate to high water requirement. Water avocado plants regularly, ensuring they always stay slightly moist, but never wet. Avoid overwatering the avocado tree. Slightly acidic water such as rainwater is best. Drooping leaves are a tell-tale sign that an avocado plant is being underwatered. Before watering, it is best to check the substrate with a finger test. If the surface of the soil feels dry, then it is time to water again. Avoid prolonged periods of dryness.
How much water an avocado plant needs depends on the size of the plant, the time of year and the location. It is also important to place the avocado in a pot with a drainage hole so that excess water can run off.
Misting your avocado plant: Regular misting is another essential step in avocado plant care. Regularly misting the plant with soft water is important as avocado plants need high humidity. If the air is too dry, it will develop unattractive, dry leaf tips.
How to fertilise avocado trees
Avocado trees only need fertilising from spring to autumn. During this time, the plant is actively growing and requires plenty of nutrients to grow and stay healthy. For avocados in pots, we recommend using a liquid fertiliser, such as our Plantura Liquid Flower Food, which you can simply add to the water you use when watering your avocado plant. On top of being easy to apply, this fertiliser contains plenty of nitrogen for healthy and rapid growth. The microorganisms in this fertiliser help the avocado roots to absorb nutrients and optimise the use of the substrate. Applying fertiliser once a week is sufficient. Avocado trees do not require fertilising in winter.
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Tip: In summer, between May and October, it is best to place the avocado plant outside. A semi-shaded, sheltered spot is well suited. This time outdoors benefits the plant because of the increase in light, which leads to more robust leaves and shoots. Placing your avocado plant outdoors also reduces the risk of pest infestations.
How to prune avocado plants
It is a good idea to prune the avocado plant to limit its growth height and to encourage branching. Avocado plants hardly branch out on their own and often form a high central shoot with few leaves – so we suggest cutting avocado plants from the top early on. In terms of when to prune the avocado plant, early spring is best. To do this, take a sharp pair of scissors and cut off the top of the main shoot, just below the upper leaves. The avocado plant will branch out and sprout again from this point. Proceed in a similar way with well-developed side shoots. Before pruning, make sure the avocado plant is at least 30 cm high and already has some leaves.
Repotting avocado trees
The best time to repot avocado plants is in spring, directly after pruning. Repot your young avocados annually. Older plants in good soil only need repotting every two to three years. If the plant is hardly growing, the roots have outgrown the pot, or the soil is no longer absorbing the water, then it is high time to repot your avocado plant.
To repot your avocado plant, get some fresh, well-draining soil and a noticeably larger pot. Start by creating a drainage layer in the pot to prevent waterlogging in the future. Follow this with a layer of soil and place the avocado plant on top. Fill any remaining gaps with soil. When repotting avocado trees, it is a good idea to take this opportunity to take a look at the roots. They should look bright and healthy and should not give off a musty smell. Brown, soft roots are a sign of waterlogging and root rot. Finally, cover the soil surface with a mulch layer of expanded clay, gravel or pine bark. This prevents the water from the soil from evaporating too quickly and ensures that the substrate remains moist.
Avocado plant winter care
Avocado plants do not tolerate the low temperatures that we experience during our winters. Bring your avocado plant back indoors from October and place it in a bright spot, but not in direct sunlight. Avocado plants also struggle with dry, heated air in winter. Placing a water bowl on the radiator can help to somewhat increase the humidity. Avocado plants go dormant in winter as it is darker, so there is less to do in terms of avocado plant care. During this time, refrain from fertilising and water less, but do not let the substrate dry out completely. Indoor avocado plants often lose some leaves in winter, but this is no cause for concern. The plant will sprout again the following spring.
Common avocado plant pests and diseases
Avocados that are kept as houseplants have usually passed their prime after a few years. They no longer produce as many leaves and no longer look as vibrant and splendid as they once did. This is quite natural, because avocados as houseplants usually get too little light and often suffer from low humidity, which reduces their lifespan. Dryness in the soil or air causes the leaf tips to dry out. Sometimes, however, pests may attack your avocado plant, leading to a sickly plant.
Scale insects (Coccoidea): Easily recognisable by their shield-like hard outer covering (known as the dorsal carapace), scale insects usually hide in the leaf axils. They tolerate dry air well and therefore appear more frequently in winter when the plant is already weakened.
Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae): Mealybugs also often appear when the air is dry in winter. A mealybug infestation is easily identifiable by the white, greasy residue they leave on the plant. Mealybugs are usually found in the leaf axils. In addition to collecting and removing them, you can combat many pests with a biological pesticide.
Spider mites (Tetranychidae): Spider mites are tiny pests that are usually recognisable by the damage they cause. They suck the plant sap from the leaves, leaving small, lightly coloured dots.
Root rot: If the soil smells musty and feels wet, your avocado plant may be suffering from root rot. This also manifests itself in yellow or brown leaves that have dried out at the edges. The only thing that helps here is cutting back the rotten roots, repotting the avocado tree into fresh soil, and watering less in future. Creating a drainage layer at the bottom of the pot is very important for preventing waterlogging.
Verticillium-wilt: This is a fungal disease that attacks the plant through the soil. The fungus clogs the water channels so that the avocado plant can no longer supply itself with water, causing the leaves to wilt and wither. As a preventive measure, avoid waterlogging and wet, heavy soil. Diseased plants can be disposed of along with household waste.
As much as we love avocados as houseplants and on toast, they are not the most environmentally-friendly fruits. Read about the sustainability of the avocado here.
