New...it is possible to grow an avocado in a pot. There are some pitfalls...but you can do it. First: make sure you buy the correct variety. My recommendation is the "Holiday". It is an awesome tasting fruit and a natural semi-dwarf. My Holiday is 4 yrs old...and about 7-8' tall. A nice size. Make sure you have free-draining potting mix (very important). Add things like pine bark fines, perlite, and/or cactus mix to the standard MG potting mix. Do not buy moisture control type products! As for size...the bigger the better. I would use at least a 20 gallon pot (like 2 feet deep and 18-24 inches across. Let me know if I can help you further. PS There are several small avos that do NOT have good tasting fruit.

For some reason, all the local HDs and nurseries that I look only carry Hass, don't see Holiday or Sharwil (I've read about Sharwil from some older discussion and it strikes my curiosity about this variety). Where do you guys order yours? or look who carries it? Thanks.

Here in Ventura Co. we have a "Green Thumb" nursery that carries many varieties. Where are you?

fireduck: SoCal. I supposed I can search online, but personally I prefer an in person shopping for plants hehe. Also, just stumbled upon a video on pinkerson, which supposedly grows more horizontal than vertical. Do you have any personal experience with this variety?

I got my Sharwil from Atkins Nursery in Fallbrook, CA $25.00. Picked it up on site. Atkins is on FB.

For a bit of a visual description, check out this Dave Wilson Nursery video of the UC Irvine avocado collection. Haas avocados are pretty much the standard market fruit here and you wouldn't be disappointed after planting one. Should you want something different though, there are plenty of choices.

Excellent video! Thanks for posting! I learned a lot. Cukes! Wish my Sharwil was old and producing. Still a baby. In ground.

Thanks! I picked up a lot of info from it. There is also a second part, probably the first selection on the right of suggested videos. My house came with a few mystery trees, one an avo. The owner told me it was a haas however this video helped identify it as a fuerte. No wonder they were a bit stringy in Nov.

Haas is decent. But what's the point of growing something that is cheap and plentiful in the store? Idk I'd rather have something different. I got holiday and Gwen. Little cado is next.

I wouldn't bother with Littlecado (aka Wurtz) it has substandard fruit. Get a Reed, it's supposedly the best around. You can pick up 15 gal at Clausen's in Vista.

Reed is an awesome tasting avo, and a more vertical tree from what I research. The greedy side of me wants to know if there is (and where I can find it) a coctail avo tree? I am torn between Holiday, Sharwil, Reed. I guess i get greedy because knowing I only have room for ONE avo tree. Argh...choices and decisions make life hard ! haha

I believe La Verne sells a multi-graft avocado, but it's usually not done because one of the grafts will take over completely and the other won't grow.

Fyi, don't bother with holiday, it's basically reed, not as tasty, just a smaller tree.

Also, where do you live? If it's anywhere in CA, chances are you don't need a second avocado, there will be enough pollen in the neighborhood. Also, from what I hear, Reed is kinda an AB avocado, it will set fruit without another tree.

Rootrot can be treated with potassium salts. Also adding much organics to the soil helps.

I use potassiumphosphite on my avocado and durian.

i grow several verities in pots. hass, furte, lamb hass, sirprize, reed. i'm going to remove the hass and furte and replace with jan boyce and sharwil they are about 13ft tall and 8 ft wide. when they start to fruit you have to be on a strict feeding schedule as they are heavy feeders due to all the leaves and fruit. and being trapped in the box they cant find food and water on their own. i use the plastic 24 and 36in boxes i found them at eastbay nursery berkeley. If your in northern california i'll be in san deigo picking up sharwil, jan boyce and reed this weekend let me know if you need one.

Mike, I have one of this exact plastic pot!! (actually 2, but I already use one for my dragon fruit) I am in North OC but haven't been able to make it out to Fallbrook. If you are going to San Diego and dont mind, will you be able to pick up a Sharwil for me ? Is there a private message function on this board that we can exchange contact?

I'll leave you a message with my cantact.

i have some cocktail avocadotree's and they are not that hard to make. Just try to graft them and if it didn't work then try it again.

They didn't fruit yet but the grafts grow very well.

I like that pot because it's easy for repotting or rootpruning. It doesn't look nice though, i 'm looking for goodlooking pots which are good for rootpruning, big ones.

Thank you Mike for picking up a beautiful Sharwil for me !! You guys in this board are awesome!