While I have been neglecting the posting of updates on my two avocado plants, I have not been neglecting the plants themselves. They have grown quite a bit; the larger tree is about 12″ tall and the other is about 9″ in height. Since posting Part 2 of my experiment, I have planted the two growing trees each in their own pot. I reused a couple of small ceramic pots that we had laying around the house — about 8″ to 10″ in height and about 6″ to 8″ in diameter. During the warm Atlanta summer months, they flourished outside on our deck in 3/4 sunlight, but over the past couple of weeks we had our first frost. I first moved the plants to the garage as to not shock them with the temperature change. Currently, they are living on the desk in my office which gets a small amount of direct morning sunlight. More details after the break.
Based on a few articles i read recently, I pinched off the top part of the stem. Doing this is ideal for trees that are to be kept on the small side. Pinching off the stem slows down vertical growth (duh) and promotes outward growth. Hopefully, the outcome is a shorter, fuller tree. I performed that little procedure several months back and so far, so good. You can see the results in the attached photos.
The plants have continued to slowly grow throughout the winter. Further into the spring, I plan on upgrading their pots to a larger size to allow them to grow a little more freely. …assuming they make it that long. 😉
