Avocado twins

[DumbFalang]

New to the game. I like eating Avocado's so much I have been growing root stock from seeds for the past 6 months and I've got a couple of dozen healthy looking young trees.

I was just checking on my latest batch this morning and noticed this...

Is this common, or am I the proud owner of Avocado twins? (this is Siam after all)

[soidog2]

Fairly common from seeds, not good for grafting, (need to prune one)

OK if you plan to grow it out.

[DumbFalang]

Thanks - that makes sense. Is it not possible to graft after a young Avocado plant reaches a certain age?

[soidog2]

It certainly is possible, but it does not take on twins.

Two/three feet in height and a healthy pencil diameter or slightly more.

Edited February 8, 2015 by soidog2

[DumbFalang]

Thanks again for your advice - there are not too many people around with knowledge on Avocados. Do you know if they need to be grown at a minimum altitude? I have a plot in Sakon Nakhorn which I think is approx. 550 feet above see level. I'm looking elsewhere for a second plot above 1000 feet, so I'm wondering whether it would be wise to wait.

[soidog2]

The main problem here is the heat.

Most trees will flower now and by Sonkran time some small fruit will be visible.

If the trees are stressed (the heat will do it) they will drop the fruit.

If you have a higher (cooler) elevation place, more chances for a normal harvest.

Attached this years first fruit set, and a pair of twins for you.

[djayz]

To the OP: I was just wondering are you taking the seeds from fruit you eat or do you buy seeds here?

I like avocados, but I've had an abysmal success rate in growing plants from the seeds of fruit I've eaten (only one plant out of hundreds of avocados over the past 10 years! Both here and back in Europe). Unfortunately, the one plant that did grow, died a few months back after I repotted it.

So, if you are growing your stock directly from seeds, would you mind telling me how do you get the plants to grow? What is your success rate? What method do you use? I use three methods; suspending seeds in a container of water (using three toothpicks to suspend the seeds), submersing seeds in water (which I change every other day) and simply burying seeds in loose clay and relying on nature to do the rest. Like I've said before, all three methods have yielded miserable results for me so I was wondering how you do it and what's your success rate.

If you are buying seeds from a store/nursery, would you mind telling me where?

Thanking you in advance.

[DumbFalang]

The main problem here is the heat.

Most trees will flower now and by Sonkran time some small fruit will be visible.

If the trees are stressed (the heat will do it) they will drop the fruit.

If you have a higher (cooler) elevation place, more chances for a normal harvest.

Attached this years first fruit set, and a pair of twins for you.

Picture 741.jpgPicture 742.jpg

Aha! I didn't know that. I will make sure I plant my first batch in part shade. Thanks for the picks.

[DumbFalang]

@djayz - This winter i ran an experiment with a batch of seeds from fruit myself and others had eaten. Some suspended two thirds in water, some on the surface of compost in Bangpakong ( just outside Bangkok) and some in a mixture of compost and local soil in Sakon Nakhon (Isaan). The ones in Bangpakong had shoots before the ones water even showed signs of any roots. I gave up on the water method and stuck the seeds, two thirds covered, in the compost. They were up in no time. Back in Sakon Nakhon, where it was a good 7 or 8 degrees C cooler, they all came through about two months later. I cannot be sure if this was down to the soil , the temperature, or a bit of both.

Another interesting observation is that I took a plant around 1 foot tall from bangpakong up to Isaan and it is still only 1 foot in height two months later. I know this common with people in Isaan, but I didn't know it affected plants LOL ;-)

From what I have researched so far, Avocado trees you grow from fruit seeds will usually not produce fruit. As I type this, I am am driving from Sakon Nakhon to Chiang Mai to meet the guy voted number one farmer by Thais. He has a PHD and decades of experience under his belt. Me and the missus will be spending a couple of days with him and Avocado grafting is the top of my list. I will no doubt be coming away with a few grafted tress and more importantly a little bit more knowledge which I will be happy to share.

[djayz]

@djayz - This winter i ran an experiment with a batch of seeds from fruit myself and others had eaten. Some suspended two thirds in water, some on the surface of compost in Bangpakong ( just outside Bangkok) and some in a mixture of compost and local soil in Sakon Nakhon (Isaan). The ones in Bangpakong had shoots before the ones water even showed signs of any roots. I gave up on the water method and stuck the seeds, two thirds covered, in the compost. They were up in no time. Back in Sakon Nakhon, where it was a good 7 or 8 degrees C cooler, they all came through about two months later. I cannot be sure if this was down to the soil , the temperature, or a bit of both.

Another interesting observation is that I took a plant around 1 foot tall from bangpakong up to Isaan and it is still only 1 foot in height two months later. I know this common with people in Isaan, but I didn't know it affected plants LOL ;-)

From what I have researched so far, Avocado trees you grow from fruit seeds will usually not produce fruit. As I type this, I am am driving from Sakon Nakhon to Chiang Mai to meet the guy voted number one farmer by Thais. He has a PHD and decades of experience under his belt. Me and the missus will be spending a couple of days with him and Avocado grafting is the top of my list. I will no doubt be coming away with a few grafted tress and more importantly a little bit more knowledge which I will be happy to share.

Thank you so much for the feedback. From now on, I'll put more of my seeds into compost and try that method (which I've very seldom tried in the past).

I hope you enjoy the trip to Chiang Mai and I'd love to read any new content/information you'd care to share with us here.

Best regards.

[DumbFalang]

The trip to Chiang Mai was awesome as it was the first time I'd ever been up there. The Royal Project at Ang Khang was particularly interesting and well worth a visit (take a thick winter coat).

Unfortunately, there were no Avocado cuttings available but I found out that the guy I went to visit is bringing in a new strain from America later on this year. Let's see how that develops.

All was not lost as the he grafted 5 types of Lime and a Lemon cutting onto a tree for me (I'll try to upload the video of him doing it if anyone is interested). I also got a couple of Siam Red Mulberry trees and a Himalayan White grafted onto a Siam 80 (not 60). The missus picked up a couple of lemon trees.

Had a visit to an organic strawberry farm in Chiang Rai on the way back home to find out what standard I have to reach with my own organic strawberry farm I am starting this year. It's a tough target as the quality was by far the best I have found in Thailand. They were 600 baht per kilo - and well worth it for the comfort of knowing that some hill tribe farmer had not sprayed all kinds of chemicals all over them. Sharp contrast to the strawberries the hill tribe people were selling at Ang Khang at 100 baht for 3 kilos. We were advised that they taste really sweet, but be prepared to die after eating them ;-)

[smilingturtle]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to add to the thread that there is an avocado research center in Issan near Korat specialized in grafting specimens.

There are also some private sellers around the center. I will try to send you the google map link on next post. Cheers.

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[smilingturtle]

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[smilingturtle]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[djayz]

The trip to Chiang Mai was awesome as it was the first time I'd ever been up there. The Royal Project at Ang Khang was particularly interesting and well worth a visit (take a thick winter coat).

Unfortunately, there were no Avocado cuttings available but I found out that the guy I went to visit is bringing in a new strain from America later on this year. Let's see how that develops.

All was not lost as the he grafted 5 types of Lime and a Lemon cutting onto a tree for me (I'll try to upload the video of him doing it if anyone is interested). I also got a couple of Siam Red Mulberry trees and a Himalayan White grafted onto a Siam 80 (not 60). The missus picked up a couple of lemon trees.

Had a visit to an organic strawberry farm in Chiang Rai on the way back home to find out what standard I have to reach with my own organic strawberry farm I am starting this year. It's a tough target as the quality was by far the best I have found in Thailand. They were 600 baht per kilo - and well worth it for the comfort of knowing that some hill tribe farmer had not sprayed all kinds of chemicals all over them. Sharp contrast to the strawberries the hill tribe people were selling at Ang Khang at 100 baht for 3 kilos. We were advised that they taste really sweet, but be prepared to die after eating them ;-)

I, for one, would be really interested to see the video... Thanks!

Edited February 22, 2015 by djayz

[smilingturtle]

Interested to see the video too [emoji4]

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[DumbFalang]

I had to abort uploading to Youtube when it said there were 423 minutes remaining. I will look at ways of shortening the video or compressing it before uploading.

[bunnydrops]

smilingturtle

Does this place have a name? Also interested in seeing the video

[DumbFalang]

Just wanted to add to the thread that there is an avocado research center in Issan near Korat specialized in grafting specimens.

There is very little information available on this place, so I got the missus to look into it. It's actually a research centre for Kasetsart university students and they do Avo's, Mango's, Tamarind and Bananas.

If you want to order pre-grafted Avocado trees for next year, they start taking orders in May this year. They do not post anything out and everything has to be collected from the research centre. Problem is, in typical Thai style, nobody ever answers the phone. I guess if you really want to order from them, you'd have to physically turn up at the place and do it face to face.

It's all too messy for me. I have 40+ root stock that I need to find grafts for pretty soon. The missus has just found another place up north that sells cuttings and I might just pop along there around June/July.

My son just quit his job for a new life in the country and we head off tomorrow to his 10 rai in Isaan. We are exploring lot's of business opportunities and I think offering pre-grafted Avocado trees might be an interesting little venture.

PM me if any of you guys are interested in root stock, cuttings or pre-grafted trees ;-)

P.S. - still had no time to upload the lime grafting video. 5 grafts worked and 5 didn't, but I think that might have been down to the tree being stuck in the car with us for a few days after the grafts were first done. Who knows?

[soidog2]

The Kasetsart Research Center at Pak Chong is a very nice place to visit; a must for anyone looking to grow avocado in Thailand.

They have a large avocado grove with many mature trees; about 60 different species.

It is the only place in the north east that has scientific information about avocado and staff to graft seedlings with scions from their grove.

Yes, you need to order at least a year in advance and pick up your trees when ready; if you have rootstock. they will graft it for you.

Below, two week old grafts from my garden; notice the young buds popping through.

Enjoy

[DumbFalang]

Awesome pics - Thanks. By the way - where do you get hold of your microfilm?

[soidog2]

2" wide parafilm, you'll need to google in Thai. Mine is from the U.S.

Critical for grafting success