The avocado comes from tropical areas of Mexico and Central America. The exotic plant is popular as a house and container plant. If you want to enjoy their beauty and want to drive vigorous growth, you should cut the avocado plant.
In a nutshell
- regular pruning encourages branching
- increases stability
- keeps plant healthy
- Spring is the best time
- Pruning can save weakened plants
Table of contents
- Cut avocado
- The cutting time
- Check prerequisites
- Tool
- Cut back for better branching
- frequently asked Questions
Cut avocado
avocado plants (Persea americana) that do not receive pruning usually grow minimally. You look limp and unattractive.
The success of a cut can usually be seen very quickly.
- Height growth is limited. This is especially important for indoor plants. After all, avocado trees can grow many meters tall.
- The shoots become stronger, branch out more and form shiny leaves.
- The resistance to diseases is increased.
Regular pruning is a prerequisite for beautiful, bushy plants.
The cutting time
The best time to prune the avocado tree is between March and April. In the
winter the plant does not sprout at all. Budding is still severely restricted until April. After the cut, the plant can then sprout with full force.A notice: If your avocado blooms in the spring, enjoy the beautiful bloom and postpone pruning until after. Otherwise you would endanger the fruiting.
Check prerequisites
Not every avocado plant benefits from pruning. Check your plant beforehand to see if a cut is suitable for you.
Requirements:
- Plant is well rooted
- at least three months old
- Main shoot higher than 30 centimeters
- Shoots contain at least four leaves
Tip: It is best to combine the cut with the repotting.
Tool
Only use clean, sharp scissors. Blunt cutting tools lead to bruises and injuries. This impairs the healing process. Only straight, smooth cut surfaces can heal well.
Directions:
- Cut the main shoot straight off above the fourth leaf from the bottom.
- Shorten side shoots to four leaves.
- Spray the plant with water.
- Fertilize regularly until the end of September.
A notice: The deeper Sie the cut set, the more the formation of side shoots is stimulated.
Cut back for better branching
There are times when avocado trees, even in perfect conditions, have little branching. Then it is worth activating inactive shoots:
- Check if you can see inactive shoots on your avocado plant. Inactive shoots are located above the leaf bases. Find the spots where at least two inactive shoots can be seen.
- Use sharp scissors to cut just above these shoot tips.
- Spray the plant with room temperature water.
- Fertilize regularly after cutting.
- Repeat this action over and over again. With a bit of luck, your avocado will develop into a bushy little tree.
frequently asked Questions
In Central Europe, the winter months are too cold for the tree, which originates from the tropical rain forests. Year-round outdoor cultivation is therefore not possible. The plants develop well in the bucket if they are given a protected winter quarters.
In rare cases, avocado trees develop splendidly even without pruning. They branch out and form strong leaves. Then the cut is not absolutely necessary. In our latitudes, however, this is the exception.
If an avocado tree has hardly any leaves and only appears as a stalk, a radical pruning can be worthwhile. Shorten the plant to 15 to 20 centimeters. This stimulates a new shoot.
These are wild shoots that arise below the grafting point. Cut them off close to the ground with a sharp knife. Wild shoots grow quickly and weaken the growth of the avocado plant.
