In their native tropical habitats, a single mature avocado tree can produce up to a million blossoms. While seeing your own avocado plant bloom in our cooler climate is definitely a rare treat, it’s not impossible if you know the tricks!
Care and Maintenance
To give your homegrown avocado the best shot at thriving, you need to mimic its tropical home: that means lots of bright light and plenty of warmth. If you grew your plant from a pit, patience is key—back home, these trees take 6 to 10 years to flower, but here in the States, you’re looking at at least a ten-year wait. However, if you bought a grafted tree from a nursery, you might see blooms in just 2 or 3 years. The secret to success? Keep the water consistent and make sure you’re sticking to a steady fertilizing schedule .
A Little Botany Lesson
Avocado flowers grow in large clusters called umbels. Even though a tree can produce a million flowers, only about one in every 5,000 actually turns into a fruit! These flowers are “perfect,” meaning they have both male and female parts, but they have a quirky way of opening. On the morning of the first day, the flower opens as a female; by noon, it closes back up.
Then, on the afternoon of the following day, that same flower opens again—but this time as a male. Because of this timing, you usually need at least two trees for successful pollination.
If you’re lucky enough to get blooms on your indoor or patio avocado, you’ll likely need to step in and help with some hand-pollination. Use a small paintbrush to collect the male pollen on the second day, then use it to pollinate the female flowers the following morning.
Pro Tip: If you’re dreaming of blossoms, don’t go overboard with the pruning shears. Let those branches grow out a bit, as the flowers need those longer shoots to develop.
