If you have ever thought about planting an avocado tree, you may have pondered how long it will take to produce fruit and at what frequency it will yield.
You might also want to know what the signs are that the avocado tree is ready to bear fruit and what might be the reasons behind no fruit on avocado trees.
When does an avocado tree produce fruit? If you have planted a young grafted avocado tree, you can expect it to produce fruits 3-4 years after planting. However, an avocado tree grown from a seed can take anywhere between 5 and 13 years. Ensuring proper lighting, fertilizing on schedule, and maintaining consistent moisture can help.
In this article, we will clarify everything that you need to know when it comes to planting and growing an avocado tree. You will also learn how to prevent fruit drops or no fruiting, the best ways to encourage avocados to bear fruit, and much more. Let’s dive into the details!
Avocado Fruiting Times – When, How Often, Signs, Etc.
In this section, we will cover everything you need to know when it comes to planting an avocado tree — when it fruits, how many times per year, what are the signs that the tree is about to bear fruit, and more.
When Do Grafted Avocado Bear Fruit?
Unlike trees grown from seed, the grafted avocado tree usually starts producing fruit in a couple of years.
When Do Avocado Trees Grown From Pit Bear Fruit?
An avocado tree grown from the pit will take between five and 13 years to bear fruit. It is completely normal for an avocado tree to blossom but not fruit, which makes it fun to watch avocado grow.
Another thing you should keep in mind if you live in a colder climate is that mature avocado trees can reach up to 35 feet tall. It might become too exhausting for you to move it inside and out depending on the season.
When Will Indoor-Grown Avocados Produce Fruit?
It can take up to 10 years for indoor-grown avocados to produce fruit. However, you need to ensure that it gets enough sunlight, approximately six hours daily.
Unlike outdoor avocado trees, which will succeed only in sunny areas such as Central America, an indoor avocado tree can easily weather winter months anywhere as long as you have a warm spot in your house.
You should also consider buying “dwarf” avocado if you want to grow it indoors.
What Time of Year Does Avocado Fruit Ripen?
Avocado fruit will usually ripen by September. You should harvest one or two of the largest fruits and keep them inside for about seven days. If they ripen correctly and become soft, the tree is ready for harvesting.
How Often Do Avocado Trees Fruit Each Year?
Fruiting depends on the type of tree, some external factors, and the care provided to the tree.
It might also happen that the tree produces a lot of fruits one year and much less the next year. This is known as biennial fruiting.
Signs an Avocado Tree Is Ready To Bear Fruit
There are a couple of telltale signs that an avocado tree is ready to bear fruit. If it is ready, you will notice small greenish-yellow blossoms on the branches in the period between January and March.
You will also notice that the flowers open and close over the period of two days.
Note that fresh avocados don’t ripen on the tree. Instead, they ripen and become softer after they have been harvested.
Reasons Behind No Fruit on Avocado Trees
There are a couple of reasons your avocado tree bears no fruit. Let’s check them out!
Age of the Tree
If your tree is healthy and thriving but not producing fruit, it might be too young. Unlike other trees that start producing fruit as soon as they reach a certain height, avocado trees can take between five and 13 years to fruit.
Pollination Failure
The avocado is a self-fruitful tree, which means it doesn’t require pollen from another tree; it contains both male and female components.
However, if the temperature is below 60℉ or bees and wasps aren’t active when the tree sets flowers, it might produce no fruit or only a very small amount.
There are two types of avocado trees. Type A has flowers that function as female in the morning and male in the afternoon, while type B is completely opposite. Planting a tree of the opposite type nearby can significantly increase fruiting chances for both trees.
Nutrition Deficiency
An avocado tree needs a whole variety of nutrients to bear fruit. The most important are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, but it also needs magnesium, copper, zinc, and a few others.
What you should do is have the soil tested. In most cases, you won’t need to add huge amounts of missing nutrients.
If your tree sets flowers but doesn’t bear fruit, it might need a boost of boron. It is available as a spray that you can apply directly to your avocado tree’s leaves and blooms.
If you need to buy fertilizer, look for one that uses between 9 and 15 percent potash as a source of potassium. Also, if the pH level of your soil is high, you might need to add a bit of iron to encourage the fruiting process.
Irrigation
Avocado trees are very strict when it comes to water. If the tree is young, it will need around 2 gallons of water every three or four days. Mature trees, on the other hand, need around 2 inches of water per week, which can be quite a lot depending on the tree size.
To avoid adding too much water, make sure that the soil is dry before watering the tree.
Temperature Extremes
Avocados are very sensitive when it comes to temperature. Some varieties will show damage after just a couple of hours at 30℉, which will be noticeable on leaves and flowers. Eventually, branches will become dark and drenched and will start to die.
Before the temperature drops, create a canopy for the tree using a blanket or a plastic sheet. Then, add a heat source, which can be anything between small decorative lights and an electric heater.
3 Ways To Encourage Avocado Trees To Bear Fruit
1. The Importance of Light
To encourage your avocado tree to bear fruit or bear more fruit, you should consider the importance of sunlight.
Partial sun can also be tolerated, but it is optimal that your avocado tree receives between 6 and 8 hours of sun every day. Ideally, you should place it by a large sunny window.
2. Water Schedule
You should always keep your avocado tree hydrated and allow the soil to dry before watering. That way, you will prevent overwatering the plant.
Another thing you should consider is humidity. Especially during the winter months when the heat is on, you should mist the plant every day.
As an alternative, you can buy a humidifier (this model is ideal as it runs silently and has a rotating nozzle for precise misting) and place it near the tree.
3. Balanced Nutrition
Finally, a great way to keep your avocado tree healthy is to use fertilizer. After the first full growing season, you should feed your tree with a properly balanced fertilizer four times a year.
What Is Avocado Fruit Drop & How To Prevent It
Sometimes, an avocado tree will start dropping fruits when they are still very small. Although this is typical, there are a few ways to prevent it.
To minimize fruit drop, make sure not to under or overwater it. Also, the retention of the fruit is slightly better when there are other avocado varieties nearby since they provide cross-pollination.
Another thing that can influence fruit drop is over-fertilizing the tree with nitrogen. Especially in the early fruit stages, too much nitrogen can have a significant effect on fruit drops.
Fast-growing Avocado Tree Varieties
- Hass Avocado – Bears fruit in 3-5 years, ripens April through September, and grows up to 35 feet.
- Gwen Avocado – Bears fruit in 3-4 years, ripens May through September, and grows up to 15 feet.
- Wurtz Avocado – Bears fruit in 4-6 years, ripens April through September, but is prone to insect attack.
Related Questions:
How Many Avocado Fruits Can One Tree Produce Yearly?
A mature avocado tree will usually produce between 200 and 300 fruits per year. However, since the avocado tree alternates bearing, it may produce more fruits one year and much less another.
How Should You Store Harvested Avocados?
Don’t put your avocados in the refrigerator, especially not right after you harvest them. It will prevent them from ripening completely. It’s ideal to store them in a dark, cool place with an optimal temperature of 70℉.
Conclusion
As you can see, an avocado tree can take a lot of time to start bearing fruits. However, with enough patience and proper care, your tree will eventually start to give you between 200 and 300 fruits per year. We hope all of this information was helpful to you!