Mexican avocado on your window: how to care for an exotic
Recently, among flower growers, lovers of exotic plants are increasingly common. Thanks to them, some cultures that live in the wild have safely migrated to our homes and feel quite good there. Take, for example, avocado - an evergreen tall tree with original green fruits native to distant Mexico. Its large bright green leaves were so popular with indoor plant lovers that the exotic Mexican began to be used for decorative purposes for landscaping premises.
In nature, the avocado grows up to 30 m in height, in a closed room it grows in the form of a small tree (no more than 2.5 m), and besides, it does not bear fruit.
Growing an avocado isn't very difficult. If you create conditions for him as close as possible to natural ones, and take proper care of him, you can get a completely beautiful and compact plant.
Caring for an avocado at home consists of a set of activities, namely:
- choosing a suitable place for a bush (with the necessary lighting and air temperature);
- competent watering and feeding;
- formative pruning;
- regular transplant.
Where is the best place to grow avocados?
Before determining a flowerpot with a young bush for permanent residence, it is worth considering that avocado does not tolerate direct sunlight - burns appear on the leaves from them. But otherwise it is quite unpretentious and grows well even in partial shade, although it prefers good, but diffused lighting.
You can put the flowerpot on the northern windowsill: the sun will be enough for the avocado in the summer, and in the autumn-winter period, simply install additional lighting.
As for the temperature and humidity of the air, the evergreen bush needs warmth, but it can also winter in an unheated room with a temperature of at least 5 degrees Celsius, however, in this case, it turns into a deciduous plant and sheds its leaves.
Read also the article: how to grow an avocado at home?
How to water and feed?
In the summertime, water the avocado frequently and also regularly spray it. In winter, the frequency of watering depends on the wintering conditions: the lower the temperature, the less often the bush is watered.
Avocado itself grows quickly, so it does not need frequent feeding, but it should be borne in mind that a tree has a limited amount of soil in a pot and nutrients are quickly exhausted there. To replenish them from spring to the end of summer, it is necessary to make complex mineral preparations (but not more than 2 times a month).
How to prune and when to replant?
Indoors, avocados are often stretched, so formative pruning is an important step in caring for it. To do this, in the spring, you need to pinch or cut off the shoots after 8 leaves to stimulate branching. Repeat the procedure all summer long on each young branch.
Also, avocados need frequent transplants, as they grow very quickly. Young bushes are transplanted annually in spring, transferring them to a larger pot.Large specimens, if possible, are reloaded every three years or simply replace the topsoil with a fresh one. Read also the article: Avocado - benefits and harms to the body!