There’s not much better than a Saturday morning at the Wynnum foreshore enjoying a freshly roasted cup of coffee and breakfast with a stunning view. What’s for breakfast? Avocado on toast?

That might be a perfect Saturday morning for some, but what if you could do all that without leaving the comfort of your home? Have you ever thought about having an endless supply of avocado at your fingertips? Today, join the team at Capalaba Produce as we show you all the tips and tricks on growing your very own avocado trees at home.

First, it’s important to choose the right avocado for your situation. There are lots of different varieties of avocado, but only a handful that are suited to Brisbane’s subtropical climate, these are Hass, Wurtz, Reed, and a new variety that has just been released this year called Jala.

Hass – this is one of the most popular varieties in Brisbane, well known for its high quality, creamy fruit and for thriving in Brisbane weather.

Wurtz – this is a dwarf variety of avocado, perfect for smaller gardens or growing in pots. As blocks get smaller the Wurtz avocado is growing in popularity.

Reed – known for their large round fruit, Reed avocados are known to grow well in Brisbane and mature late in the season.

Jala – only launching in the market this year the Jala avocado was developed on the Sunshine Coast by Fleming’s Nurseries. Producing fruit, that averages 1kg in size (that’s 4x the size of supermarket avocados) and has had amazing feedback after the fruit was sampled at farmers markets across Brisbane.

When choosing your avocado, we recommend using a grafted tree rather than growing it from seed. This is because grafted avocado trees produce fruit sooner, often within 3-4 years while growing from seed can take over 10 years to produce fruit.

Lucky for us Brisbane has the perfect climate for growing avocados, they love a subtropical climate. However, they can be a bit fussy when it comes to soil, watering, and sunlight. It’s important to choose the right spot for your avocado trees to be planted.

Sunlight – avocados need plenty of sunlight to thrive, even in Brisbane. So, when you’re looking for a spot to put your avocado tree make sure that it is in a spot that will get 6 – 8 hours of sunlight a day. If your avocado tree is in shade, it may slow down the growth and reduce the amount of fruit that it produces.

Soil – avocado trees need well-draining and slightly acidic to neutral soil. Most of the soil in the Redlands is perfect for this, when do recommend mixing in organic matter like manure to help with drainage and improve the soil structure.

Wind – when they are young avocado trees can be prone to wind damage, because of this we recommend finding a place that is sheltered from strong winds.

Now is the perfect time to plant your avocado trees, when planting simply dig a hole twice the width of the roots. When filling the hole be sure not to compact the soil as it hinders the drainage. As always once you’ve planted your tree, we recommend giving it a thorough watering to help the roots get established.

Avocados need regular water, especially in the first few years to get established. It’s important not to overwater though as in our climate it can cause the roots to rot. We recommend giving your avocado tree a thorough watering once or twice a week, this allows the soil to slightly dry out between watering which helps avoid waterlogging.

Avocado trees are known to be hungry, to encourage healthy growth and fruit we recommend applying a fertiliser that is high in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in early-Spring and then again in mid-summer.

To help maintain moisture, keep the roots cool, and keep weeds under control we recommend adding 5 – 10cm of an organic mulch like straw or bark around your avocado, be sure to keep the mulch a few cm away from the trunk of the tree to avoid fungal problems in the warmer months.

Like most fruiting trees, pruning avocados encourages strong growth, it helps manage the tree size and improves the fruit growth. We recommend pruning just before the new growth starts, this is usually late winter or early spring. Focus on removing dead or crossing branches and allowing sunlight airflow throughout the canopy.

There are three main diseases and pests that affect avocado trees. Root rot, leaf spot, and fruit / leaf eating pests. These are our tips on how to prevent and treat them.

Root rot – you can avoid this by ensuring that your tree has good drainage and avoiding over watering.

Leaf spot – ensuring the canopy of your tree has plenty of air flow is the best way to avoid this. If your tree does get affected simply prune the affected leaves.

Fruit & leaf eating pests – if your tree is being eaten by insects bring in some leaves or a photo to Capalaba Produce and we’ll help you find the right insecticide to help protect your tree.

Depending on what variety of avocado tree you planted and the growing conditions you can expect fruit within 2 – 5 years. By following our tips you’ll have yourself an endless supply of delicious and creamy avocado at your fingertips. Once your fruit is full size, simply pick it and allow it to ripen inside.

Growing avocado takes time and patience, but the reward of an endless supply is well worth it as you enjoy the fruits of your labour. As always if you have any questions about growing your own food forest at home come in and ask the team at Capalaba Produce.

Happy Gardening!