I got interested in raising and grafting my own avocados a while back. I live in Nashville,TN and am looking for advice as to where to purchase good rootstock for this purpose. I’ve even gotten a little more specific. There is this Dusa rootstock that has been used for a long time in California. I would like to try that one. Anyone know of any sources where I won’t have to buy large quantity?
I have not found any retail nurseries selling any clonal rootstocks, period. I tried to get Brokaw in SoCal to sell me some and they said they will never sell just rootstock, only custom graft orders, and they require that you order hundreds, and pick up in person, and it will take 3+ years from when you order.
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Just identify the general type you want and sprout some from the store or order fruits from Florida.
The OP was specifically referring to clonal rootstocks, not seedlings. There are retail nursery sources for seedling rootstocks (e.g., Fruitwood Nursery) that are better than Hass seedlings or anything you’ll likely get from FL.
I have also successfully started a couple hundred seedlings of hardier varieties, but those seeds are generally harder to find commercially.
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Any updates on this? I have the same question… I’m looking for a source of Dusa or Duke-7 scion wood.
Fruitwood does offer Duke7 scionwood, if you add yourself to the “notify me” list then it’ll probably be available in November/December sometime:
If you’re wanting to use it to create your own clonal rootstocks, that’s a bit of a challenging process. There’s a reason that no one’s really competing with Brokaw in making clonal avocado rootstocks, it’s not easy to do. You cannot simply stick the scionwood in rooting hormone, the process involves a nurse root, a period of etiolation, and I believe girdling the nurse root before removal.
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Very interesting, Winn. I have two grafted (haas and cold Hardy) cultivars in containers that I bought from Fast Growing Trees in South Carolina. I also have two Haas plants that are grown from seed to which I am willing to graft scions if you think that is possible. Please let me know your thoughts about this idea. They are about 1 1/2 years old and are growing well enough that I am thinking of potting up to a larger container. They’re in 5 gallon size containers right now.
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What is your long-term plan for the avocado trees? They tend to do poorly in containers long-term, and typically need to be in pretty impossibly large containers before they will fruit.
If they are destined for planting in the ground in a heated greenhouse, then it won’t matter much what rootstock you use unless your soil is particularly bad (poor drainage or high salt content, e.g.), and Hass seedlings should be fine as rootstocks.
Your ones from Fast Growing Trees are almost certainly grafted on Lula seedlings, which aren’t cold hardy but tend to have decent tolerance for alkaline or slightly saline soils. One of my greenhouse trees was from them. Though it was mislabeled, it was supposed to be Brazos Belle, but did not have an anise scent and was not cold hardy at all. But I grafted it over with a few other actually hardy varieties and it’s been fine as a greenhouse rootstock.
I have a basic understanding of the process; I’ll start a separate thread… I don’t want to hijack this one
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Winn, what you’re saying I have heard before. I accept the idea that I am probably a doggie chasing his tail; but these are very handsome small trees. I think I will keep them for the time being although I know they cannot exist in the ground this far north (Nashville). Do you feel the same way about Glen mango? Can they fruit in containers?
Charlie
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They would be happy in the ground for most of the year. Maybe you have a greenhouse construction project waiting for you in the future. Planting them in the ground in a greenhouse should work well for you. Especially one where you can remove the glazing in summer to help control temperatures better.
I just did an avocado graft a few moments ago, this is “Miranda Emerald Giant” (newly named by the owner, who gave permission to have us collect scionwood for the project I’m organizing) on a “Del Rio” seedling (seed was from Craig Hepworth, so definitely legit):
Those are my in-ground greenhouse avocado trees in the background.
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That looks fantastic, Winn. How much does it cost to build a fair sized greenhouse?
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I don’t know what the range of possible prices are, but I went with twin wall polycarbonate for mine, which was more expensive than some options, and I kind of regret that because my contractor didn’t seal them properly so the panels have all filled with algae already. Here was the thread for my greenhouse:
I think for avocados in zone 7+, a simple hoop house with plastic sheeting would be plenty of protection if you can use emergency space heaters during bad freezes. In zone 6 you may want to at least use double later plastic sheeting with air blown in between to improve the insulation.