I started this tree as a little experiment when I was 4 years old. Now, over 20 years later, it’s finally giving me avocados! Might be too late for summer avocado toast, but I’m not complaining!
20+ years for fruit? Now that’s patience 
Nico said:
20+ years for fruit? Now that’s patience
Yeah, trees are kinda like people… they take their time growing up, right? 
Nico said:
20+ years for fruit? Now that’s patience
Some avocados grow way faster. My friend’s seedling started blooming in year 4 and had fruit by year 5! A big crop by year 7.
Nico said:
20+ years for fruit? Now that’s patience
Some avocados grow way faster. My friend’s seedling started blooming in year 4 and had fruit by year 5! A big crop by year 7.
It really depends on the type. Where I live, a lot of avocado trees are grafted to help them pollinate themselves and bear fruit sooner—usually within 4-5 years.
@Mai
True, but I’m talking about seedling trees, not grafted ones. Pure seed-grown avocados can take longer, but some mature as fast as 4 years. Might be that Mexican varieties are faster, since they’re from cooler regions. Up here in Northern California, avocados that survive our winters are usually Mexican or Mexican hybrids. Most folks go for grafted ones since they want fruit sooner, but a few of us grow seedlings for rootstock or to try new varieties in our colder area. You’d be surprised, we even have commercial avocado orchards this far north!
@Briar
Avocados have been domesticated for ages, so seed-grown trees can still produce decent fruit. Lots of feral trees near me bear good avocados. Buying grafted trees is more about guaranteeing fruit quality quickly. Some seed-grown trees start producing in 4-5 years and almost never revert to a ‘wild’ type. Avocados aren’t like apples that way.
Nico said:
20+ years for fruit? Now that’s patience
A lot of avocado trees struggle to self-pollinate. I wonder if OP just left the flowers alone, and maybe natural pollinators finally helped out.
How does it taste? I heard avocados grown from seeds can be hit or miss with flavor.
Vann said:
How does it taste? I heard avocados grown from seeds can be hit or miss with flavor.
Exactly. This is why grafting and cloning are so popular. It takes years for a seedling to mature, and then it might not bear fruit, or the avocados might taste nothing like the parent. Seedlings are a genetic mix, so there’s always that gamble.
Vann said:
How does it taste? I heard avocados grown from seeds can be hit or miss with flavor.
Could it taste totally different, like inedible, or just be a little off? So curious!
Vann said:
How does it taste? I heard avocados grown from seeds can be hit or miss with flavor.
I think it’s a genetic thing with most fruit trees, right?
Not all trees. Citrus, for example, often reproduce exactly like the parent tree due to something called nucellar reproduction. It’s why citrus seedlings usually match the parent. Some seeds even produce multiple clones of the original tree.
Vann said:
How does it taste? I heard avocados grown from seeds can be hit or miss with flavor.
I think it’s a genetic thing with most fruit trees, right?
Mostly true for cultivated fruit trees due to hybridization, but wild varieties, like crab apples, tend to grow more like the parent.
Vann said:
How does it taste? I heard avocados grown from seeds can be hit or miss with flavor.
Wait, really? I thought they’d taste the same. Genuinely curious now.
Vann said:
How does it taste? I heard avocados grown from seeds can be hit or miss with flavor.
Wait, really? I thought they’d taste the same. Genuinely curious now.
Seeds are a genetic mix of both parents, not clones. Avocados are especially random this way.
Dexter said:
@Gray
I think cloning only works if you take a cutting and get roots to grow. Aravipa Avocado is one example.
Yep, all commercial avocados are cloned.
Dexter said:
@Gray
I think cloning only works if you take a cutting and get roots to grow. Aravipa Avocado is one example.
Yep, all commercial avocados are cloned.
Every Hass avocado is a clone of one original tree. Same goes for most of the bananas we eat. But this lack of diversity means a disease could wipe out the whole crop.
@Nuri
Pretty much all fruit and nut crops sold commercially are clones. Papaya might be an exception, but apples, oranges, peaches, etc., are all cloned.
@Gray
Whoa, really? Is it like this for all seeds? I took horticulture once, but I didn’t remember this 