Indoor avocado tree pruning and grafting

Question

Hello,
I have an avocado tree from about 1 year and it wasn’t pruned yet, therefore it has about 1.2 m in height and only one main branch. Is it possible to cut it in half(or 2/3) and then graft the cut half back to the main branch? Will both branches merge and grow together or will the cut half die?
I have the same problem with other avocado trees that were pruned but they only develop in height and they do not branch unfortunately. I would like to apply the same procedure to them as well.
I may say that the in my region the winter is pretty hard with -10 deg Celsius and also I am not sure when to apply the pruning/grafting.
Thank you!

Answer 1

Avocados are a bit tricky in this regard. Personally, I like to trim mine continuously throughout its young life. I find that Once it reaches about 2-3 feet (roughly 1m.) tall to cut just the tip off. You can force them to remain in a pot for its entire life, but this is also very tricky. I currently have two (a male and a female) for breeding, as they are dioecious, meaning that the male and female flowers grow on separate trees. I find that when it tries to remain a single stemmed tree, it is best keep cutting the single tip until the other branches have forced themselves. This is called destroying apical dominance. Please DO NOT cut and then regraft, as this is more trouble than it is worth. I have found that they will often regrow with no trouble if you cut it almost all the way back to the ground, although I do not recommend this. You want it to start branching at about meter tall. Watch the soil pH!!! I recommend putting a handful of dolimitic lime (agricultural lime) per Gallon (4 liters) of soil. You can find this at co-op, or just about any place that deals with agriculture. This will save you the trouble of battling soil pH, while supplementing calcium and magnesium. (Stay away from hydrated lime) If there are any other questions you may have, please don’t hesitate to ask me! I will be attempting to aquire a position at this company, even though I do not yet have my degree. Plants are my passion, and I would appreciate any good word you can put in for me here, and I will make sure to answer any questions you may have in the future. Thanks You!!!