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January 19th, 2006

Growing an avocado tree

I know the world would like me to supply them with profound yet humourous drawings about women bishops, civil partnerships etc etc etc but I am unfortunately unable to do so today.

The thing I can do though is direct you to advice on growing an avocado tree. Tim Samoff demonstrates that it can be done. I don’t know if it would work here though, what with the damp and everything. If any UK residents have been able to achieve this then please let us know.

Update: Sarah has proved it can be done in the UK:

We started ours in April 2004 like this, and a year later it looks like this.

It’s still going strong, having lasted two winters in a rather chilly conservatory. Thanks for reminding me to water it ;)

10 Comments »



This is a single Cartoon Blog entry, posted by Dave on Thursday, January 19th, 2006 at 11:19 am.

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10 Responses to “Growing an avocado tree”


  1. Sarah says:

    It is possible :)

    We started ours in April 2004 like this, and a year later it looks like this.

    It’s still going strong, having lasted two winters in a rather chilly conservatory. Thanks for reminding me to water it ;)

    January 19th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
  2. Dave says:

    Thank you Sarah – that’s great. I’ve added your links to the post.

    January 19th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
  3. Karin says:

    Very impressive! But what about growing olive trees outdoors? I got a small one for Christmas and it doesn’t seem too happy in the living room.

    January 19th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
  4. Liz H says:

    We had one on the dining table when I was growing up. The cats enjoyed chewing it, but it survived and grew quite tall (I think about 4 feet, but I may be exaggerating as I am a lot taller now than I was then).

    Eventually, it was deemed to be too big for the dining table and was banished to the back garden, outside the dining room window. I think it survived for a couple of years after that.

    January 19th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
  5. Neil says:

    So thats what that thing in the corner of the room is, it has distracted me many a poker game.

    Sadly it would be pointless for me to grow one, as Avacados are on the list of “20 things I will not consume”. Actually I have more than 20, but I decided not to count things like earth, chair and pritt stick.

    January 19th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
  6. timsamoff says:

    I’m glad Sarah chimed in. That’s great… I was going to mention that the climate in Kansas City, Missouri (aside from the occasional snow) is probably much like that in Great Britain — maybe not quite as wet, but close. Of course, I grew up in Southern California, where EVERYthing grows!

    January 19th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
  7. just another morning here » Blog Archive » Two asides says:

    [...] ol Two asides Had an amusing moment on the Cartoon Blog earlier, discussing avocado trees Neil’s comment made me laugh so much that [...]

    January 19th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
  8. Merry says:

    And we have one too – now 2 years old and big and cheerful
    http://www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/GARDEN/gardenscience.htm

    Tis a berry, you know….

    Ours was Sarah inspired as well. It nearly died last time i had a baby but not sure if that was birth related, or the fact that my dh and i both gave it “one last good water” before i went off to hospital….

    January 20th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
  9. cheryl says:

    we have one! well, our neighbours do, but some of the avocadoes hang, obligingly, over our side of the fence, so we get to eat them!

    but i live in melbourne, which is not quite as cold as london. in fact it’s 38 degrees today (which is quite warm even by australian standards).

    January 25th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
  10. timsamoff says:

    An update on the avo tree.

    July 3rd, 2006 at 5:25 pm