Last edited on November 29, 2025. View history

Avocado

Persea americana

How to sow avocado: Grafted sapling

Sun requirement for avocado: Plant in Full Sun

The avocado is a tree native to South Central America that produces large edible berries with rippled green to black skin that are egg or pear-shaped. There are three main groups of avocado: Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian, with Mexican avocados being the most cold-tolerant. Avocados are a subtropical species and need a frost-free climate with little wind. They will not produce fruit outside of tropical climates, but they can be grown as evergreen ornamentals. Avocados grown from seed rarely produce fruit because they are only partially self-pollinating. For a fruiting tree, plant a grafted sapling in a subtropical climate.

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Avocado facts

Lifespan

Perennial living more than two years

Height

2000cm

Row Spacing

600cm
Optimal temperature 14–40 °C
Absolute temperature 10–45 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 500–2000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 300–2500 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5–5.8
Absolute soil pH 4.5–7
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

0–0 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

2800 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright
FAO EcoCrop

How members grow avocados

Sunniness

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Planted from

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Plant avocados with

borage borage

Photos

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Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Persea americana Mill.

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Magnoliidae
Magnoliales
Lauraceae
Killing temperature growth: -1 °C, rest: -4 °C
Life form tree
Life span perennial
Habit erect
Optimal soil depth deep (>>150 cm)
Optimal soil texture medium
Optimal soil fertility moderate
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

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