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Posted By: tacogirl Gardening - 07/21/06 03:44 PM
I am looking to find out where to get planting soil and also some cheap pots.

Trying my hand at some gardening. Got an avocado seed trying to sprout lol.
Posted By: Amanda Syme Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 04:03 PM
no such thing as cheap pots. The cheapest I have managed to find were $5bz. And they are the crummy flexible black ones. When I am growing seedlings I get the black bags and/or buy a pack of plastic drinking cups. Shouldn't be too tough to get the advacado to sprout - but it will be 7 years to get that tree to fruit. I haven't seen a fruiting advacado tree here on the island. Try a breadfruit plant instead. Or caye limes are great too. Again, years to fruit but at least they'll survive here.

Good luck - enjoy
Posted By: DANZA Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 04:10 PM
tacogirl I've only seen a couple of seedling avo's actually produce. Usually they have to be grafted to a producer. I'm not sure how big they have to be to graft but probably at least 3-4 years (just guessing). Good Luck Do you know what kind it is?
Posted By: JZB Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 04:23 PM
You can get black dirt at Riverwalk (a little further south than Pedros) although the stuff is like black clay. I would splurge and get a small bag of Miracle Grow from Castillos Hardware since you are only doing one pot. You can also get some fairly inexpensive pots from all the little Guatemalan stores around town. They usually display their plastic pots outside their store and you can fanagle a good price. Not the best quality, but they work.
I've had an Avocado tree for a couple years now, its about 4 feet high but only has about 6 leaves on it. This happens to all the Avocados I've ever sprouted. How the heck to I make it bushy?
Posted By: tacogirl Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 04:33 PM
Danza not sure what kind it is. I just want the plant lol not necessarily looking for the fruit.

Thanks Jzb.

I was looking up growing avocado seeds and this is what inspred me to try a few things (see below) I thought a few house plants would be nice so why not put my seeds to use lol.

There are many websites and books with instructions for growing an avocado seed
in water. I've listed some in the references.

If you want some unusual plants, there are many so-called "supermarket plants" that can be grown from seed including grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, date palm, papaya, starfruit, mango, guava, kiwi, pomegranate, and passionfruit.

These are tropical fruits which have no seed dormancy to overcome as in temperate fruits such as apples, pears and peaches. It is best to grow most of the smaller seeds in potting soil rather than water.

It is also easy to root a pineapple top in water and grow a fragrant ginger plant from a ginger root in potting soil, although it actually is a ginger rhizome or underground stem.

You can sprout a whole carrot root in aerated water and get a Queen Anne's lace flower. Use toothpicks to suspend the carrot root in a two liter soda bottle with the top opening enlarged, and use an aquarium air pump and tubing to
gently bubble air in the water to provide oxygen. Cover the outside of the container with aluminum foil to exclude light so algae do not grow.

Other interesting plants that can be grown from seed indoors are cotton, coffee, and peanut. The chia seed from the Chia Pet can be grown into a very tall plant if grown in potting soil.

Whatever you do, grow several seeds to protect against losses.
Posted By: JZB Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 04:41 PM
I've done the pineapple. I was amazed the pineapple top had roots in 3 days! I used a deformed pineapple (had about 8 tops on it) so I don't know If I'll ever see fruit or I'll see a lot of fruit.
Posted By: DANZA Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 04:59 PM
I intend to do some if and when I get down there. And Avo would be nice. The two trees I know of that were for sure seedlings were great producers. But they tend to grow really tall which commercially growers don't like. The nice thing is once you get a nice tree, you can graft and re-graft to what ever you like. In our area they cut down 20 year old trees and graft over to some newer more popular type all the time. I still like the old fuerte the best. Sounds like you know plenty about it.
Posted By: tacogirl Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 05:42 PM
Cool JZB so you rooted (in water??)top and just planted it when it got roots?

Danza I am not a total green thumb lol my best plants are bamboo stalks in water for obvious reasons ha ha. But I would like to make an effort and put some plans in our apt.

Speaking of which can you buy bamboo here or on mainland at all?
Posted By: JZB Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 06:13 PM
I just stuck the top in a plastic cup of water so the water just covered the part that used to be in the fruit. Then about two weeks later, I put it in soil. I pretty much have a 'black thumb' so if it works for me, it will work for anyone.

Try Riverwalk Nursery for Bamboo Plants. If they don't have it, they will try and get some for you. Be sure to talk to Immer. The young girls that are usually there aren't very helpful.
Posted By: dabunk Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 09:18 PM
Avacados only thrive and produce when their feet are very wet, lots of wet soil year round, almost muddy. I tried several until locals told me why I was having no success.
Posted By: DANZA Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 09:32 PM
I stopped anbd talked to the guy at a nursery before the ice cream place on the south side. If that's riverwalk he seems very knowlegable and very willing to help. He did say if he thinks it will grow there he will get it.
Posted By: tacogirl Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 10:16 PM
I will have to go check out riverwalk for sure.
Can I get better directions please (traveling on foot from town)

I did see some cute plastic pots at harmouche white with flower pattern on them, but they would need to have holes drilled in them. They were 3.95 each. Saw plastic opnes too in green and brown.

Going to have to buy a pineapple soon.

Thanks for all the great feedback. I feel like a school kid working on projects lol.
Posted By: JZB Re: Gardening - 07/21/06 10:21 PM
Head towards Pedro's Pizza place from town and keep going right past it. Riverwalk is about 2/3 of the way down the road on your left. You'll know it when you see it. If you've reached the ice cream/putt putt place, you've past it.
Posted By: tacogirl Re: Gardening - 07/22/06 01:44 PM
Thanks JZB

I know around where you mean. We must have passed it before as we have passed by put put place a few times on our walks.
Posted By: MALIBU Re: Gardening - 07/24/06 01:21 PM
Avocado trees MUST have a male and a female tree to produce. On the island I would gather you might need several very close together to do this. Are there bees there? Gotta have bees or something similar......like a Q-tip!
Posted By: pnowell Re: Gardening - 07/26/06 02:33 AM
I've heard Q-tips with cats, but...treees
Posted By: tacogirl Re: Gardening - 07/26/06 01:38 PM
I made it to riverwalk, they have some great selection.

When we move to our new digs I will get a few plants to lively up the apartment.

Looks like my avocado has a tiny root forming.

(me trying to grow it was more about seeing if I could, finding a way to get some inexpensive house plants, and another way to recycle and make a bit less garbage.)
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