Pruning my fourth avocado plant

The last time I pruned my 4th avocado plant is 14 March 2015. It has a new branch growing from the cut area. It is not branching out horizontally but instead it grows upwards. It has grown 6 leaves already and I think it is time for its 2nd pruning.

4th Avocado Plant

I'm not sure what will happen after I nip off the top two leaves and leave the remaining 4 leaves on the branch. I hope there will be new buds growing out from the other areas. I'm thinking of achieving a bonsai effect with regular pruning. I'm not sure how this will affect its growth and maybe its ability to bear fruits after 7 years. I have the patience to wait that long just to prove whether my avocado plants will bear fruits.

Thick branch from cut area

A thick branch growing from the cut area. It is thicker than the main stem. I hope the main stem can support the new branches' weights.

Pruned on 7 Apr 2015 - 2nd pruning

Pruned the top leaves, leaving 4 leaves on the branch. This is the second pruning for this 4th avocado plant. This plant does not have any browning of leaves and I think the browning of leaves is caused by either lack of water or accumulation of salts. Draining of the soil will be done once a month to remove excessive salts and watering is done every two to three days.

Time to prune my third avocado plant

I had pruned the 3rd avocado plant two months ago. The pruned area has grown 5 leaves and now new leaves are emerging. I think I will prune away the top leaves and monitor its progress.

New leaves appearing - time for pruning

Prune it today, 13 Mar 2015

I had also pruned my fourth avocado plant on 14 Mar. I had also done draining to the plants. I kept a bottle of overnight tap water to remove the chlorine and watered the plants until water drained out from the bottom. This will help to dissolve the salts in the soil.

Pruning avocado seedling to keep it dwarf

I planted the avocado seedling on 1 January 2015. After 10 days, I think it is time to prune the seedling. The third avocado seedling had seven leaves and I thought I would leave only 3 leaves after pruning. However, I did not want to over-prune it so I just cut away the top 2 leaves.

Third seedling

I used a sharp penknife and cut at an angle to remove the top two leaves. In the internet, some people recommended not to use a pair of scissors because the cut would not be clean. Most recommended a razor blade or sharp knife. The cut area will be able to heal faster and less likely to get an infection.

Sharp penknife to cut the stem at an angle

The cut area is clean and there is no juice or sap coming out from the cut area. I did not clean the area. I hope this is the correct way and will monitor the health of the seedling for the next few weeks. If everything goes well, new buds will appear at the base of the leaves and new branches will grow from there. Some people recommended to remove the small leaves along the straight stem. I'm not sure about this so I just keep them.

The cut area of the seedling

I will update this in SG My Garden Is Good blog. Come and visit the blog to see the progress of the seedling. I will also show the pruning photos of the second avocado seedling.