Avocadocumentary--Part 6: Identity Crisis

[ru]

I think Avobaby is having some inner emotional turmoil, or perhaps it's simply longing for warmer days. Either way, I think Avobaby has decided it wants to be a palm tree.



Yep, definitely trying to be a palm tree. Look at the way those leaves are hanging. Next thing you know it'll get coconut implants. Hopefully this is just a phase.

And now, the close up.

Those leaves are getting frickin' huge. The one in the front there? It's just about 7 inches long now. I don't know if Avobaby's trying to prove something or what, but I'm really starting to wonder how long they're going to get. It's also interesting to note that they seem to have taken on a wavy shape. I'm not quite sure if that's natural or not. Maybe it's getting cold, or something.

Also, I find it interesting that the leaves aren't particularly leathery or tough. As I recall, avocado leaves are somewhat thick, although that may depend on the species/variety. It may also depend on the age of the plant. So we'll have to wait and see.

Also also, supposedly it's supposed to get up to 75 this weekend (seriously, winter, WTF?), so I think now will be a good time to try transplanting Avobaby into something a bit roomier. We'll see how that goes.



In related news, the fact that it's been so warm lately has my mother a bit distraught. See, one weekend a couple of weeks before Christmas, she gets the urge to cover everything in chocolate. It's at this point that the annual Great Bake-Off occurs, where (with me generally in tow) she makes trays and trays of sweet things, from truffles (of various flavors) to haystacks to cookies to chocolate nutty bars to anything else she can think of. The majority of these things are given to coworkers, friends, neighbors, etc as gifts, while some are used as dessert-type things on Christmas Eve/Day.

The problem, however, is that the amount of things made is so immense that it makes fitting all the things that need chilling into the fridge a near-impossible challenge. So, normally, she utilizes the cold weather to turn the garage into an auxillary fridge. However, with 75-degree temperature, the garage isn't exactly frosty. This is going to pose a problem. Methinks a massive fridge clean-out effort is on the horizon.

Comments

[liich.livejournal.com]

yeah, it's been "warm" here, too....being somewhere between 5-10 degrees celcius. normally it's negative that. it feels like spring and my baby grass is growing!
as for YOUR baby, it's beautiful. i'm not too sure what colour avocado leaves are, but thsoe ones look like they're still young and still very much growing. :D The ripple effect makes me think that, too...but I could be wrong. Often the first leaves are much MUCH larger than mature leaves. Peaches, for example, i've seen young leaves get up to 11-12 inches long, easily. but the mature leaves are usually only 5-7 inches at the longest (much shorter as you go further into the tree). avobaby is beautiful. i think i'll try and grow on in the spring/summer when it will actually be WARM here. :D

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

Huh. I didn't realize that there are instances where the baby leaves are bigger than the mature leaves, although I suppose it makes sense when you think about it--a seedling probably needs a lot of sun, and doesn't exactly have a ton of leaves to get it from. And I think you may be right about the color issue--my split-leaf philodendron's new leaves have a tendency to be light green when they first emerge, but get darker and thicker as they mature. Maybe the same thing is happening here.

And I definitely think you should grow one too! <3 They're fun to watch once they actually, you know, start growing. Avobaby could have a penpal! <3 <3 <3 <3

some info

[liich.livejournal.com]

i know you've researched it, but here are a few more links. the first one seems quite good.

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/avocado.html

http://www.crfg.org/tidbits/AvocadoFromSeed.html

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2002114535011263.html

[grant-p.livejournal.com]

Interesting...what sort of light source are you using? Is Avobaby getting enough?

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

Avobaby gets natural light. It sits on the windowsill over our sink normally, which is one of the sunniest parts of the house, I think--it gets pretty much all of the afternoon sun. I'm not sure what I'm going to do once Avobaby outgrows the sill, as it's one of the only places to put a plant on that side of the house.

[grant-p.livejournal.com]

I was just wondering as I sometimes see plants get thin and long due to lack fo light, yet his stem seems ok...

Maybe try a supplement grow-light and see what happens? I'm just guessing on this, to be honest, so take my uninformed opinion with a bag FULL of salt. Not in the soil though...

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

*nods* I've heard of that too. One of the sites I visited while looking up how to grow them said something about they can be prone to getting spindly. Although maybe Avobaby has grown out of that, now that it's putting so much energy into leaves. I was thinking about trying a grow light earlier today--maybe that could be something to do once it grows out of the windowsill.