For the past 2 years, I've been growing Avocado trees in Vancouver, CANADA. I began growing them in pots. But last Spring, I planted 3 trees outdoors in the ground--permanently.

[1st pic: one of my Avocado trees that I planted outdoors in Vancouver, British Columbia. Spring, 2020]

One tree died instantly in late October when it got down to -3°C (26°F). The other 2 trees survived until early February when it reached -7°C ( 18°F). Fortunately, I had piled wood chips HIGH (about 8 inches deep) around the bases of all 3 trees, and the lower trunks of all 3 trees were still green and ALIVE when I exposed them this week. One of them is already sprouting new buds to replace the dead top.

[ 2nd pic: 8 inches of Wood Chips help insulate the Avocado tree trunk, and the roots, if it gets too cold.]

The most exciting thing that happened recently was that a friend of mine in Burnaby (British Columbia, Canada) confessed to me that he has been growing TWO AVOCADO TREES in his back yard for 3 years--BY ACCIDENT--outdoors and without any protection at all from the weather! He and his father eat lots of Avocados. They toss their Avocado seeds into the compost in the backyard. Some of them sprout, and most of them die in the winter. But these two BABY AVOCADO TREES have survived the past 3 winters! And it has reached -8°C (18°F) on at least 2 or 3 occasions in the past 3 years.

So, my friend's accident has provided a viable STRATEGY for anybody who wants to grow their own Avocado tree--OUTDOORS--in Vancouver, BC. It consists of 4 "steps:"

1. It's really simple. Even a 10-year old child could succeed at this. And the cost is virtually nothing.

2. Just plant A LOT OF AVOCADO SEEDS. Many will sprout. Most will die in their first Winter. But 2% to 10% of them will be cold-hardy enough to survive the Vancouver, CANADA winter.

[3rd pic: You can easily grow 10-15 Avocado seedlings in small peat pots, set in a plastic container, and transplant them outdoors when the weather is appropriate.]

3. It's just a "numbers game." Each seed is genetically different from all other Avocado seeds. Some are wired to be more cold-tolerant than others. So, if you plant many seeds, you'll get a few that will naturally survive the cold weather that we have around here (There are a few rare Avocado trees that can survive a winter low of -10°C and still produce a crop of fruit the following Summer).

4. You're already eating enough Avocados each year to get your own Cold-hardy Avocado tree… Stop wasting your seeds — PLANT THEM!

DO IT TODAY.

[4th pic: Close-up of an Avocado seedling in a small "dollar-store" peat pot. Notice that the roots are already growing out of the bottom. This one is ready to stick into the ground, as-is!]

I have posted a step-by-step article on medium.com, that explains in more detail, how this can be done [Do a Google search of "grow cold hardy avocado in canada" to find and read the entire article. (This website won't allow me to post the link because I'm new here )]

I hope this helps inspire anyone else who wants to grow their own Avocado tree in West Coast Canada.

Impressive! I love how you experimented and found a system that works for you. By the way, , we look forward to follow ups on how they are doing.

Wow, I'm amazed, even here in Central FL they can be severely damaged to a hard freeze, mostly the dang squirrels eat the fruit before we can.

I've been growing some since last year and they've stayed indoors all this time with me worrying about the size they will get to. They probably sprouted some time last summer so this is their 1st birthday? I'm going to have them stay in pots for a year or two more until they are too big for my apartment and then I'll have to find them an outdoor spot.
My favorite one I'm keeping inside just incase

Hi all you Vancouverites! I'm a born and raised in W. Van person who now lives in Florida. Gotta tell you, my mother used to sprout avocado seeds all the time and grow them in the sunny corner window of our kitchen.

Don't want to discourage you, as I do understand how much fun it is to grow these. But even if you can keep them alive through the occasional freezes you get there, you very likely won't ever get fruit from any of them. From seed it takes often 10 years even here in Florida for an avocado to bear anything. If you want to grow your own for fruit, you buy a grafted plant of a good variety, then it only takes maybe 3 years for fruit. Plus, we have at least 3 times the length of growing season here plus very little if any cold weather, barring a few nights that go down into the 40's. Pollination is another problem as it's a sort of complex process and some types don't self-pollinate, they need another tree close by for pollen.

My advice would be to grow them as nice foliage plants, move them outdoors in the summer as long as the nights are warm, and the rest of the year keep them indoors. They grow into tall, narrow trees, so the shape is actually fairly nice for a large house plant if you have room for it, and VERY good light - a south-facing window is necessary for your short, gloomy winter days there. I'd be inclined to use a grow light on it, for a few hours each day through the winter months, too.

As George wrote in the original post, they come back from the roots even if they're killed back at the tops by cold. So if you want to keep it small enough to bring indoors, just cut it back regularly.

For those (like me) who won't give up on the idea of getting their own outdoor AVOCADO TREE in Vancouver, CANADA or Reyjkavic, ICELAND, here is an obvious idea that hasn't been floated about: Why not put up a simple, inexpensive, portable greenhouse?

This can be done for less than $100 USD.

(I know of at least one example of a simple, easily-assembled 2-meter high portable greenhouse that can be purchased online for less than $100 [worldwide shipping is available, but costs extra]).

Considering the fact that I paid $81 each for my two "Cold-hardy" Avocado trees at a local nursery (Stewart and Mexicola Grande varieties--both cold-hardy to -7°C), $100 is a reasonable price to pay to ensure that my trees will survive and produce fruit for many years to come, here in Vancouver, CANADA.

The advantage is this: Once you have a nice little greenhouse like this, you could use this to have some dedicated space for your Avocado tree in your yard or garden. And, even if we were to have a record cold Vancouver winter where it gets -20° C (-3°F) during the winter (the actual all-time record Vancouver winter cold was -17.8°C (0°F) in 1968 and in 1950), you could easily keep your Avocado tree alive if it were a good, "cold-hardy variety."

(This idea could even possibly be used to grow Avocado trees in Alberta and Eastern CANADA. The only difference, is that during the really cold freezes, you'll have to work a little harder to keep it above -7°C in your little portable greenhouse.)

Here's an example of how you could achieve this:

Let's say that on a cold winter's night in Vancouver, it will get -20°C (-3°F). If you have a cold-hardy Avocado tree that will withstand -7°C (20°F)(ie. Stewart or Mexicola Grande varieties). You can easily set up some sort of source of gentle heat to provide some partial warmth within your tiny greenhouse that will raise the inside temperature to at least -7°C, so that the Avocado tree within it will survive the deep freeze outside. (You don't have to raise the temperature in the greenhouse to be above freezing. You only have to raise it enough to prevent the Avocado tree from dying)

Possible sources of gentle heat: 1. Heating mats, 2. electric blanket(s), 3. Christmas lights (the old ones that give out some heat — not the new LED lights)

One advantage of planting your Avocado tree outdoors and then having a nice little greenhouse surrounding it, is that your tree would be able to grow much larger than it would if you were to keep it in the house (in a large pot). Obviously, by being in this greenhouse, your Avocado tree would now be able to grow up to about 7 feet high on one side, and would be able to produce up to 75 or even 100 fruits in a good year. This would be plenty of fruit for 1 family. And would even give you enough to share with a few friends.

Another advantage is that, by having the greenhouse around the Avocado tree, it will blossom earlier in the year than it normally would, and would therefore produce a crop earlier in the season than would otherwise be possible. For clever people who have enough space in their yard or property, they could set up 2 or 3 of these greenhouses, and plant different varieties of Avocado trees, thereby giving themselves varieties that will ripen at different times. That way, they will extend the timeframe where they can go outside and pick a continuous supply of fresh Avocados in Vancouver (or Reyjkavic, or London, etc).

This harvest season could begin as early as August with some varieties and continue into December or later for other varieties.

Really, the sky's the limit. And it's so easy to accomplish!

What's stopping you?

--George Stancliffe

Wishing you the best of luck, George and will watch your progress with interest. Cold isn't the only limiting factor, though. If you can keep the trees alive and growing, it's very doubtful that you get enough warm, sunny weather in Vancouver for it to flower. Then there is pollination, which is a complex process for avocado even in the best of conditions.

As to the little plastic pop-up greenhouses, they really don't last very long and aren't tall enough for avocado which tend to be tall and narrow. The seams tear, the zippers fail and the clear plastic lasts about 2 years before it gets stiff and cracks and tears. I stored them carefully indoors, and only used them in the winter months, too. The steel framework is also very flimsy. I've had 3 of the smaller shelf unit ones, used to keep my orchids in them in winter. Now, I have a hoop house structure that I cover with frost cloth attached to a south-facing wall of our big garage. This is a better, and more durable option, imo. A south-facing exposure is certainly needed for an avocado growing there, anyway to get the maximal sun exposure.


A big, fancy greenhouse with glass, ventilation fans and supplemental lighting might do the trick long term, but you still have the problem of pollination. Most avo's must be pollinated by a different variety but they must bloom at the same time for it to happen. Wind plays the role to disperse the pollen. My tree was pollinated by a neighbor's a half a block away, but upwind. I got good fruit, but his tree hardly bore at all because there was no other tree upwind of his. As I said, it's complicated. I only got fruit every second year, too. Many avocado varieties have an "on" and an "off" year.

I live in Powell River British Columbia and I had 3 avocado plants sprout from compost I had spread in my garden last year. I figured I would cover them with leaves for the winter and see what would happen. We'll, last winter was the coldest on record and went down to minus 15celcius! But this spring I was amazed to see all 3 plants had survived but it looks as though the stems had died back during the winter and new shoots had grown from the base. I am feeling optimistic that if an avocado tree can survive down to minus 15 it could do well in our normal warmer winters

Hi & welcome! That is what happened when I put avocado in the ground here.