avocado trees in MS

I live in the MS Delta and am trying to grow avocado trees. I planted a couple in the yard and would like to have them survive. Anybody have any experience with this? Lost cause?

I found these web sites that recommend transplanting the avocado tree during spring. They state the tree is hardy in zones 10 and 11. Hope this helps.

Growing

GROW YOUR OWN TREE

PLANT AN AVOCADO TREE

Yes thank you! That last link will be very helpful!

the thing to remember about Avacados is the grow best on slopes where the soil drains well.
in other words no wet roots, they rot and the tree dies
I would love to grow them at my house but I have tried 3 times and they die after a year or 2, seems they get to much water as my land is flat
besides that they do not like temps in the frost zone, a hard frost can kill the tree
those are about the criteria

I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area most of my life and have been gardening the  whole time and asked the same question as I have just bought some property in Mississippi. At one garden I've worked in here we have seven trees that go nuts, we get so many we have to pick them up and compost them.  When I asked where they grow I got a response from one person that said there are only 5 places they grow well in the US neither of which was  SAnFrancisco or Mississippi which surprised me. This might be true for commercial growers but I've always thought of avocados as being an almost invasive species. Once established they pretty much produce as long as you are starting with a fertile or grafted tree. I think the trip in MS will be good drainage and having it established before it gets  a hard freeze.  I think if you keep it short and can cover it up if it does get really cold then once it has a few years it won't matter.
  It always makes me mad to see an avocado cost a couple bucks  especially for an organic one.The only pest I've seen is parrots and I'm not going to use anything that would kill a parrot I won't buy an organic one as I don't think they have any pests  that  they need pesticide use for. My friend's father has an orchard in So cal and in thirty years has not had any infestation of any type affect his trees. I think avocados are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow as they like  rocky sandy slopes with poor soil conditions from what I have seen firsthand  in the Bay area. I'm planting  two next week in MS and am  hoping they  take as I think they should do well. Let me know how yours go.
Zo

Welcome to the forum Zo! I am a former Nor Cal gal transplanted to the midwest, but a little farther north than where you will be. Head on over to the main page and introduce yourself!

GG

There is a cold hardy variety of avocado available here in the Dallas area.  It's an early-fall variety named "Joey", that grows approximately 20'-30' tall and only needs protection from the cold when it's young.

The nursery tag says:  "Heavy producer of medium-sized, egg-shaped fruit with purple-black skin and excellent flavor. Requires protection from the cold when young. Trunks of young trees susceptible to sunburn."

If you're interested, here's a link about it.  http://urbanharvest.org/documents/118591/436395/Avocado.pdf/0d240a28-f112-42de-839e-4af8e5e98306


Enjoy!

Absolutely the only thing I know about growing Avocados is what I learned from my sister.
You could end up with rats - either roof rats or fruit rats - I don't know their correct name - anyway, they will climb the tree and 'sample' the fruit. You may want to plan ahead to add some barriers so they cannot climb up or jump onto your tree.