Solutions for Home Avocado Production in Las Vegas?

Q. I have started two avocado trees with the intent of having them available to my son if and when he buys a home in the Las Vegas area.  I went on-line and doubt that this is going to be possible unless he is willing to nurse them religiously.  Do you have any suggestions? Do you know if a myrtle variety the wax flower can be grown here?  I know it is native to Australia and some varieties are hardy to 25 degrees.

A. I would suggest that you take a look at my blog located at http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/ and search the word avocado in the search box near the top. I’ve talked quite a bit about this plant and growing in Las Vegas in this blog. 

            I do not really recommend it for our climate unless you want to grow it more as a curiosity. Avocado trees do not survive much below freezing. In December this past month we had two solid days that never really broke freezing in some parts of the valley. 

Protecting avocados from frost from Univ of Calif Ventura County Extension
 

            They are much too large for a greenhouse. Your son would be much better off trying some citrus rather than an avocado. And even with citrus here are some parts of the valley which will be too cold for any citrus to survive for more than about five years.

            If you really want to give your son a reliable fruit tree for our climate he would be better off with pomegranate, pistachio, apricot, peach or almond.

            If you still want to move ahead with your avocado then make sure you put it in a window that will give it full sun for at least six hours every day. Turn the container 180 degrees every week to prevent the plant from leaning in one direction toward the sun and growing at an angle.

            If you do not have this kind of window Then you will need to supplement The avocado seedling with extra light. If you do not supplement with extra light, the small avocado seedling will become tall, thin and spindly.

            You can use fluorescent lights a few inches from the plant on a timer with about 16 hours of light each day. This will work while the seedling is still small but eventually it will have to be planted outside.

            There are parts of the valley which have a better chance of growing avocado than others. Locations downtown surrounded by a lot of cement are usually much warmer than outside the city. These locations should be in places where it is not windy. But even in these locations when the avocado tree gets larger it will be damaged.

            There is the dwarf avocado called ‘Little Cado’ that you might be able to obtain from an online source that he could use in a container. The container would need to be protected when there is danger of frost. 

 More about 'Little Cado' for containers

            I have never heard of a variety of Crape myrtle called wax myrtle. But then again there are a lot of things I’ve never heard of. There is a woody plant native to the US called wax myrtle and it should do well in most parts of the valley. That is the problem with using common names. If you have a scientific name for the plant I might be able to tell you more.