The reason I like doing presentations is that I always have a story to tell after it is over. For example, the folks at the library today had a plant swap at the end. So this lady goes over to the swap table and comes away with an avocado tree seedling. You can still see the seed cracked open on top of a little dirt in the bottom of the pot. She comes straight over to me and asks what she should do with it. I told her to put it back on the table and pick something else but she would have none of it. I explained how avocado trees do not come true from seed, often do not produce at all and become very large. I suggested she go to a nice nursery that specializes in fruit and get a grafted named tree like a Brogdon. Since the fruit does not ripen on the tree, you need to know when to pick it and you would never know that if you don't know the name. I have had many of calls at the Extension from folks who have a huge tree that doesn't produce and 100 percent of them come from trees raised from seed. Save $20 by planting a seed and then spend $600 to have it cut down and hauled away. When she left, I noticed she still had that seedling with her. Maybe she will remember my advise 20 years from now.
Jim
