I absolutely LOVE avocados! I was enjoying one today, and was about to throw out the seed when a little light when off in my head about something I read somewhere (probably Pinterest, it's always Pinterest...), stating one could grow a tree (or a houseplant) from the seed. I "googled" it, and sure enough, you can! I felt a bit crestfallen after learning it could take YEARS for it to produce more delicious (free) fruit, but felt the process sounded simple and straightforward enough for me to try anyway. Also, lo and behold, I had the 3 very basic things needed to get this going:
1 avocado seed, 3 toothpicks, a glass of water....Besides, it would be fun to watch it grow from a seed and make a pretty plant (if it survives my brown thumb, I have no skills when it comes to plants).
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| Avocado (seed hidden inside), 3 toothpicks, glass of water... |
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| Cut open and enjoy the avocado deliciousness, but save that seed... |
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| Wash your avocado seed of it's fruit residue under cool water, thoroughly dry with paper towel... |
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| CAREFULLY stick 3 toothpicks into the widest circumference of the seed, like shown... |
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| Place your avocado seed helicopter thing on top of a glass of water, making sure the seed's bottom is immersed in 1 inch of the water, set in a sunny windowsill, or outside (but not in full-on direct sunlight) if weather is warm enough... |
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- Within about 2-6 weeks, you should begin to see roots and a stem sprout;
- When the stem is around 6 inches, cut it to 3 inches;
- After the stem is around 6 inches again, and the roots are fuller, go ahead and transfer it to rich soil in a pot (between 10"-11" diameter) leaving the top half of the seed above the soil;
- Water frequently (but don't over-soak it) and make sure it's getting lots of sunlight now;
- When your avocado stem is at 12 inches, whack 6 inches off again (this is to help it to grow new shoots);
- Enjoy how pretty your new plant (or tree-ling) looks, but remember that you won't get fruit from it for years (around 7-15 years).
- For more in-depth directions and great avocado-related information, go to where I found mine for this post: CaliforniaAvocado or @CA_Avocados (Twitter), ca_avocados (Instagram), or on Facebook.
Have you ever grown a plant or tree from an avocado seed? If so, what was your experience with it?
This is so cool! Learn something new every day, need to try this! I wonder if Avocado trees will grow in Washington?
ReplyDeleteHi Lynsey, I'm so glad you liked it! I think you totally can, I found a really excellent forum about keeping them as houseplants or in a big planter when the weather is too cold: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0215385215395.html (-:
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