How to Plant an Avocado Seed

Turning an avocado pit into a thriving plant is almost as easy as bringing a potted plant home from the grocery store. With just a little effort, you can have a houseplant that can get several feet tall.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• avocado seed
• toothpicks
• 10-14 oz. tall plastic or glass drinking glass or vase
• (roughly twice the diameter of the avocado seed)
• potting soil
• large (6 to 8 inch) flowerpot and saucer
• sunny or part-sunny window

1. Rinse any remaining flesh off avocado pit and poke 3-6 toothpicks about 1/4 inch into the thickest part of the seed. Your finished work should look like a sun with rays.

2. Set the toothpicked seed on top of the glass and fill it with water so that the bottom of the seed is under water. Set the glass in a sunny window. A window needs direct sun only a few hours a day; indirect light just means slower growth.

3. Settle down to a fairly long wait, refilling glass to keep seed-bottom wet. You may see the beginnings of roots within a week or two--or three or more. Avocados take time, especially if they have been refrigerated somewhere along the trip to the store.

4. When you see rootlets, and probably a little top sprout, too, begin to fill the glass with spoonfuls of potting soil, two or three at a time. By the time your container is full of muddy soil, you will have roots and the beginnings of leaves on top.

5. Remove growing seed and muddy soil from the container and plant both in a large pot of potting soil. (Remove toothpicks as you do this.). You can start with a smaller pot, but be prepared to transplant--avocados serve as an excellent illustration of the maxim: the bigger the pot, the bigger the plant. Find a bigger window sill if you have to, or place pot on a table or stand close to the window.

6. Keep soil moist but not wet and, once you have a handful of leaves, pinch back the top of your stem to encourage branching. Watch it grow. Pinch again as new branches form, to encourage fullness.

Tips & Warnings

• Pinching back will encourage your plant to branch out and let you shape your plant to available space.
• Practice patience and remember how easy it is to start over if you need a little practice to get this right. All you have to do is eat another avocado.

[Triune]

on 7/11/2008 I love avocados but they are so expensive. I will have to try this. Good article, well written.