How to Grow Avocado in a Pot
One of the easiest trees to grow from seed is the avocado. You can even grow it in a flowerpot. Given proper exposure to sunlight, you can keep it as a houseplant. Here's how. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Save the seed. When you cut open a ripe avocado, scoop out the seed carefully, rinse off the slippery coating and pat dry. Do not remove the brown seed cover.
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Mount the seed in water. Prepare a glass container where you will mount the seed until it grows roots. Punch the sides of the seed with three to four toothpicks that will hold the seed up so that it doesn't sink into the water. Rest the seed on the mouth of the container with the pointed end on top. Pour enough water into the container to submerge the bottom side of the seed.
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Monitor the water. Check the water level everyday. Be sure the bottom of the seed is submerged. Change the water two to three times a week to prevent molds.
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Let the seedling grow. Leave the seed in the water container until it grows big, strong roots and a healthy shoot with several leaves. This will take several weeks.
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Transplant the seedling into a flowerpot. Choose a medium-sized flowerpot and good quality potting soil. Plant the seedling so that the top of the seed is somewhat exposed. This ensures that the base of the seedling trunk doesn't rot under the soil.
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Provide full sun and water when the soil becomes dry. Fertilize during the growing period (spring and summer).
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Prune as desired. Nip off the tips of shooting branches to encourage side growths, leading to a short but lush tree and an excellent houseplant.
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Tips & Warnings
Place the seed-growing container in a bright location, like the kitchen window, to encourage healthy growth.
Put the avocado seed in water immediately. If you wait a few days, the seed will dry out and die.
It is important to change the water in the seed-growing container because fresh water replenishes the oxygen in the water that the seed needs to grow. Without oxygen, the seed will rot.
Plant the seedling in soil when the shoot has three to five leaves. If you wait longer, the seedling will wither and die.
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos by Ruby Bayan
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Comments
View all 99 Comments-
so you need to plant two trees togather and mine has been growing a year maybe and makes it throught the winter but I got no flowere what am I doing wrong.
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do you have to plant two togather to germeate and make avocados.
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On trip to South Africa were they have lots of Avocado tree my wife's cousin said you have to have several tree's in the same area as some are male and some are female. Not sure how true this is but I have heard this about other tropical trees.
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Mar 06, 2011
Interesting tip on beating the tree, I don't know if it works.Avocado's usually produce best via fertilization by an outside tree via insects (bees) perhaps shaking up the tree causes some if it's own pollen from flowers in the male phase to land on female phase flowers causing the tree to basically inbreed with itself in the way that many other plants do.
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cherubicwindigo
Nov 15, 2010
A quick tip I learned from a nature "guru" is when you have a fully grown avocado tree that will not produce avocados, just beat it with a large stick, within a week you will start to see avocados! Apparently this "shocks" the tree into thinking it doesn't have long to live. It worked like a charm on my tree that never produced avocados.
