How to Plant an Avocado Tree From a Seed

You can grow avocado trees from the fruit's seed.

Avocado trees (Persea sp.) are warmth-loving, evergreen trees that produce green to blackish-skinned fruits with buttery, smooth flesh. Inside the avocado fruits are large central seed pits. You can plant this seed to grow your own avocado tree, although most avocado trees grown this way likely won't produce fruits. Avocado trees are still fun to grow from seeds and can be kept as houseplants or planted outdoors if you live in a climate with mild winters.

Things You'll Need

• Avocado
• Knife
• Toothpicks
• Glass dish or jar
• Planter pot, 6-inch diameter
• All-purpose potting soil
• All-purpose houseplant fertilizer

Instructions

1. Remove the seed pit from the avocado. Rinse off the seed to remove any remaining sugars or fruit.

2. Insert three toothpicks around the middle of the avocado seed, with the narrower end on top and the wider end of the seed on the bottom.

3. Fill a glass dish or small jar that is slightly deeper and wider than the avocado pit to the brim with water. Set the avocado seed into the water with the toothpicks perched on the rim of the jar or dish and the wider bottom seed end submerged in the water.

4. Set the avocado seed in a sunny spot, such as a windowsill. Replace the water once every week and keep the water filled to the brim of the dish or jar at all times.

5. Watch for the root to begin growing from the bottom end of the avocado seed and a small green shoot from the top, pointed end, which usually takes about two to three weeks. Afterward, a main stem will begin to grow, signaling the need to plant the avocado seed in soil.

6. 

   Plant your avocado seedling after the main stem starts to grow.

   Fill a 6-inch-diameter planter pot that has drainage holes in the bottom with an all-purpose potting soil. Plant the sprouted avocado seed into the potting soil so that the main stem is above the soil level.

7. Keep the avocado seedling in bright, full sunlight. Water the plant moderately once every two or three days to keep the potting soil evenly moistened.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of sprouting the avocado seed in water, you can also start the seed directly in the potting soil by planting the seed so that the pointed top end is 1 inch above the soil surface. Water the potting soil frequently enough to keep it moist at all times.

• Feed your avocado tree seedling once every three months with an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer, according to the directions on the label.

• Don't keep the potting soil excessively wet, because this can cause the stems to soften and the leaves to curl. Also, don't allow the soil to dry out completely.

References

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Start Avocado Seeds
• California Rare Fruit Growers: Growing Avocados from Seed
• The Garden Helper: How to Grow Avocado Seeds into Trees