Growing Avocado Seeds into Trees

God's Warrior · Growing Avocado Seeds into Trees

Avocado Tree

This is an old favorite:

After using an avocado, save the pit for a future plant.
Using 3 - 4 toothpicks, stick them in the avocado pit.
Place in a jar or glass of water, so only the bottom of the point is in the water. It may take a while for the roots to appear.
Once there are a fair amount of roots, plant in a pot and place in good bright light.

Further directions that are a bit more detailed.

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/avocado.html

Starting seeds
The avocado tree (Persea americana), when grown by a hobby gardener is normally grown from seeds removed from ripened fruit. There are two acceptable methods of doing this, either by sprouting the seed in water or by actually planting the seed in soil.

Many people start avocado trees as novelty house plants by piercing the seed with its pointed end up, partially through with toothpicks on three or four sides to hold it on the top of a jar or vase partly with water and few pieces of charcoal (to keep the water sweet) just covering the base. In 2 to 6 weeks, when roots and leaves are well formed the plant is set in potting soil. Unless they're moved into soil within a few weeks or months after germination, they'll begin to deteriorate.

They are also easily sprouted in a well-drained 4- or 5-inch pot of porous, fertile soil. The top of the seed should just barely peek above the surface of the soil. If the soil is kept fairly moist and the temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees, the seed will begin to sprout and a pretty, leafy plant will develop.
When the seedling reaches 12 inches, it should be pinched back to about 6-8 inches to produce a rounder, fuller plant. Avocados grown inside thrive in sun or in a good, lighted location. Once they've filled their pots up with healthy roots, they should be potted in larger ones. Repotting should be done in the spring. Well-rooted plants should be given a dilute liquid fertilizer every week or two. Watering should be done so that the soil never becomes really dry but isn't ever soggy and waterlogged. They should be fertilized with a balanced houseplant food every two or three weeks in the summer and about every six weeks during the winter. It's also a good idea to mist the leaves of your Avocado if the air in your home is very dry. Indoor trees need low night temperatures to induce bloom. Transplanting should be done in early spring. Potted plants should be moved outdoors gradually, so they can acclimatize themselves, and adjust to the new elements.

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Climate

The most limiting factor to success with avocado trees is severe cold. Avocado is a tropical to subtropical tree that, with some exceptions, is best adapted to relatively frost-free areas. Some types are killed outright by moderate freezes and others have regenerated after sustaining complete death of all aboveground parts in severe freezes.

Avocado in the garden
Avocado trees are very versatile in their adaptability to different soils, but they prefer a rich loose sandy loam. They will not survive in locations with poor drainage. . The desirable pH level is generally considered to be between 6 and 7. They will grow in shade and between buildings, but are only productive in full sun. The root system is extensive and will choke out nearby plants, so they should be given plenty of room--up to 20 feet. However two or three trees can be planted in a single large hole to save garden space and enhance pollination. Once established the avocado is a fairly tough tree. Once the tree is a year old, they should be fed four times yearly using a balanced fertilizer. Older trees benefit from feeding with nitrogenous fertilizer applied in late winter and early summer. Yellowed leaves (chlorosis) indicate iron deficiency. This can usually be corrected by a foliar spray of trace elements containing iron.

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Another site:

http://www.avonleagardens.com/avocado.htm

Turn A Seed Into An Avocado Tree

Calling all kids and the kid in all of us, here is a project that is both fun and easy to do. This is an inexpensive way to grow a new tree or house plant. It is truly easy to turn a seed into a tree.

The materials that are needed to begin are an avocado, a small wide-mouthed jar and four toothpicks. After the seed produces roots and leaves you will also need a large pot (at least one gallon) and fresh potting soil mix.

Inside every avocado is a large seed (also called the pit) ready to grow a tree. After enjoying the avocado, maybe in guacamole, save the pit. Make sure that when the avocado is cut open that it is done carefully so that the pit isn’t harmed. Avocados pull apart easily when cut in half and the pit is very slippery so its not to hard to pop it out.

The majority of the pit (seed) is stored food for the embryonic plant to use to grow. When observing the pit it is easy to see that it is pointed at one end and flat at the other. The flat end is actually the bottom. Insert the four toothpicks into the side of the seed. Space the toothpicks evenly around the seed about one inch from the bottom. Push each toothpick in until it is firmly attached, this won’t hurt the seed.

Next, balance the seed with the toothpicks across the top of the jar. Fill the jar with enough water so that the bottom of the seed rests in the water. Keep the container full of water and in bright light. In a few weeks, roots should grow down into the water while a green shoot grows out the top. The seed can grow in water for many weeks, filling the container with roots.

When the root system in the jar of water is about the size of a fist it is time to transplant it. Plant the young tree into at least a one gallon pot with fresh potting mix. Spread the roots out in the container but position the seed at the surface of the soil. Firm the soil down around the roots and water it in well. Given bright light or full sun, avocado plants make good house plant. If the avocado will be grown as a house plant then transplant it into a self-watering container or a clay pot. Also, to control its height, prune the top periodically to make it bushy. Water the tree when the soil surface begins to feel dry. A tree in full sun may need a good watering once each day during hot weather. Also, feed the container-grown trees every two weeks with a houseplant fertilizer.

Your tree can be planted outdoors in a sunny location that is protected from cold temperatures. The trees will normally not bear avocados until they have been in the ground for five to seven years and that is only if they have never experienced a freeze. An interesting characteristic about avocados is that they don’t ripen until after they fall off the tree. After the fruit falls off of the tree it will take about three to five days for it to ripen.

Another suggestion if you are planting the tree outside, give it plenty of room to grow. These trees can attain a height of 30 to 40 feet and a spread of 25 to 35 feet, so be sure to plant it far enough away from houses, driveways and power lines.

Did you know that California grows 95 percent of the world's avocados, and that Californians are the world's largest consumers of avocados? Avocados have a following in cultures worldwide, but Californians put them into everything from ice cream to sushi. San Diego County calls itself the Avocado Capital of the World.

The English living in Jamaica called the avocado an alligator pear. Some speculate that they were comparing the skin to that of an alligator. Others say alligator was a corruption of ahuacatl. In Jamaica today the people call the avocado a pear. The Dutch called it avocaat; Spain abogado; France avocatier; Trinidad and Tobago zaboca, Even George Washington, First President of the United States, wrote in 1751 that agovago pears were abundant and popular in Barbados.
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Mary
I'm expecting big things from the 3' tall avocado growing in a pot in my greenhouse!

Elena
You will have to let us know how well it does for you. I am curious to know if you ever have any avocados on it.

Zanymuse
If you bought a house in Concord California in 1960 that had a shed and yard filled with 4 to 5 hundred potted avocado trees ranging in size from 10" to 6' you bought the house where I discovered the joy of raising avocado trees :~) I always wondered what the new owners thought when they discovered all those trees!

One thing to remember if you live in a climate where these will thrive is that although they must be planted in full sun to bear fruit they will burn up if not protected while they are young and tender especially if they were initially started indoors.

Love them Avocados!

Elena
FOUR to FIVE HUNDRED?????????? You really did love them! I now know who our resident expert on avocados is and know who to ask about them if any questions come up. My goodness!!!!! Talk about a hobby getting totally out of control. Tee hee!

(Guess who has pot after pot of various kinds of trees that I couldn't resist potting when they were little babies! Last year I had several people who came with their trucks and happily carried many of the taller ones back home to plant in their yards. Melody and Keith were two of those folks.) I will soon be digging the baby raintrees that came up this spring for Horseshoe.

Zanymuse
Yes, I think I wanted to plant an orchard in our back yard, front yard and at the local park .... But they wouldn't let me! So when we moved all my babies got left behind. I always wondered if the new owners used any of them. I was a grand old lady of 8 at the time!

Elena
You really started early on your love for plants. I wasn't that young when I started growing my own but I have always loved them because of my mother's passion for growing things. I loved her greenhouse with the flowers blooming in the winter time. She and Daddy always split the greenhouse in half. One half was for Mother's flowers and the other half was given to plants for the vegetable garden in the early spring.