[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1653634955856{background-color: #e2d1ca !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”The ultimate guide to growing your own avocado pit every time.” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” el_class=”tiempos-headline”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1653478468798{margin-top: 35px !important;margin-bottom: 35px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]At Botanopia, we have more than 5,000 avocado pits under our belt. We’ve tested everything from germination to pruning the plant. Here are all our tips so that you too can finally grow your own avocado plant.
Avocados are a delicious and nutritious fruit that many people enjoy What you may not know is that you can actually grow an avocado plant at home using the seed from an avocado you eat! The avocado seed contains all the genetic material needed to grow a new avocado plant With a little time and effort, you can turn your avocado seed into a lovely houseplant.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about growing an avocado plant from the top of the seed.
Choosing and Preparing the Avocado Seed
The first step is selecting a fresh avocado seed. The best seeds come from ripe undamaged avocado fruits. Carefully cut around the avocado lengthwise and twist the halves apart to remove the pit. Rinse off any excess fruit pulp.
Next, you need to identify the top and bottom of the avocado seed. The bottom of the seed is the broad, flat end that was attached to the fruit. There may be a small circular pattern on this end. The pointed end opposite the flat end is the top of the seed. This orientation is key for proper sprouting.
Many people recommend peeling the brown outer skin off the seed. This helps prevent mold growth and speeds up germination. Use your fingernail or a spoon to gently peel away the skin. Be careful not to damage the inner seed.
Rooting the Seed
With your seed prepped and oriented correctly, it’s time to encourage it to sprout roots. There are two simple methods to achieve this:
Toothpick method: Carefully insert 3-4 toothpicks around the widest part of the seed pointing slightly downward. Avoid the natural ridges. Suspend the seed over a glass of water so the toothpicks rest on the rim and the flat bottom is submerged 1-2 inches. Place in bright, indirect light and refresh water weekly. Look for a cracked seed and emerging taproot in 2-8 weeks.
Wet paper towel method Wrap the seed in a damp paper towel and place in an open plastic bag in a warm place. Check every few days and keep the towel moist. This protects the seed and provides humidity for sprouting Wait for a taproot to grow 3 inches before planting.
Both methods work well to sprout the seed. The humid bag technique is lower maintenance and sprouts multiple seeds at once. Focus your efforts on the top of the avocado pit to monitor sprouting progress.
Planting the Sprouted Seed
Once you see taproot growth, it’s time to plant in soil! Choose a 6 inch or larger pot with drainage. Partly fill with rich, well-draining potting mix. Gently place the sprouted seed with the taproot facing down and top half above soil. Backfill soil without disturbing the tender root.
Water thoroughly after planting to settle the soil. Place in a warm spot with indirect sun. Pinch off the top few leaves as the seedling grows to encourage bushy growth. When it reaches 6-7 inches tall, snip the main stem in half to promote branching.
Caring for Your Avocado Houseplant
Caring for your new avocado houseplant is easy and rewarding. Provide lots of bright, indirect light and avoid hot direct sun. Water when the top inch of soil dries out and mist leaves for humidity.
Feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertilizer during spring and summer growing season. Repot annually into a larger container as the plant grows. Prune top-heavy growth to keep the plant full and bushy.
With the right care focused on the top of the seed, your avocado pit will transform into a lovely, fast-growing houseplant. Enjoy watching your seed sprout and create a handsome tree from an unlikely beginning!
Troubleshooting Common Problems
Seed isn’t sprouting: Be patient, as sprouting can take 2-8 weeks. Ensure the seed coat is intact and the pit stays moist. Discard and try again if mold develops.
Leggy, weak growth: Increase light exposure and pinch off top leaves. Insufficient light causes seedlings to stretch.
Leaves turning brown: This often results from inconsistent watering. Allow soil to dry out between waterings and provide humidity.
White crusty deposits on leaves: Scale insects commonly afflict avocado trees. Wipe leaves with diluted neem oil solution to eliminate them.
Growing an avocado plant from the top of the seed is a fun and simple gardening project. Focus your efforts on the pointed end of the pit and look for a developing taproot. With proper orientation, sprouting conditions and attentive care, you can grow a handsome avocado houseplant to enjoy for years to come. The satisfaction of sprouting a seed destined for the trash is hard to top!
Why grow an avocado pit?
A pit, like all seeds, is a little reserve of energy designed to create a new plant. To awaken this enormous potential, you need to create the ideal conditions for your seed to grow. The avocado likes a tropical environment: it needs warm temperatures and constantly high humidity to germinate. Here’s how to create an ideal little incubator for your seedling.
What you will need
- A glass of water
- A good knife
- A paper towel or paper napkin
- A resealable plastic bag or an airtight container
- Nice to have: a germination plate
That’s it, let’s start growing!
Here’s our complete guide to show you how to grow your own:
Take a good knife, an avocado, a paper towel and a plastic bag.
Open your avocado, eat the flesh and wash the pit well. First, soak the pit for 24 to 48 hours in clean water. With your knife, peel off the thin brown skin of the pit. This step speeds up the germination process and the result is more attractive.
Wrap the pit in the damp paper towel. Put the whole thing in a plastic bag, close it tightly, and place the bag in a warm place in the dark. The ideal temperature for rapid germination is 25°C. Look for a place in your house that is always warm, for example next to your boiler or water heater. Then wait! Check in the bag from time to time to see if the magic has started and make sure the towel doesn’t dry out. If it does, rewet it slightly.
The pit will first split in two, then a root will emerge, and finally a stem/first leaves. When the root is a few centimetres long, you can take the pit out of the bag and continue growing in water or potting soil.
We like to grow our avocados in water (hydroponics), perched on our specially designed porcelain germination plates. They prevent the water from evaporating too quickly, so maintenance is very easy. A great view on the roots is guaranteed (and it’s pretty!). A little floating forest on your kitchen table.
- Change the water very regularly, at least once a week. By changing the water completely (not just top it up), it will also be oxygenated, which is necessary for your plant.
- Add a suitable liquid fertiliser, as there are no nutrients in tap water to help your plant grow. Be careful: chemical fertilisers can burn the roots, so use an organic plant-based fertiliser. By following these two basic tips, you will be able to keep your avocado growing in water for years.
- Keeping the pit too cold:
if the temperature’s too cold, your avocado will have difficulty growing. It may still sprout, but it will take much longer. The ideal temperature is about 25°C. Keep your little plastic baggie next to your water heater or furnace so it stays consistently warm.
- You didn’t soak the pit:
If you don’t soak your pit, it won’t yet have reached the necessary moisture level to trigger germination. Soak it in water for 1 or 2 days.
- You didn’t peel the skin:
This slows down germination. In the end, the thin brown skin will flake off the pit anyway, which doesn’t look great. It’s more efficient to remove it from the start.
- You let the pit dry out by not closing the bag properly
If you don’t close the bag properly, the pit will dry out and the ideal humidity that triggers germination will not be reached. If your paper towel is not wet enough, the same problem can occur. Be careful if you leave the bag near a strong heat source (radiator), the risk of drying out is higher.
- You worked with dirty hands
It’s a personal choice, as soon as your first root is a few centimetres long, you can replant. But you can also do it much later. Styling tip: you can also plant several pits together in the same pot for a bushier result.
Start by putting some soil at the bottom of the pot. Then add the pits and fill in with soil around the roots.
It doesn’t really matter how deep you plant the pit in the soil, it can be visible or covered with soil. In any case, once the core has been emptied of energy, it will be composted and absorbed into the soil and will not be seen again.
Don’t worry, your plant is a bit stressed because it’s transitioning from water roots to soil roots. Keep the soil quite moist for a bit and your plant should recover quickly.
Make sure that the plant remains moist to facilitate the absorption of water by the original roots. The advantage of a pot with a hole in it is that the excess water will escape. After the new soil roots have grown, the soil should be kept slightly moist. If you let the soil dry out, the leaves of your avocado will also dry out permanently around the edges.
When the avocado grows, it produces a stem for each pit. Sometimes the stem will be very tall with leaves at the end but not along the stem. This is often a sign of lack of light, the stem stretches towards the sun to catch the available sun rays. If you don’t think it’s a nice look, you can prune the stem, to encourage side shoots and a bushier look. It’s up to you to decide when you want to prune it.
There is no perfect, universal method for watering your avocado plant. It depends on many factors such as temperature, climate, type of pot, and amount of light. In general, you should keep the soil slightly moist. If you forget easily, try to choose one day a week for watering, it will become a little ritual (at Botanopia, it’s Friday!)
How to Grow an Avocado Plant | creative explained
FAQ
Which way do you point an avocado seed?
Plant the seed so that the pointed end is about an inch above the soil surface. Keep the soil moist at all times until the avocado plant is established.
Should I top my avocado seedling?
It is a good idea to prune the avocado plant to limit its growth height and to encourage branching. Avocado plants hardly branch out on their own and often form a high central shoot with few leaves – so we suggest cutting avocado plants from the top early on.
Why do you put toothpicks in an avocado seed?
It’s not always easy to determine which end is up.
Stick three toothpicks evenly spaced in the middle of the seed at a slight upward angle so when it sets on the glass, half the seed will be emersed.
Can you grow an avocado from a seed?
Almost every avocado you eat has a seed in it that will grow into a tree. A seed from an avocado from your own tree will grow, as will a seed from a store-bought fruit. Here is a tree that grew from a seed inside a Hass avocado bought at Costco: Cadway avocado tree. A fellow Yard Posts reader grew this tree.
How to grow an avocado tree?
Before you can begin growing your avocado tree, you need to prepare your seed. Remove the Pit: Carefully cut and remove the pit (seed) from the avocado. Be sure to wash it thoroughly, removing any remaining fruit flesh to avoid mold. Identify the Top and Bottom: The seed has a slightly pointed end (top) and a flat end (bottom).
Can you grow avocado seeds from Rotten seeds?
Most home-grown avocado trees are grown from the leftover pits or seeds after the avocado has been eaten, so you may not have a choice of seeds. Don’t worry if you’ve kept your avocados in the refrigerator, you seed will still grow as long as it didn’t freeze. Like any seed, one that is moldy, crushed, or rotten is not going to grow.
How do you eat avocado seed in a jar?
Put your avocado seed in water. Stick three toothpicks into the sides of the pit, broad end facing down, so that it balances on top of a small glass or Mason jar filled with water. The bottom of the pit should be submersed about an inch in the water. Keep the jar in bright light.
Can you grow a tree from a seed inside a Hass avocado?
Here is a tree that grew from a seed inside a Hass avocado bought at Costco: Cadway avocado tree. A fellow Yard Posts reader grew this tree. The tree is fruitful, and the avocados are delicious. Cadway avocados remain green when ripe whereas Hass turn black.
Can avocado seeds grow in water?
It also works to start an avocado seed growing in water using something else for suspension. A member of the California Rare Fruit Growers in San Diego County makes these boats for the purpose: Boats keep just the bottom of seed in water. Note that no matter the method, the avocado seed does not need any sunlight in order to start growing.