Grow Avocado Trees From Seed

Few people realize just how easy it is to start an avocado tree from it's seed. There are two basic ways and they are both easy! There are also several reasons why you should grow an avocado tree from your seed: 1 - Just to plant a tree! The world can always use more trees. They're attractive to look at and nature's own air purifiers. This is also a great reason to grow one as an indoor plant (yes you can!). 2 - It's FREE!  You could buy avocado trees, but why pay for them when you can do so easily and at no cost on your own? 3 - While it may be a few years before you can reap the rewards of it's fruit, you will have the satisfaction of knowing they've been organically grown!

Water or dirt. (difficult, huh?)

The water method: Simply insert 3 toothpicks into the base of the avocado seed and set above a jar of water. In the image above you can get a visual of how this is done. Make sure that the bottom of the seed is touching the water and keep a check each day to refill the water level as it goes down. Soon you will see roots begin to reach down into the water. You may allow the seed to continue growing this way for up to about 6 weeks, but it's best to transplant to soil by that time or the plant will begin to deteriorate.

The soil method: Truly the easiest! Place the seed bottom down in well moistened soil with just the top of the seed peeking out over the dirt. Keep soil moist (but not soggy) until the stem sprouts out of it. No toothpicks are needed or transplanting any time soon. If you plan to make this an indoor house plant, go ahead and plant it in the container of your choice from the beginning.

 The two plants below were planted on the exact same day using the exact same potting soil, water & sun levels, and care.

This is how they looked this morning, 6 weeks later.  I had almost given up on the seed in the first image, but patience paid off.  I also thought it interesting that the seed in the second image produced "twin" trees!

Once your tree's stem reaches about 10" to 12" you will want to cut it back to about 6" in order to encourage it to sprout branches outward for a more rounded appearance. I plan to do that with the single stem sprout in the first image, but I'm afraid I might cause the "twin" tree to become congested.  It will be interesting to see how things progress with both of them.

• They are very adaptible to the type of soil they're given, but a good ph balance of 6 - 7 is best.
• They will grow in shade, but will thrive productively only in full sun.
• Their root system will choke out other plants so they should be given plenty of room from them, at least 20' apart.
• Transplanting should be done in early spring.
• Must have well aerated & well drained soil to survive.

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