The first step: wait for the avocado to ripen. I am using a Hass avocado, and today it was black and soft, definitely ripe. I cut through the rind and the two halves fell apart easily. The avocado fruit is a berry.
I scooped the seed out from the pericarp with a spoon and washed it with water and a sponge to get all the icky off it. The surface of the seed is beautiful, like marled wood. It's about 1 1/2 inches long and slightly egg-shaped.
I then poked three toothpicks into the soft surface of the seed, about 1/3 of the way from the top, the top being very slightly more pointy than the bottom, and suspended the seed over a glass. I filled the glass so the water is 1/3 of the way up the bottom of the seed, and wrote the date on the glass.
I put the glass in a south-facing window. It needs 6 hours of daylight a day. If it doesn't sprout roots in 6 weeks I will have to start over, but hopefully something interesting will happen soon!
Posts
6 comments:
Cool! Thanks for the information. We love avocados in this house, and the seeds are so gorgeous, I always hated to throw them away. I will have to try this for sure.
(You don't like strawberries?? If you lived nearby and grew them without intending to eat them, I'd invite you over frequently, LOL.)
Good luck! I have never grown an avocado and always been interested to try it, although I also don't like eating them, which is probably why I haven't tried.
Good luck! I haven't done this since I was a kid but I'm doing it this year, along with the pineapple top.
Last year I saw a perfect pineapple top sticking out of the neighbor's dumpster and for a second I thought about taking it and planting it.
You won't believe this, Diane, but I have an avocado pit/seed sitting suspended on a bowl of water on my kitchen counter right now! I remember trying this years and years ago--with little luck as I remember--so I wasn't too sure how to do it. I think I may have put the toothpicks too far down on mine, because the bottom is barely in the water. It's been about 3-4 weeks now, so I'll be patient for a couple more. If it doesn't grow, it may be awhile--I buy probably one avocado a year:)
Rose, let me know if yours does sprout!
MBT - I've never tried growing pineapple (another fruit I won't eat!) but I like the thought of dumpster-diving to save plants :)
I've always wanted to do this, too! I just might have to get an avocado and try it. I hope you're successful!
Post a Comment