Grow your own Avocado Tree from a pit!

If you’re anything like me, I LOVE avocados!

This year we decided to start playing around and see what would happen if we tried to grow a plant from an avocado pit (after we ate it, of course!) so we can eventually grow our own avocados.

Needless to say, it worked!  In fact, it has worked 3 times in the last 6 months!  I’ve been told that it takes many years for an avocado tree to fruit, but you can’t have fruit until you have a tree, so we might as well get on our way.

The first trick is to nurture your avocado pit in a glass of water until it a) develops white roots beneath it and then b) sprouts a stem out its top!  After it starts to look like a “real” plant, you transfer your seedling into a pot where it can grow big and strong before you transfer it into the ground.

Some people might recommend suspending the pit above a glass of water with toothpicks; we used corn on the cobb handles – they’re sturdier.

Below you will find 3 generations of sprouting seeds – the largest one is around 6 months old.  That plant was the only sprout out of 4 attempts at the time (so don’t feel bad if you don’t develop roots on the first try).  We plan on transferring it into the ground very very soon (perhaps after hurricane season as I sit here and watch the rain bands of Sandy whipping trees around).  The long lanky plant is ready to transfer into a pot.  The smallest one will stay in the glass until it’s the size of the medium one.