Avocados or "crocodile pears" are one of the produce department's most expensive items. In the off season, when they are imported from South America, the prices can jump to two or three dollars each. With a little advance planning, you can enjoy your own harvest of these popular fruits. All you need is an existing avocado, a small glass, a few toothpicks, water, and patience.
How to Grow an Avocado from Seed
The best way to start growing an avocado employs a simple form of hydroponics, or gardening using water instead of soil. First, choose an avocado. While larger avocados are likely to have come from a grafted tree which means that the seed will not produce exactly the same type of avocado, smaller and cheaper avocados from Mexico are probably your best bet.
Cut open the skin of the avocado being careful not to penetrate too deeply and scratch the seed. If you do scratch the seed lightly, you can still use it but the scratch will form a dark line on the seed.
Wipe off any excess avocado from the seed and set it aside to dry for a few days. Use the remaining avocado in guacamole or any other recipe that you enjoy.
Next, find a small wide glass that you can use for the next step. It should be one you can get along without for the next several months at least.
Take four toothpicks and insert them at slight angles into the flatter bottom of the avocado seed. Make sure as you are doing this so that the seed and its new legs can fit comfortably into the glass you have chosen.
Fill the glass with water so that the lower quarter of the seed is submerged.
Place in a protected spot on your kitchen counter or on a window sill.
Wait. Keep adding water to keep the water level steadily but do not empty out the glass and refill it. The first sign that your seed is growing will often be a narrow root reaching down to the bottom of the glass. The seed may split at the top. Even if it appears nothing is happening, leave it alone. It can take several weeks or longer for the sprout to appear.
After leaves have appeared, add a tiny pinch or two of soil from your garden to the water. Gradually increase the amount of soil. After five or six leaves have appeared, you can gently transfer the plant into a pot of moist soil. Keep moist until the tree is well established, then water normally. When the tree is about 18" high and has a firm, strong trunk, transplant it to its permanent location in a sunny spot in your garden. Most avocado trees will grow large enough to bear their first fruit in about six years, when you'll enjoy your money-saving harvest and the admiration of your neighbors.
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