A little avocado tree
Happy Tuesday readers, today with a short fresh juice post this morning, I thought I would introduce you to one of my roommates. This cute little avocado tree is a new addition to the family of lovely plants that embellish my smaller than 800 sq foot apt. Something about having plants around makes a space feel more than just a space, like a home.
I have been starting avocado seeds for a few years now, every few weeks I will keep a seed and try it out. Unfortunately only about one in three of those makes it to an actual seedling, but it's sure a fun experiment. So far, I have found that the ratio of pits that will sprout is not contingent on being organic or not. The same ratio applies.
This guy is almost two months old now. He is just about ready for a good sized pot to be planted in. He will move from a space near the sink where there is good light to the top of my cabinets. With 17 foot ceilings in my loft, the light pours into the windows and the heat stays up on top of the kitchen cabinets. Mabel (my crazy ocicat) also enjoys lounging up there, especially in the winter when the hot air blows directly to that one spot where the avocado trees love to live.
The key to growing an avocado plant is simple. Be patient. Clean the water, and know when to give up. The amount of light really does matter for these little guys, so starting them in the dead of winter will be slow moving. You will see a huge burst in growth when the days start to lengthen in spring. Next thing is that you want to peel the outside brown layer off at least on the top and bottom so that the root comes through easily. Unfortunately, I didn't follow my own advice here so my photo shows a brown covering, I got lucky with this guy - he was strong enough to do without a little grooming.
If the water keeps getting mildewy it's time to give up, there's a fine line between getting a seed to sprout and letting it decay in your home. You don't want to attract bugs. The last thing to remember is to give them a good home once they have sprouted and taken a good root. If they look like this guy, they are ready for a home. Don't over pot them or under pot them, usually the best idea is to go for something a little bit bigger than the length of the roots that already formed.
HOW TO ROOT UP AND PLANT AN AVOCADO TREE
eat an avocado.
clean and scrub all the avocado meat off the pit
put it in the back of your fruit bowl (clean) and keep it in the dark for 1-2 days.
with a mason jar and two-three toothpics prop the seed up with the pointy-end down.
Fill with water and wait. Yup. Just be patient. Make sure the water is always up at least 1/3-1/2 of the pit.