It is worth saving the huge seed that you find in the avocado fruit, because you can grow it into a very cool houseplant, just follow the instructions below!
As surprising as it may sound, many things can become potted houseplants, such as the contents of your refrigerator. Carrots, potatoes, pineapples and, of course, avocados can all successfully apply for the title of “honorary houseplant”. Are you wondering exactly how? Let’s see what the avocado fruit is like and how you can grow it into a houseplant!
How to Grow an Avocado into a Houseplant?
Many people have previous experience with growing avocados in pots and planting them in containers of different sizes and shapes. Growing avocados in pots is often one of the first things we try when learning about plant care and where our food comes from. Many primary school children are given this or a similar task. But if in your case it was a little long ago, or if you yourself became a parent in the course of time, it’s time to learn again how to grow avocados indoors.
First, gather the kids around you (or wake up the dormant child in your soul) because below is an easy and fun project!
So insert 3-4 toothpicks halfway into an avocado seed, as shown in the picture, and place it in a glass of water so that the toothpicks hold the seed at the edge of the glass. So one half of the seed is in the water and the other half is above the water. It is also important that the flat half of the seed should be at the bottom, in the glass filled with water.
If you want to speed up the germination process, remove the seed coat or cut a 1-2 cm section from the sharper end of the seed before submerging it halfway into the water. This procedure is not essential, as most seeds germinate easily on their own.
Place the seed in a sunny spot and make sure that the glass is always half full of water for a few weeks. Soon a small root will appear at the bottom, while at the pointed end of the seed, at the top, a young shoot. After the stem emerges from the seed and develops, and you can see a rich root system in the water, you can plant the seed in a pot or container filled with a planting mix with good drainage. It is important to have a drainage hole at the bottom of the pot.
Caring for Potted Avocados
Caring for a potted avocado is not complicated. Keep the soil of the plant constantly moist, but avoid overwatering. Overwatering causes the leaves to curl up and the stem to become limp, which is undesirable. Also avoid insufficient watering, as in this case the leaves of the avocado will wither, dry out and eventually fall off.
Your avocados – like most houseplants – need to be fed with a fertilizer. Feed the plant every three months with a small amount of water-soluble liquid fertilizer. This helps the plant develop and ensures that the leaves have a nice healthy dark green color.
When the weather turns warm, the avocado can be moved outside to a semi-shaded spot. If you want the avocado to branch, cut the stem back by 15-20 cm. Also pinch back the developing branches when they reach a length of 15-20 cm, in order to promote the development of further branches.
Remember that the avocado fruit comes from a tree, so you are actually growing a tree, although it takes a while for the plant to reach the height of a tree. It is also unlikely that the tree will produce fruit, but if it does, it is possible that the taste of the fruits will not be as good, and it may take up to 8-10 years for it to become so.
Nevertheless, germinating avocado seeds is an excellent pastime, and it’s also very simple, so we encourage you to give it a try if you have a chance!
