How to Grow an Avocado Pit

Most of us discard the seeds or pits of avocados, after consuming the fleshy part of the fruit. Even though, avocados are not usually grown as houseplants, you can try growing them from the pits. These plants with shiny dark leaves, can be an added attraction to your place. You can either prune this plant to a bush form and keep it indoors or grow it in your garden. However, you should not expect fruits from such a plant, as it requires enough sunlight and more avocado plants in the vicinity for cross-pollination. If the above said requirements are met with, your avocado plants may bear fruit within four to six years.

In case of commercial cultivation of avocados, propagation is usually done through grafting, rather than growing the pits. However, growing avocado pits can be a wonderful experience for you as well as your kids. It can also be a great project for students. Avocado pits can be grown in two ways. In order to germinate an avocado seed, you may either plant the pit in normal soil or submerge it in water. While, the first method is one of the common methods of growing seeds, we shall discuss the second one, which can be really interesting.

Tips to Grow an Avocado Pit in Water

• The first and foremost requirement is to prepare the avocado pit for planting in water. Choose a fresh and ripe avocado and carefully cut along the length of the fruit, so that the inner pit does not suffer any cut or damage.
• Remove the pit and clean it with water, so as to remove any traces of pulp on it. Make sure not to remove the skin of the avocado pit, while cleaning.
• An avocado pit has a broader end, from which the roots develop and the tapering end on the opposite side produces the shoot. If you cannot distinguish between the two ends, search for the dimpled end and that will be the broader part.
• So, you have to keep the broader end of the avocado pit, immersed in water. In order to achieve this, hold the pit with the broader side facing downwards and stick four toothpicks along its horizontal circumference (at even intervals, through the middle portion of the pit).
• In other words, the toothpicks have to be inserted into the pit (to a maximum depth of 5 mm), so that they form a framework, that can rest on the rim of the container filled with warm water.
• Once you are ready with the avocado pit and its toothpick framework, choose a slender glass container and fill it (till the rim) with tepid water. Make sure that the container has enough width to accommodate the avocado pit.
• Now, place the avocado pit over the rim of the container with water, so that the toothpick frame rests on the rim. The broader part of the avocado pit must be immersed in water.
• Always keep the container filled with water and never use cold water. Place the container in a warm area, where there is no strong lights or cold air drafts. The water should always stay clear and type of cloudiness may be due to pit decay.
• If healthy, the pit will crack in half, within two to three weeks and it will take another one month for a single root to appear from the broader part of the pit. The shoot will appear within seven to ten days.
• Once the roots get three to four inches long with a minimum shoot length of one inch, you can use a large pot for planting the avocado pit.
• Use a mixture of one part sand and three parts potting soil to plant the pit. Plant it in the soil, so that the top half of the pit is above the soil level.
• Keep the soil moist, till the plant gets established. After that watering can be done once a week. It will be better to prune the plant, so that it gets bushy.

If the pits do not sprout within two to three months, discard them and start anew. Growing avocado pits is an interesting task, provided, you know the right method. So, you can try this, the next time you get a ripe avocado.