It may take as long as 15 years before you ever see any fruit and even then, there are no guarantees.  I will still show you a fun way to start your avocado journey. 

Avocado Seed

You'll first need to either eat an avocado or acquire a pit somehow. You can use a fresh or properly dried avocado seed. In this demonstration I will use one of my stashes of sun dried avocado seeds. 

Clean Avocado Seed

You must clean the avocado seed and remove excess and as much trace amounts of fruit that you can. If you don't, your seed will be consumed by mold and mites. This can be done with water and a paper towel. If you are using the seed after a day or tw0, I suggest damping a paper towel with vinegar and wiping your seed down. A lot of people suggest not removing the thin brown skin, but I have noticed that my seeds still sprout seedlings.

Knowing UP from DOWN

Avocados have a very oblong shape and their seeds are oval. The seed top is typically more pointed than the ballooned bottom and can be easily identified. The reason it's important to distinguish the difference is because the bottom will grow roots and the top will sprout.

Skinny Dipping and Dry Humping

Ok so you can easily find tutorials at your local gardening shop that suggest that you use toothpicks. I have tried that method, and it works great with fresh seeds. If you eat as many avocados as my family, the seeds start to pile up. Trade the toothpicks for CHEESECLOTH and make the process easier. You can still use the toothpicks to poke tiny holes in the bottom and/or sides of the seed which is completely optional. 

Skinny Dipping

1. cut a piece of cheese cloth that's about 6 inches x 6 inches
2. place the cheesecloth slightly submerged in water
3. fasten the cheesecloth with either a rubber band or open canning top
4. drop the seed on the cloth
5. the bottom half should be underwater especially the parts you poked the holes

Dry Humping

1. cut a piece of cheese cloth that's about 24 inches x 24 inches
2. place the cheesecloth slightly submerged in organic soil
3. drop the seed on the cloth and push it down partially submerged in the organic soil
4. the bottom half should be under the soil especially the parts you poked the holes
5.  soak soil daily until the pit grows roots and sprouts.

This little light of mine

Place your planted seed in natural sunlight. If you're using the SKINNY DIPPING method, just wait for it to crack and sprout. If you are using the DRY HUMPING method, water occasionally as to not take on root rot. The soil needs to remain deeply soaked everyday until it sprouts.

Re Homing

If your seedling is in water, you need transfer it to a pot or the ground with the top part of the seed still slightly exposed. It helps with photosynthesis. Avocado's are a tropical fruit and love the sun. If you are growing from a potted seedling, just let it chill until you are ready to move it to a larger pot or plant it in the ground.

Like Watching Paint Dry

Now that you have made it this far with your avocado journey, the rest in years of maintenance and bragging. Keep a decent amount of sun on your plant and keep the soil replenished and quenched. Keep your plant/tree from freezing as it will kill it. You will have to measure your soil's pH based on your climate and region. The occasional pruning helps any plant grow more voluminous . Cloned avocados trees can guarantee fruit in 3 to 4 years. Growing from seed can take anywhere from 10 - 15 years. Spend that time letting people know that you have the faith of a mustard seed.

7 Yrs Old

Tag #avocados and #journey to show us how your avocado journey is going.

My Seed Stash