How to grow an avocado from a seed indoors, germination methods and care features

Avocado is a tree and fruit that have been familiar to humanity for many millennia. Since the second half of the last century, avocado or Persea americana has been gaining popularity as a valuable food product. In the current millennium, avocado fruits are known in almost all corners of the earth.

In the last decade, Mexico has been the leader in the industrial cultivation of avocados, although they are produced in sufficient quantities in Chile, Indonesia, and the United States. However, more and more often, lovers of exotic indoor floriculture are making attempts to grow avocados as a potted indoor crop. Let's try to figure out how to grow an avocado from a seed at home.

Content:

• How to plant an avocado seed correctly
• Requirements for pot and soil for avocados, conditions of maintenance
• Growing and caring for avocados at home

How to plant an avocado seed correctly

Despite the fact that the plant can be propagated vegetatively through grafting or root layering, the most accessible planting material in amateur floriculture is a fairly large seed, which is hidden under a layer of pulp. Therefore, it is better to go to the vegetable department for planting material.It is optimal to buy ripe fruits imported from Mexico, since Mexican avocados are the least demanding in terms of growing conditions, especially temperature.

Avocados from the Caribbean islands are considered the most fastidious; they cannot tolerate low temperatures at all and grow only in warm tropical climates. Buy fruit it is best in the spring, since this time of year is most favorable for germinating avocados indoors.

As soon as you bring the avocado fruits home, you need to proceed as follows:

• remove the pit from a ripe fruit
• determine its wider end
• make a hole in the ground
• bury the pit with the wide end down 2/3 of its height
• put a transparent bag on the potty
• Do not remove the bag until the sprout appears

Important! If after landings After about 20 - 25 days passed, and the bone began to dry out and become very wrinkled, then most likely it died and the experiment will have to be repeated. But if the seed looks decent, but the top layer swells or it is cracked in half, then you should wait a little longer, sometimes it takes 7 - 8 weeks for germination. To speed up the process, some hobbyists practice soaking the seed in warm water and then removing the hard shell before planting.

Video about planting avocados at home:

There are alternative methods of germination - this is to place the seed first in wet wipes, constantly spray them, as soon as the seed begins to open, then do the same with it as in the first case.

Requirements for pot and soil for avocados

Avocados tolerate both acidic and alkaline soil well. It is advisable to fill the pot with any flower soil, neutral or slightly acidic.You can make a mixture yourself from fertile garden soil, peat and sand, taking all this in approximately the same proportions, or mix ready-made soil with sand in the same proportions.

You should not repeat the mistakes of other gardeners and take flat pots; avocado has a fairly powerful tap root and requires a deeper pot. For germination it is enough if its diameter is 15 cm. We must not forget about the obligatory holes at the bottom of the container and a drainage layer of pebbles or expanded clay.

Conditions for keeping avocados after planting

Until the sprout appears, keep the pot in a warm place, covered with a transparent bag. It is important to place it in a room with good, but not direct light, where the temperature is not lower than + 18 and not higher than + 22. If the period after planting was successful, then after some time a green seedling will appear. It remains to be seen what to do next. Let's try to understand the main stages of caring for a young avocado.

Growing and caring for avocados at home

Although avocados grow quickly at home, they almost never bloom or bear fruit. In the southern regions there is experience in growing in open ground, when avocados bear fruit in the fifth to seventh year. After planting and germination, the plant needs watering. It must be carried out so that the ground is moist, but without stagnant water.

For irrigation, you need warm water that has been standing for at least a day. Sometimes you can carry out bottom watering, but after the plant has stood for some time in a pan of water, the water is drained. In addition, for avocados in the room, you need to regularly sprinkle with warm water. Avocados are needed several times in spring and summer feed solutions of any mineral fertilizer and liquid organic mixture for tropical flowers.

In winter, the plant should remain in the same light as in summer, but the temperature can be slightly reduced to + 16 + 18, whereas from the beginning of spring it should be raised to + 20 + 22.

It is advisable to periodically humidify the air where the plant stands. Avocado grows quite quickly, but for some time only into one straight stem with leaves on top. Branching begins when the plant reaches a height of about a meter.

During the first years of intensive growth, replanting may be required once a year, but an adult tree can be replanted once every two to three years. In indoor conditions, the plant rarely overcomes the two-meter mark. Therefore, a young tree will fit perfectly on the window, but an adult one will have to be placed on the floor.