How to grow an avocado tree in a flower pot

Avocados are considered one of the healthiest and tastiest fruits on the planet. It’s rich, creamy inside is filled with nutrition and flavor and growing your own avocados is a fun adventure for the gardener. Avocado (Persea americana) is a native fruiting tree of Mexico and Central America. Avocado fruit varies in weight from 4 ounces to more than 5 pounds depending on variety.

How to grow an avocado tree from seed.

1: REMOVE & CLEAN PIT

You’ll need to start by removing the pit from the avocado carefully (without cutting it), and then washing it clean of all the avocado fruit (often it helps to soak the pit in some water for a few minutes and then scrub all the remaining fruit off). Be careful not to remove the brown skin on the pit .

2: Push three or four toothpicks into the seed at its widest part so that you can suspend the pit over a glass of water with the pointy end sticking up. The water should cover about an inch of the seed.

Many guides recommend to change the water every day, but I found, through trial and error, that it is better to change the water every five days to a week or so3: Put in a warm place and make sure to maintain the water level.In 2-6 weeks, roots and a stem will sprout from the seed. When the stem is about six inches long, trim it in half.

4: When the stem leafs again, transplant the seedling to a pot with loose, sandy soil. Plant the seedling root down, leaving the top half of the pit sticking out of the soil.

Pinch back the newest top leaves every time the stems grow another six inches or so to encourage more growth and a fuller plant.

TROUBLESHOOTING BUGS

My avocado trees seem to collect aphids – the nasty critters can’t get enough of the delicious avocado leaves. If you get them, here’s how to get rid of them: Wash all of the aphids off the plant by spraying your plant down with a hose outside or in the sink/shower. Once the little pests are off, spray your plant with a mixture of water with a small squirt of dishwashing liquid and a teaspoon of neem oil. This will keep aphids from returning. Check your plant every 4-5 days and re-clean and spray when necessary.

In most regions, the avocado plant can stay outside in summer. If you live in a warm climate that does not experience temperatures less than 45 degrees F, you may want to make your avocado tree part of your landscaping by moving the plant outside permanently: