How are avocados grown at home?

At first glance, it may seem that growing an avocado tree from a seed at home is difficult, if not impossible. But this is not the case. Everyone can afford to grow this decorative tree without much effort, and enjoy its fruits in the future. True, you need to know some secrets. We will disclose them to our readers in this post.

Content:

• The first step is to buy an avocado at the store
• Germinating an avocado seed
• We plant a bone in the ground

The first step is to buy an avocado at the store

The avocado tree has wide leaves and flexible stems, which makes it possible to form various decorative compositions from it. Usually, three trees are planted in pots, from which pigtails are formed during growth. There is a belief that the presence of an avocado tree in the house harmonizes relationships and creates a romantic atmosphere.

To do this, you need to purchase a ripe avocado from the store. To check it for ripeness, you need to press the fruit with your palms on both sides, and then release it. The ripe fruit will restore its structure, so you can safely buy it. But even if the avocado is not yet fully ripe, then you can also buy it - over time it will ripen.

For the fruit to ripen faster, it can be placed next to apples or bananas, as these fruits emit ethylene gas, which promotes early ripening.

Germinating an avocado seed

The avocado fruit must be peeled, pitted and sown on the same day. Usually the seed germination rate is 100%. There are three ways to plant a bone.

1. An unpeeled bone can be planted directly into the ground, leaving a third on top. The blunt end must be in the soil. We leave the bone in this state, it is necessary to water it once a week.
2. An unpeeled bone can be pierced in three places with toothpicks 3 mm deep, and then placed in water with a blunt end. The bottom must be in water and the puncture sites must not be submerged.
3. The peeled avocado seed must be placed in water, leaving a third on top. A peeled seed germinates faster, and in this case, you can observe how the root system and stem are formed.

Avocado seeds sprouting in water

For planting, it is better to choose a large bone, since it has more energy for growth. Soaking water should be used at room temperature (23-25 ​​° C). You can add charcoal or activated charcoal to the water, but this is not necessary, since the stone is unpretentious and will germinate perfectly without these additives.

The seed can sprout in a week, or maybe in two months. It depends on the season. It is best to plant it in the spring, as at this time it will germinate faster.

We plant a bone in the ground

As soon as the sprout grows 3 cm, it can be planted in the ground. The soil must be loose, well-drained so that the bone can breathe. Avocados don't like stagnant water in their roots, so drainage is a must. You can take a small pot for planting, later, after a year, the plant can be transplanted.

The drain should be 2 cm high.It is necessary to make a small depression in the soil, plant a bone in it so that a third comes out of the ground, and then pour it with ordinary settled water, preferably with a small amount of salt, preferably filtered.

Next, the pot must be placed in the brightest place in the room, you can fertilize once a month or once every two weeks, any mineral fertilizers are suitable for this. In this case, the plant will grow and develop rapidly.

If the tree is stretched out due to lack of sunlight, then it needs to be pinched. To determine if watering is required for a plant, it is necessary to deepen your finger into the soil by two phalanges. If it is wet, no watering is needed.

To give the tree a more decorative look, you can sprout several avocado seeds, and then, as they grow, weave a pigtail from the stems. In this case, the pigtail should not be very dense. It is imperative to leave gaps between the segments, because the trunk grows over time. Otherwise, the decorativeness of the plant will be lost. When there is a gap, you can fix the weave due to the flexibility of the stem.

Starting from the third year of life, yellow-green flowers may appear on the tree. For a tree to begin bearing fruit, it is desirable to have two or more avocado plants. This is necessary for cross-pollination of trees.

It is advisable to take out the plant in the summer to the country and expose it under the crowns of trees in a sunny place. Then the avocado will begin to bear fruit already in the third year.

Avocado is an exotic evergreen plant. Many flower growers know that it is not easy to grow an avocado at home, much less wait for the harvest. Its fruits, unique in taste, could please more than one grower. But, unfortunately, homemade avocados with fruits are rather an exception to the rule. Although they do not always plant an orange or persimmon seed, hoping for a quick result. You can wait for more than one year, hope and at the same time enjoy a fruit bush or tree.

If you wish, you can plant an avocado seed and patiently follow all the necessary rules for growing and caring. What if your dream comes true, and you wait for the harvest at your home?

How to grow an avocado from a seed

To grow this unusual overseas plant, you will definitely need a ripe avocado fruit. Only the seed of such a fruit has a great chance of germination. This process can be done in two ways:

• The first method (closed) is common and uncomplicated. The avocado seed should be thrust into the soil with its wide underside to a shallow depth (about 2 centimeters). When favorable conditions are created, it should germinate in about 30 days.
• The second method (open) is interesting and even, one might say, exotic.

Before planting in the ground, the seed must be germinated in water in a suspended position. First, it needs to be thoroughly washed and cleaned. Then, approximately in the middle of the bone along the line of the circle, you need to carefully drill three or four holes, into which you then need to insert thin wooden sticks (for example, matches or toothpicks). They will act as a support when we lower the wide lower part of the bone into a container of water. These sticks, like clamps, will hold the bone at the required height. The main thing is to constantly monitor the amount of water in the container. The bottom of the bone should always be in the water.

Instead of water for sprouting avocado seeds, you can use special polymer granules (hydrogel). This polymer material can hold large amounts of water for a long time. In this method, it is very convenient, you do not need to follow the level.

It will take only 20-30 days, and the first young roots will appear, and then the sprout. The seed will be ready for planting in the ground when the roots are 4 centimeters long.

First you need a small flower pot with large holes. The earth doesn't have to be dense.It must be well loosened to ensure the necessary air and moisture exchange. The stone is planted in the soil so that two-thirds of its part is on the surface of the soil. There is no need to remove the shell on the bone.

Avocado - growing and caring at home

Location and lighting

Avocado is a light-loving plant, but partial shade will suit it. It must be protected from direct sunlight. If your house or apartment has a room with west-facing windows, then such a window sill will be the perfect place for this fruit.

Temperature

Since the tropics are home to avocados, it naturally loves warmth. In the event of a sharp drop in temperature or the slightest draft, the plant will begin to show its displeasure - all the leaves will immediately fall off. Therefore, even in warm summer weather, it is undesirable to take it outside.

And in the room, too, a constant temperature must be maintained. In the warm season, the high room temperature will be favorable for the avocado, but in the cold winter time, 20 degrees Celsius will be enough for it.

The plant also has a dormant period in winter. If in winter the temperature in the room drops to 12 degrees, then the avocado will immediately react - it will drop the leaves and switch to the "hibernation" mode. But with proper care and a constant temperature balance, this cannot happen. This tropical plant is considered evergreen.

Watering rules

Watering avocados at home should be regular and abundant, but taking into account the temperature and the season. Over-watering can be harmful. It is watered more often in summer than in winter. After the topsoil has dried, it should take a couple more days before you start watering the plant. Only its upper part dries immediately, and inside the pot for about two more days the moisture necessary for the avocado remains.

Air humidity

Air humidity is also of great importance. The air in the room is almost always dry, and this is very harmful for this plant. Spraying daily will help solve the problem. It is very important that during such water procedures, only the air near the avocado is humidified, but not the plant itself. Even small droplets should not fall on its leaves.

There is another way of moistening - this is a special tray for a pot with moistened expanded clay.

Top dressing and fertilizers

From September to March, the plant does not need feeding. But the rest of the time, once a month, the avocado must be fed with the fertilizer recommended for citrus fruits or any other complex dressing.

Avocado transplant

In nature, avocados grow up to 20 meters in height. Although at home it will not reach such heights, but it grows quite actively and requires frequent transplantation. Very soon the first small pot will be too small for him. As soon as the tree grows up to 15 centimeters, it's time to transplant it into a large container. At a young age, avocados are transplanted every year, and then it can be transplanted once every three years.

The land in which it grows is of great importance for the development and growth of a plant. Specifically, an avocado needs any loose and light earth, but not sour. It would be good to add wood ash or dolomite flour to such soil.

When transplanting a plant into a new pot, use the transfer method. Carefully carry the tree along with the clod of earth.

You can make your own potting mix that is good for avocado. To do this, you will need: peat (or humus), garden soil and coarse river sand. All components must be mixed in equal parts.

Pruning

This tropical plant at home may well become a decorative decoration of the room. True, this will require a little experience in floriculture. For example, you can grow several plants from avocado seeds and plant them all together in one flower pot. In the meantime, the plants are young and flexible, you can intertwine their stems with a pigtail.

So that the plant does not stretch in height, but acquires splendor in the form of lateral shoots, it must be pinched. This procedure can be carried out only when the tree has a sufficient number of leaves (at least eight). First, pinch the top of the plant, this promotes the development of lateral branches. And after they are sufficiently formed and acquire their own leaves, you can pinch them too.

Pruning is done in early spring. It is necessary to improve the growth and development of the plant, as well as to form the crown you need. It can be completely different. It all depends on the imagination of the grower.

Diseases, pests and other problems

Avocados, like all houseplants, are afraid of the same pests - scabbard and spider mites. The gluttonous spider mite can not only destroy all the leaves on the plant, but can also transfer various diseases to other indoor flowers. The scale insect feeds on plant sap. After its appearance, only dry leaves remain. You can fight such pests using various folk methods or insecticidal preparations.

Among the diseases, the main danger to avocados is powdery mildew.

Other problems may arise during the growing process:

The tips of the leaves dry out. Reasons - watering rules are not followed (lack of moisture), insufficient air humidity. It is necessary to establish regular watering (only after the top layer of the earth dries out) and humidify the air in the room using spraying.

Leaves are falling. The reasons are drafts and a drop in air temperature in the apartment. It is necessary to maintain an optimal temperature regime in the room and avoid drafts.

Paleness of leaves. The reasons are lack of lighting. It is necessary to find a suitable place for the plant or arrange additional (artificial) lighting for it, especially in winter.

Anyone who enjoys working with the land and growing plants will certainly love and experiment with planting seeds of various fruits at home, including overseas ones. But planting an avocado simply by burying a bone in the ground will not work - it is necessary to create special conditions so that after a certain time the “overseas” tree will turn green on your windowsill.

Growing an avocado at home - step one

To begin with, I would like to note that the avocado is grown at home only as an ornamental plant. It decorates the interior of the room, creates a special atmosphere, releases a lot of oxygen, but nothing more. Even with the most careful care according to all the rules, this tropical tree at home very rarely blooms, and fruiting happens even less often, so you should not wait for the harvest.

Even with the most careful care according to all the rules, this tropical tree at home very rarely blooms

So, if you nevertheless decide to plant an alligator pear (the second name for avocado), then in order to achieve at least some results, you must first of all get planting material. Not every fruit is suitable for this. It is necessary to choose the largest and ripe (or better - overripe) fruits, the peel of which was not damaged during transportation. If there are only hard avocados on the counter, then for planting the fruit must be left at room temperature at home for several days, which will allow it to ripen. The bone must be removed with extreme care. The remnants of the pulp must be washed off under a stream of warm running water, after which it is worth letting the bone dry (but in no case postpone planting for a month or a week. It is optimal to do seed on the same day). When the planting material is ready, you can safely proceed to the second stage.

How to plant a bone - step two

It is useless to simply plant an avocado seed in a pot with soil, you must first prepare it. To do this, the seed is soaked in sufficiently hot water (but not boiling water) for half an hour.Next, the shell is removed from the heated bone, the tip is cut off from the narrow side, and the cut is treated with an antifungal drug, which must be purchased in advance in a specialized store. After that, the wide end of the bone is placed by a third in the prepared soil mixture. (we will talk about how to properly prepare the soil a little later). Further, the future plant grown at home is left alone - until the moment of germination, only watering is needed once a week.

While waiting for a sprout, it is very important to monitor the quality and amount of water in the glass.

There is another way to grow seed avocados at home, which is considered more reliable. It is necessary to take three or four toothpicks, and along the perimeter at the middle level, make punctures and insert prepared toothpicks into them, sticking them to a depth of 2-5 mm. The entire structure must be placed in a glass with pre-settled water at room temperature, so that the blunt end of the bone is in the water, and the punctures remain dry. Many agronomists advise, in this case, to take not just settled water, but add a little charcoal to the bottom of the glass. If there is none at home, replace it with a simple activated one.

While waiting for a sprout, it is very important to monitor the quality and quantity of water in the glass. Fine dust, debris and microorganisms slow down the "pecking" process. Therefore, every 2-3 days, the bone must be removed and the water in the glass must be quickly replaced with a new one. The process of sprouting a seed at home is quite long, so don't be alarmed if you don't see any results even after a month. As a rule, sprouts and roots can be seen after about 5-8 weeks (it all depends on the planting season). Once the shoots have reached 4 cm, the seed is ready to be planted in the ground.

Transplanting into the ground - step three

Avocados do not like too heavy, acidic and clayey soils, so simple soil from the garden will not work. The soil mixture will have to be prepared as follows: It is necessary to take in equal proportions garden soil, peat, coarse sand, humus and a pinch of lime. Mix all components thoroughly. That's it, the soil mixture is ready. The same soil must be used in the case of planting the bones directly into the ground.

Avocado dislikes heavy, acidic and clayey soils

Since the soil from the garden can be filled with harmful microbes, it is better to try to disinfect the prepared mixture by spilling it with boiling water the day before planting a seed or sprouted seed.

For planting, it is better to take a simple plastic pot, no more than 15 cm high. It is better not to use a clay container in this case, since the walls of such a pot can allow moisture to pass through, which is vital for an avocado. The bottom of the selected pot should be water-permeable, it should also be equipped with a drainage system, which can be done using special granules or the usual expanded clay.

A seed with a sprout does not need to be completely buried in the ground. It is only necessary to dig it in by a third. This must be done carefully so as not to damage the root system.

Video about how to plant an avocado correctly

Home avocado care

But it is not enough to properly plant an avocado - it is necessary to provide the plant with proper care.

1. The plant does not like direct sunlight, so when growing it at home, you need to put a pot of avocado in partial shade or on the windows on the north side.
2. The tree must be pruned regularly, otherwise it will stretch out and no longer be so attractive.
3. The plant is very hygrophilous. In summer, it is necessary to ensure frequent watering, in winter a little less often. Overdried soil will cause the plant to shed its leaves. (Discarded leaves are not always indicative of a lack of moisture, however.)
4. In the summer-spring period, the tree needs feeding once a month.When grown at home, suitable for tropical plants that must be purchased at a specialized point of sale.

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Most people believe that growing from an avocado seed is a very difficult task that not everyone can cope with. However, this is not the case. Absolutely every florist, even an experienced one, even a beginner can quite easily grow such a tree at home, and after a while and taste the delicious fruits from it.

The leaves of this plant are very wide, and the shoots are quite flexible, due to which you can easily form a variety of spectacular compositions from avocados. Most often, 3 plants are planted in one container at once, and then a very beautiful and unusual pigtail is formed from them as they grow. There is a belief about what a plant is, like an avocado, which brings romance and harmony to the house.

Growing process

To get started in the store, you should select and buy an avocado fruit. It should be ripe. In order to understand whether the fruit is ripe or not, you need to squeeze it between your palms and squeeze it slightly, and then evaluate the result. A fully ripe fruit will quickly return to its original shape. But an unripe avocado fruit is also quite suitable, because after a while it will ripen. In order to speed up the ripening process, avocados should be placed next to fruits such as bananas or apples. They release a unique gas called ethylene, which makes fruits and vegetables ripen faster.

It is necessary to remove the peel from the fruit and remove the bone. They plant her necessarily on the same day. Typically, a sprout appears one hundred percent of the time. Three different methods have been invented and used to plant avocado seed:

1. An unpeeled bone is planted in the soil. The pointed tip should point upwards. And the bone must necessarily rise above the surface of the soil by 1/3 part. Watering infrequently, once every 7 days is enough.
2. The bone is not cleaned, but toothpicks are stuck into it from three sides to a shallow depth (about 3 millimeters). Then the seed must be placed in such a way that the blunt tip is completely in the water, and at the same time the places in which the bone is punctured must not come into contact with the liquid.
3. The bone should be cleaned and immersed in water, while 1/3 of it should rise above the surface of the liquid. In this case, the sprout will appear much faster, and you will also have a unique chance to observe the formation of shoots and roots.

It is preferable that the seed to be planted is sufficiently large, since it then has a comparatively greater amount of energy to grow. The bone is soaked in well-settled water at normal room temperature (23-25 ​​degrees). Some flower growers recommend pouring very little crushed activated or charcoal into the water. But this can not be done, since the sprout will appear in plain water very soon.

The sprout may well appear after a week or one and a half, but sometimes this can only happen after a couple of months. Germination time is directly related to the season. So, it is recommended to plant in the spring, because it is during this period that the sprout will appear the fastest.

When the sprout grows a little (about 3 centimeters in height), it should be planted in special soil. It should be loose and easy to allow water and air to pass through. Do not forget about good drainage, because stagnant water in the soil can negatively affect the plant. So, the height of the drainage layer should be about 2 centimeters. For planting a sprout, you can choose a small pot, and after a year it will need to be transplanted by taking a larger container.Make a small depression in the substrate and carefully place the bone in it, so that it rises 1/3 above its surface. Then pour over the avocado. To do this, use settled water. It is better if it contains very little salts, so it is recommended to filter the water.

A well-lit place is chosen for the plant. You can feed avocados 1 or 2 times a month. Mineral fertilizer is excellent for this. With good care, your tree will grow very quickly. In the event that the plant lacks light, it can noticeably stretch out, then its shoots will need to be pinched. It is very simple to understand whether you need to water the avocado or not. Deepen your finger into the substrate on the 2nd phalanx, if it is wet there, then watering is not performed.

To create a spectacular bush, sprout 3 seeds at the same time and plant them in one container. As they grow, a pigtail will need to be woven from their stems. It should be noted that the pigtail should in no case be tight, the gaps between the segments are required. The fact is that the trunk gradually grows, and in the case of dense weaving, plants can lose their decorative effect. If there is a gap, the braiding is fixed due to the good flexibility of the trunk.

As a rule, at the age of three, the avocado begins to bloom. Green-yellowish flowers bloom on the tree. For pollination of flowers, you will need at least 2 plants, as it must be cross.

In warmer months, it is recommended to take the avocado outside, and it is better to place it in the garden under the shade of tall trees. In this case, it should definitely bear fruit already in the 3rd year of life.

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