Growing Avocado from Seed: Simple Tricks for Quick Fruiting

Growing avocado seems like a great idea! Imagine when you harvest and eat the soft fruit while enjoying a glass of milk.

Making it guacamole or juice can also be the right choice.

However, growing avocado is also not an easy thing. Only a persistent person can take care of it from seedling until it bears fruit.

Not to mention, its maintenance also requires effort.

But all that hard work will also give the same results. The delicate taste and complete nutrients will help you live a life full of nutrition.

If you are one of those people who dream of walking around in your avocado garden while picking fruits, then this review is the right place. Let’s learn together!

Contents

Fun Facts about Avocado

The avocado is also called an Alligator Pear because of its pear-like shape and green skin. Avocado is a derivative of the Spanish word aguacate, which in turn comes from the Aztec word ahuacatl. — Avocado is also called an Alligator Pear

Before diving into the technical stuff, let’s first identify the avocado. That way, you know what to do. Here are some facts about it:

Avocado is an ancient plant that has been around since 7000 BC.
This plant initially grows wild in the south-central part of Mexico, but people only started cultivating it in California in the 1930s.
Approximately 7000 years ago, avocados were worth the equivalent of gem gold. The people of Mesoamerica used this fruit as a tribute to royalty.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a medium-sized avocado contains up to 4.6 grams of fiber, which is the highest among other fruits in the world.
The potassium content of this fruit is much more than bananas.
The National Cancer Institute reports that avocados are rich in glutathione, a master oxidant that can boost the body’s immune system (about 19 milligrams per fruit)
The Journal of the American Heart Association revealed that this fruit is the perfect diet to eat because it can increase LDL levels and lower cholesterol.
Avocados have many mentions in ancient civilizations, such as ahuacatl (Aztec), aguacate (Spain), and many more.
Growing avocado from seed will take 4-15 years before fruiting.
Avocados are synchronous dichogamy, where the same flower will bloom twice. Regarding flowering, avocados are divided into type A and type B

With a complete nutritional content and delicious taste, enjoying this fruit every single day can be one way to maintain health.

So what else makes you hesitant about growing avocado?

Avocado Flowering System

The avocado flower has both functional male and female organs in the one flower, but opens and closes twice over a two-day period — the first day as functionally female and the next as functionally male. — Avocado flower has both functional male and female organs in the one flower

As explained above, avocados are synchronous dichogamy plants. The same flower will bloom twice and each with a different gender.

In this case, the flower will bloom first as a female who receives pollen. After approximately 2-4 hours, it will bud and return as a male flower that releases pollen.

Based on the blooming pattern, there are two groups of avocados, namely types A and B. The following is an explanation:

Type A: Flowers bloom first in the morning, then bud, and return as male flowers the following afternoon. Examples of this type are Reed, Hass, and Mexicola.
Type B: Female flowers appear in the afternoon, bud, and return the next morning. Fuerte, Sir Prize, Zutano, and Bacon are examples of this type.

This unique flowering pattern is also one of the reasons why this fruit takes a long time to bear fruit.

Avocados that are still one type are difficult to pollinate if they all appear with the same sex at once.

What Varieties to Plant

Avocado varieties include: Hass, Pinterton, Lamb Hass, Carmen Hass, Gwen, Reed, Mexicola, Stewart, and Holiday. Of them all, Hass and Reed are the most common. — Best avocado varieties to plant will depend on the location of your farm

Again, growing avocado requires patience and patience. You may have to wait years to enjoy the results.

Therefore, choosing the right type is necessary. The following are the types of avocados that are easiest to grow, bear fruit quickly, and have a delicious taste:

Hass: Has a creamy texture and a high-fat content.
Pinkerton: The easiest avocado to grow and has a taste quality similar to Hass
Reed: Has a slender tree shape and does not take up space. Uniquely, the reed can bear fruit without a pollinator partner. It also tastes good.
Lamb Hass: It tastes great and has a high content of good fats.
Carmen Hass: The tree is lush and has a fruity taste similar to Hass.
Gwen: The tree’s small size makes it perfect for an occasional dwelling. The taste is similar to Hass but less creamy.
Mexicola Grande: One of the fastest-fruiting and easiest-to-grow avocado varieties. The fruit is big and nutty in flavor.

Those are some of the most appropriate choices to make your growing avocado moment easier and fruit-able.

Moreover, there are still a lot of options to choose from. Please stay referenced!

How to Grow Avocado

It's surprisingly easy to grow your own avocado tree from seed, and it makes a great educational project for home and classrooms. — You can grow an avocado tree from a leftover pit indoors with some toothpicks, water, soil and a pot

Now you know the nature of avocados and which types are suitable for cultivation. Whatever it is, you can apply the same treatment. Here are some steps:

Preparation before Growing Avocados

For proper planting and germination of your avocado seed, prepare a pot that's approximately 10 inches wide. Wash the pot with soap and water, then fill it with sterile potting soil. — For proper planting and germination avocado prepare a pot that’s approximately 10 inches wide fill with sterile potting soil

For best results, choose seeds from sweet and soft fruit.
Take the seeds from the avocado slowly, do not let it break, cut, or split.
Wash the avocado seeds using water slowly.
Clean the seeds and peel the outer skin gently.
Wash again after cleaning.

Seeding

Pits from store-bought avocados do germinate, so you can grow your own avocado tree from just one little pit. — Grow an avocado from seed

When growing avocado, seeding is a necessary process to accelerate fruiting. You can plant directly in the ground, but remember that it leads to slower growth.

Therefore, some gardeners recommend seeding with water media before using the soil. It is also a necessary part of indoor planting. Here are the steps:

Pierce the cleaned avocado pits with 3-4 toothpicks. Make sure to stick it in a circular line but slightly tilted towards the bottom.
With a toothpick stuck in, look for the more oval part of the seed, then place it over a container of clean water.
Place the wider part at the bottom to make it submerge in the water. The top will be the part of the shoot growing, and the bottom is where the roots will grow.
To get enough sun exposure, put it near a window.
If the amount of water decreases, add more water.
Leave the avocado seeds for three weeks until cracks appear. It means that the avocado seed has started to grow.
Let stand this condition until the roots grow and reach 5 – 7 cm.

Again, you can grow it directly in the ground without following those steps. If so, please dry the seeds for 3 hours before sowing, then plant them directly in pots or polybags.

Growing Avocado Outdoor

If you live in a warm enough hardiness zone, you can plant outdoors. Avocados perform best in temperatures between 60 to 85°F. — Growing avocado outdoor

A small growing place will make avocados stunted and unable to bear fruit. Therefore, whether you use water media or directly plant in polybags, please give more space to grow.

Once the avocado has buds, it is time to move it to the field. Make sure you have prepared the best location and soil nutrition. Follow these steps:

Dig the soil according to the size of the avocado shoots.
Make sure the top tip of the shoot is slightly sticking out of the soil when we plant it.
Water the shoots regularly. Remember, it should not be excessive or overflooded to avoid rotting.
Treat until the shoots have grown to 15-20 cm. If so, trim the leaves and twigs to trigger the growth of new shoots.

How to Grow Avocado Indoors

When grown indoors, avocados do best in a south or west-facing window where they receive a minimum of six hours of sunlight, and temperatures are between 60 and 85℉ — Growing avocado indoors

The different thing is where you will move the shoots. Here are some things you need to pay attention to in indoor planting

Move the sprouted plant to pots in the same way as outdoor plantings.
You can choose standard-sized pots first, but remember to do repotting if they grow later.
Put it in a location with lots of light access.
Water and give enough fertilizer.

Treatments after Growing Avocados

Water frequently with an occasional deep soak. Keep plant moist but not overly saturated. — Avocado growing treatment

When the shoots grow, then a new journey in growing avocado begins. You must provide adequate care to keep the plants healthy and fertile.

Avocados will grow well in the soil with moisture. Make sure to water it every day, but don’t let it get stagnant.
The wind can speed up pollination. Therefore, when growing avocado indoors, you should frequently shake the pot to simulate the wind.
Keep the temperature between 13-28 degrees Celsius.
Provide access to sufficient sunlight.
Yellowed leaves are a sign of excess water. If so, reduce the intensity of watering.
If the leaves are dry and browning, increase the intensity of watering.
Don’t forget to prune regularly to make the leaves thicker and grow faster.
The provision of fertilizer is also necessary to help fertilize plants and accelerate fruiting.
Carry out regular inspections to prevent pests and diseases.

The essence of growing avocados is patience. Especially in growing avocado from seed, you must enjoy every process to reap the results.

How to Accelerate Fruiting

Avocados need a chilling period to promote flowering and fruit — Speed up avocado fruiting

Although growing avocado takes a long time to bear fruit, you can do small things to speed up results. One of them is to plant trees type A and B together.

As explained above, avocado is a synchronous dichogamy. One flower can bloom twice with different sexes.

If you plant the type A and type B trees together, then the possibility of pollination will be faster because both types are blooming with different genders.

Meanwhile, the wind will carry the pollen to another tree with blooming female flowers. In addition, the role of animals such as bees, butterflies, and birds is also critical.

If you are growing indoors, shaking the pot will also help speed up fruiting. It will be easier if you place it in an area that can swing plants easily.

Conclusion

In warmer weather, all you really need to do is to plant some avocado seeds in soil either in the garden or in a pot, keep them watered — Growing avocado plant

Growing avocado takes patience because it takes a long time to grow and bear fruit. But you can get precise and fast results with the best planting and care process.