You know those pits, yeah the hard nut thing inside an avocado that you usually throw away? Well don’t throw them away!!! Even if you have multiple, just start multiple trees and give them to friends & family!
With just a glass, water, light, 2 toothpicks, & lots of time you can grow an avocado tree from that little pit!
This is super easy to do and does not take hardly any care, it just takes a long time to grow, so don’t get impatient! It is rare that a seed won’t grow but if that does happen, I’m sorry for your loss, but keep trying!
STEP 1: Wash & peel your pit! Wash off all the avocado goop & peel off the skin (not with a peeler, just with your fingers- it’s easier to do if it’s wet, so soak them for a couple minutes in a bowl of water and then peel). *Below is a picture of the difference between peeling with a peeler & ust peeling the skin off with your fingers, it just browned instead of staying the nice tan color*
STEP 2: Make your pit have arms! Stick a toothpick on either side on an angled up, with the pointer side of the pit facing up (this is just to keep it up in the glass). You don’t need to stick the toothpicks super far in, just enough so they won’t fall out.
STEP 3: Place your pit in the glass and add water! Make sure your pit is going to stay balanced in your glass and then fill your glass with water until half of the pit is covered. You want to make sure half of the pit is covered with water at all times!
STEP 4: Give it light & wait! Place the glass in a windowsill that gets sun most of the day and just wait.
STEP 5: Upkeep! Replace the water once a week, that’s it. It will start to split and grow a root out of the bottom after a few weeks. Then a few weeks after that it will start to grow a stem out of the top.
STEP 6: Transplanting! Once your pit has grown a good, thick stem with several leaves it is time to transplant into a BIG pot! I used a 14″ Terra Cotta Pot for the first transplant. Once your tree grows you will need to transplant into a bigger pot until you can’t find a bigger pot! Unless you’re in a warm enough climate that you can plant your trees in the ground (usually this is zone 8 and above). If you are in a zone below 8 I recommend keeping it in a pot and bringing it inside when it gets cold. (Back saving tip: Put your pot on wheels of some sort so you don’t have to lift that big heavy pot)!
When transplanting make sure that your root has plenty of space to keep growing. I planted mine so that the top of the pit (seed) was at the top just lightly covered with dirt, enough that when watered it you won’t be able to see it.
Keep watering, it doesn’t need to be soaked, just damp all the time.
RIP the leaf that my toddler decided to make his friend…
There ya have it folks!
Simple, easy, & in a couple years you can say “I grew my own avocados!”
