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How to grow an avocado plant

How to grow an avocado plant

Like many people, I’m an avocado addict. Last year I started experimenting, saving some of the avocado stones and attempting to grow beautiful plants. I had MANY failed attempts, mouldy stones and stones that did absolutely nothing but by magic I finally got some joy! Now with a bumper crop, of three, I thought I’d share my best tips of how to grow an avocado plant.

There are many techniques out there, some peel the avocado stone, some keep them submerged in water, directly into soil etc etc. Each have their own merrits but do what ever suits you best. Anyway, this is what works for me.

WHAT YOU NEED TO GROW AN AVOCADO PLANT
  • a ripe avocado
  • 3 x cocktail sticks/toothpicks
  • a small glass jar
  • knife
  • water
  • and if you have one, then a table top greenhouse is great. If not then just use your sunniest, warmest window cill.

 

How to grow an avocado plantHow to grow an avocado plantCut the avocado, trying not to cut into the stone too much. It can handle a little rough and tumble but not too much.

How to grow an avocado plant

Clean the stone then poke the cocktail sticks into the middle of the stone, at a slight angle.

Make sure that the pointy bit of the stone is at the top. The bottom of the stone should have a tiny thread-like root.

This should now be able to rest on top of the glass jar, dipping in slightly.
How to grow an avocado plant

Fill the jar with water so that half of the stone is submerged.

How to grow an avocado plantHow to grow an avocado plant

Place the stone and jar in a mini greenhouse or on your warmest, sunniest window cill. It’s important that these stones get hot, my failed attempts were in cooler conditions. Warmth and sun is the key.

Keep topping up with water and eventually the stones will crack. This is a good sign!

A root will form and eventually a shoot with mini leaves. I must say, this takes A LONG TIME, I’m talking months. But once the crack and root stage happens then it does grow quickly.

How to grow an avocado plant

When they get to a stage where the shoot is growing well and has a few leaves, then pot it up in soil and place back in the window. The soil needs to be quite wet, keep it moist and it will grow fast but don’t worry if it dries out, my plant have been quite resilient. Some of my avocado stones grew more than one shoot, they look pretty cool.

How to grow an avocado plantHow to grow an avocado plant

 

How to grow an avocado plant

My avocado plant loves the greenhouse so much that it’s now too big for it! All three are ready to be potted into larger pots. A perfect excuse to grow more things in my Skagerak greenhouse and use my lovely Edge and HAY plant pot with saucer .

How to grow an avocado plantHow to grow an avocado plant

HAY plant pot with saucer   |   Edge pot, designed by Stilleben for Skagerak

There you go, it’s not complicated to grow an avocado plant. You need time, patience, water, warmth and sun. Give it a go and let me know how you get on!

Happy growing

H

19 Comments

  • Reply nicole April 19, 2017 at 5:27 pm

    okay Hannah.. I’m inspired.. saw your post of them actually growing so I started.. again. I’ve tried many times, but maybe not patient enough.. I’ll let you know if they start to grow..

    • Reply Hannah April 20, 2017 at 10:57 am

      hey Nicole! yeah give it a go. Some do fail but keep at it xx

  • Reply Helen April 19, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    Thanks for sharing this Hannah. You’ve inspired me to have a go! I’m now lusting after one of those gorgeous Skagerak mini greenhouses too.

    • Reply Hannah April 20, 2017 at 10:57 am

      yey you must give it a go, free plants! 🙂 I’m so in love with my Skagerak greenhouse too, it’s perfect xx

  • Reply Geraldine April 20, 2017 at 8:30 am

    This is amazing Hannah. Beautiful photos too x

    • Reply Hannah April 20, 2017 at 10:57 am

      thanks Geraldine xx

  • Reply Cate April 20, 2017 at 10:52 am

    I’m definitely going to give this a go! Your Skagerak pots are so beautiful xxx

    • Reply Hannah April 20, 2017 at 11:24 am

      I’m looking forward to see your results, yes I agree the Skagerak pots are beautiful xxxx

  • Reply Karen April 20, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    Oh wow! I eat avocado every day so I’m sure I’ll have plenty to experiment with. So impressed you got it to work! x

  • Reply Karen - Making Spaces April 20, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    You are so patient! I would love to do this, but I just know i’d fail miserably.
    It’s a beautiful plant though, I wonder how big they grow?

  • Reply Tiffany April 20, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    Ahhhhh there’s been a voice nagging me to get back on the wagon and try this again. Would you believe, I had an already sprouting stone from one once-halved the avocado and there it was! However, I got too excited with it and put it into soil before it grew a shoot. And game over. Argh! Beautiful styling.

  • Reply Abi | These Four Walls April 21, 2017 at 9:49 am

    Well done! I must try this myself as I’m a fellow avocado expert. Though I manage to kill even the simplest of plants, so the chances aren’t high… xx

  • Reply CarmenVella July 20, 2017 at 9:50 am

    mine three of them took they beside each other in garden can i ask please to have fruits what shall i do

    • Reply Hannah July 20, 2017 at 2:48 pm

      I’m not sure about fruiting yet. I think that may be some time, they will need to be proper grown trees first. I think mine are a little young for that. Good luck though!

  • Reply Hannah February 19, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    Finally found time to read tour post, I hope mine sprouts! Thank you x

    • Reply Hannah February 21, 2018 at 3:51 pm

      oh great! I look forward to seeing the results! x

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  • Reply Boris May 31, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    I’ve been growing avocado plants for several years now and normally for me what works id to directly put in soil and near the window. I’t pretty cool to have an avocado at home. 🙂 Really nice article. I like a lot your photos. Thanks for the great read.

  • Reply Tonia June 16, 2018 at 10:26 am

    Great. Question though, did your plant attract a lot of black flying bugs. They look like that’s but I’m not sure whatvtheybare or how to get rid of them.

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