The tropical fruit is tasty and healthy, and the tree grown from its seed will decorate and revitalize the room. How to plant an avocado as a houseplant, not everyone knows. It will be even more interesting to understand, with friends or children, the intricacies of conducting an interesting experiment.
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Growing Features
Avocado is an evergreen plant from the tropics and subtropics of America. The height of the tree in nature reaches 5–20 m. Leaves fall all year round and are replaced by new ones. Small greenish flowers appear in the leaf sinuses.
Fruits in the structure belong to single-seeded berries. Under the dark green wrinkled skin is a yellowish-green flesh. In the center there is one large seed, which is called a stone in everyday life. The fruit is valued for its creamy consistency, rich nutrient content, and compatibility with other products - sweet, sour, salty.
If you grow avocados at home, keep on the windowsill, perform pruning, there is a chance to get a compact bush up to 1.5 m high.
You can plant a seed in the soil or germinate in a glass of water. After a few weeks, roots and a stalk will appear from under the peel. In order for a plant to always look decorative, it needs to create suitable conditions and take proper care.
How to plant avocado from seed at home
For germination use the seed of the fruit purchased in a supermarket or in the market. A ripe but not overripe avocado will do. In this case, there is a greater chance that the seed will germinate and give a viable shoot. Remove the bone from the fetus with a spoon, wash it under the tap, dry it with a paper towel.Avocado seed is quite large, has an ovoid shape (the upper end is narrow, the lower is wide).
Careful disposal of juicy pulp will help prevent mold and decay of the sprout.
Some gardeners recommend acting as carefully as possible so as not to damage the peel of the seed. Others believe that the membrane should be removed to facilitate germination. Both versions have the right to life. Scratches can become an entrance gate for infection. However, a dense peel makes it difficult for the seed to swell and germinate. Partial damage to the hard, poorly permeable to water, shell of seeds, increases their germination.
Avocados can be planted from stone in two simple ways. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages.
Indoor planting method
First, they select a suitable flower pot, fill it with soil. To properly plant an avocado, determine the top and bottom of the seed (the first is narrow, and the second is wide). It is very important to germinate the seed so that the kidney is at the top and the roots come in contact with moist soil.
Next, slightly moisten the substrate. The seed is deepened into the soil with a wide end of 2-3 cm, leaving about 1 cm on the surface. After planting the seeds in the ground to save moisture and better germination, create a mini-greenhouse - cover it first with cling film and pierce it with a toothpick for ventilation.
As the shoot grows, replace the film with a cropped plastic bottle. The soil is moistened with a spray so that it does not dry out. Favorable temperature for germination is about 25 ° C. The process is long, it requires patience from the grower. Germination often takes 3-4 months, or even more.
We grow in an open way
This method allows you to accelerate seed germination and obtaining avocado seedlings. It will take a large glass cup or can. Take 3-4 matches or toothpicks, pierce the bone at the "equator" at an equal distance. In order not to damage the embryo, matches or toothpicks are deepened by about 5 mm.
Seed is turned blunt end down. Toothpicks or matches should hold it in a glass. The container is filled with water until it covers the lower part of the bone. The regrowth of avocado roots can be observed through the glass. Water in the tank is changed every 5-6 days.
Waiting for seed germination takes 2 to 8 weeks. The upper part of the peel dries up, a crack appears that passes through the entire surface of the bone. A small root grows below. Then a green shoot appears at the top. Experts say that the rate of germination depends on the degree of maturity of the avocado and on the good moisture of the seed.
It is necessary to ensure that the roots are constantly in the water.
After 2 months, you can plant the avocado in a pot of earth. By this time, the roots and sprout will develop well. Toothpicks must be carefully removed. A young plant is planted in moist humid soil without removing the seed. The upper part of the seed with the shoot is left on the surface (not buried in the ground). The stone gives decorativeness to the plant, making it more “recognizable”.
Conditions for active tree growth
The composition of the soil for avocados should be equal volumes of fresh garden soil, humus and sand. At the bottom you need a good drainage layer of shards or expanded clay. Humus in the soil can be replaced with peat. When planting avocado seedlings in a container 10-15 cm high, 20 cm in diameter, you can do without transplanting for the next year.
The plant needs good lighting, but it needs to be shaded from direct rays. Best diffused light. The pot is usually placed on the windowsill from the southeast side. Additionally cover the avocado from November to February, if possible.
Will the fruit tree grown from seed?
Avocados are bred as a houseplant not for fruit. A “wild” appears from the bone, which does not inherit varietal characteristics.
The tree can bear fruit at 4-6 years of age and older, but the crop will not please either taste or size. Most often, the fruits cannot be obtained.
Home Care
When the stem reaches a height of 30 cm, pinch the last 2 leaves at the top to form a beautiful tree shape. The lateral branches begin to grow more actively, the crown becomes more dense. Growing 15 cm new shoots also pinch, removing the 2 upper leaves.
Humidification Requirements:
- avocados need frequent watering and spraying of leaves;
- waterlogging of the soil, stagnation of water in the pan should not be allowed;
- with excess moisture, the leaves turn yellow, with a lack - fall off.
In the spring, avocados are transferred to a larger pot with an earthen lump or transplanted into fresh soil. In the summer, they are fed with liquid fertilizer twice a month.
Favorable temperature for growth and development - from 22 to 25 ° C. In November, a rest period begins, which lasts until February. If it is sunny in January, then the tree starts growing earlier.
During dormancy, the plant needs a bright, cool place (10–15 ° С). Watering is reduced, feeding is not carried out. Falling leaves in winter tells the grower that the place is too dark or too warm.
Pest and Disease Control
Avocados are invaded by aphids and other common pests of indoor plants. Insects can be washed off the leaves with a stream of water in the shower. Plants are checked every week, if necessary, repeat the procedure. If there are many pests, then a suitable insecticide is sprayed. You can use "Actellic" - a highly effective drug, convenient to use, not phytotoxic.
Avocados can be grown indoors as an ornamental plant. A guest from tropical America turns into a beautiful tree 5 years after seed germination.
