3

I do not have a green thumb and have had zero success growing an avocado tree from a seed. That being said, while at work I placed some avocado seeds in water and they started to grow.

enter image description here

The one on the left has been growing a little over 4 months the one on the right has only been growing for a couple months. Both of these plants (if you can call them that), have been growing in my office with zero sunlight. Should I place them in a window sill now that get a bit of sunlight? Also, should I put them in a 4" clay pot with good drainage and potting soil? I know growing an avocado plant in a pot doesn't work out but I figure now that I have something actually growing I would like to see how far I can take them.

Thank you for your advice, in advance!

midwest avocado
  • 31
  • 1

2 Answers2

1

There are several techniques to grow avocado. Personally, I am doing the same method like you. Here's two advice:

  1. Sunlight (!)

Avocados need a lot of sunlight, especially at this stage. Put them in a sunny window, preferably south orientation. The less sunlight it gets the more it will "stretch out".

  1. Root growth

You do not need to put them in a pot at this stage. Avocados can survive a long time in a glass of water. What they are trying to do is to build up a proper root system, like most plants actually. Let them stay as long as they can in the glass to keep the root growth. With this I mean is that you should keep them in the glass even if they grow up to produce leaves. Once the plant starts to look a bit sad, leaves are starting to turn yellow or curl (look out for it carefully though) it means they don't have enough nutrients to keep growing or to stay alive. At this point you should transplant it into a pot with rich soil. Keep in mind that the avocados has been in a glass of water for a long time so the roots are really soaked at this point so when you transplant it, water just a bit and let the roots dry off in the for a week or so. Then water regularly. There's plenty of videos on YT for you to watch about transplanting avocados. Worth watching!

I've heard once they grow up to about 20 cm tall you cut them back at half. This is to increase the root growth and for the plant NOT to focus on leaves etc. I can not confirm that this works since I haven't tried it myself.

Fatmajk
  • 231
  • 1
  • 6
0

Yes they need sunlight, so putting them in a window sill is a must. Your plants look very ripe for real pots now, they have developed fine roots. Like you said, put them in a pot with good drainage (clay or plastic are both fine). Let's give it a try!

benn
  • 13,023
  • 2
  • 18
  • 39
  • Thank you for responding! Should I pot them first before putting them in the window? – midwest avocado Jul 08 '19 at 16:46
  • You can do both at the same time, put them in a pot and before a window. – benn Jul 08 '19 at 17:07
  • I placed the plants in a 4.25" clay pot but the pot seemed too small, do you think it would be ok to put them into a 6" clay pot or is that too big? – midwest avocado Jul 11 '19 at 13:51
  • 6 inch is ~15 cm, right? (Sorry I use the metric system). I think 4.5 inch would be enough for now, 6 would however also be fine I think. If the roots are too long for 4.5" then 6" would be better. – benn Jul 11 '19 at 14:18
  • Yeah 15 cm. The one the root system is near 4.5" so the seed would be sticking up above the pot. The other is close as well. I'll stick them in the 15 cm pot and hope for the best. I used a straight potting soil so hopefully that is good for them. – midwest avocado Jul 11 '19 at 14:26