Anyone ever grow an avocado tree from seed?

Bubba

Sprout
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Points
7
I have 5 I have grown from seed. The oldest is over 5 years old now. It frustrates me that they won't bloom. I know it can be upwards of 20 years. I was just hoping for a miracle low number. Everything else in my garden thrives.

Bubba
 

JudyMcKinn

Sprout
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Points
7
We have a large seed just starting to sprout now. Seed is splitting. We have it hanging on toothpicks in a glass of water. What do we do next??
 

Nifty

Garden Addicted
Administrator
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
971
Reaction score
499
Points
227
Location
Bay Area CA
They seem to grow so easily using the water / toothpick method... can't believe it can take up to 20 years!?!?! I mean, I like avocado, but I want to enjoy the fruits of my labor while I still have teeth! ;)
 

hsm5grls

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
34
They girls and I have sprouted a lot of avocado tree's but they never seem to get to far. With the exception of one poor tree that we had inside for a year. We babied it and it was getting big and healthy. When it was about 3' tall I decided it was time to plant it outside. We dug a hole and amended the soil ect. Put our little tree in and watered it. It looked so nice. The next morning we went out to check on it and the rabbits had eaten it down to nothing. No tree there at all. totally gone. We were very disappointed. We won't plant another one because we are getting goats and I have heard that they are bad for goats. I really love avocado's though. Too bad they are so darned expensive most of the year.
 

sgtsheart

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
97
Reaction score
0
Points
29
Location
SW Arkansas
I don't know if this is true for commercially grown avocados or not, but I know it is from some other fruits and vegetables. IF you bought the original avocado from the store you probably won't be able to get a decent tree out of it. The parent trees used in commercial groves and orchards are specifically bred to produce lots of fruits, not to grow another tree. Alot of the food we buy at the grocery store nowadays is tinkered with genetically to suit the needs of the commercial farmer/harvester.
I don't know if that ^^^ makes alot of sense, brain still muddled from lack of nicotine, so I'll use another example. If you wanted to grow a potato patch and started with a potato that you bought at the store, you're likely to have poor results. The potatoes at the store come from plants designed to produce potatos, not more potato plants. To grow potatoes you would need seed potatoes, available from feed & seed stores. Also, some of the fruits and vegetables in the store are treated after picking to retard growth, so they have a longer shelf life.
 

silkiechicken

Deeply Rooted
Moderator
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
543
Reaction score
1
Points
109
Location
Everett WA, Corvallis OR
I remember trying to sprout one... it slplit and never sprouted. So I just threw them out from then on... when turning over my garden in the spring! I tilled one out and it had not only sprouted but grew up to about 6 inches!!! They can't survive here though because it gets too cold. :rolleyes:

It's like when I tried to grow cat nip. It didn't work. I threw out the seeds... and now the whole darn place stinks and stupid catnip is one of the worst weeds!!! EVERYWHERE and like 4 feet tall!
 

Dahlia

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Nov 24, 2020
Messages
1,281
Reaction score
3,348
Points
195
Location
Pacific Northwest
One of my friends grew an avacado tree from seed and it is now a nice house plant. She also grew a pineapple from seed for a house plant!
 

Artichoke Lover

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Dec 31, 2020
Messages
1,088
Reaction score
2,890
Points
185
Location
North Alabama zone 7b
I’ve tried once or twice but never had one survive the transfer from the water to a pot of soil. There’s a type of avocado tree that supposed to be hardy to zone 8 with protection and I plan on ordering one of those one day.
 

ducks4you

Garden Master
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
Messages
11,150
Reaction score
13,823
Points
417
Location
East Central IL, Was Zone 6, Now...maybe Zone 5
Always fun to resurrect an old thread. A few members no longer here are ones I have never spoken to. I think we should remember that these plants want to grow in soil, even though they start well in just water.
Same with the avocado, transplant to a pot.
I started garlic a year ago in only water. After awhile many cloves didn't make it. THIS year I have them started in shallow soil, simply to get their roots going, then I will transplant to something deeper, but keep them inside until about April/May. I missed the November window to get them into the ground. I still have 4 garlic survivors in my garage flower bed. I will dig them up next summer to see what happened under the ground.
 

Latest posts

Top