I experimented with growing avocado stones last year and three out of the five grew into decent sized plants. Two went to new homes and I kept the third. I’m still amazed this plant has grown out of an avocado stone from a supermarket shelf.
And here it is one year later, ta dah!!
Avocado growing tips
Quite a few people have asked questions about growing avocados on Instagram stories so I’m sharing those answers here in case they are useful for anyone:
- I generally water twice a week, a little more if it’s really hot.
- One cup seems to be enough per water.
- I let the soil dry out before I water again (rather than keeping it moist).
- Older leaves become fairly stiff over time but tend to go floppier when the soil is too dry.
- My avocado is happier in bright sunlight — a room with little sun caused the edges and tips of the leaves to go black, dry and curly.
- I haven’t added any feed/fertilizer to the soil yet.
- I planted my avocado into standard multi purpose, peat free compost.
- A couple of the lower leaves dropped off once the second set established.
- Small brown patches appeared on some of the leaves over time and I was cutting them off to begin with but now just leave them because they don’t seem to be a problem.
- I kept this plant indoors at night until the Summer arrived.
If you decide to give this a go and have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. I’m not an expert and most of the process has been trial and error but I can share what I know 🙂
Awesome! Have in mind to try sometime . .once it bears fruit . . would be interesting to know if the fruit tastes good too:)
I think fruit is a 6-10 year wait so perhaps that alone will be enough to make it taste more delicious 🙂
I have actually had them grow by themselves just from being chucked quite unceremoniuosly in the compost bin. I haven’t let them grow in the garden as it is too cold and windy for them here in winter, but might try some in an indoor pot now…
When I have a garden big enough for a compost heap, I’ll certainly throw a few on and keep my fingers crossed. Temperatures overnight have been very mild here but I’ll bring it back indoors when the weather starts to turn — it seemed happy enough indoors though.
Nice! My avocado looks to be about the same size as yours but looks like it may need some feeding – I don’t have any leaves with that hint of red-brown but it’s growing strongly. The heatwave has really helped it of course, and it already has the sunniest spot in the house. It’s interesting to see how much it grows towards the sun – I have to turn the pot on a regular basis to stop it leaning! We’re really looking forward to eating our first crop.. in about 15 years 🙂
Yes, the heatwave has definitely helped with growth! I’m hoping it won’t be too unhappy about returning to life indoors when the weather cools down in a few weeks. I’ve also been turning my pot regularly but doing that and transferring the pot outdoors in the daytime (and for the whole Summer) has prevented it growing too leggy.
I guess we are racing to the first fruit!
“I guess we are racing to the first fruit”
I’m not holding my breath.. it may become a family heirloom at this rate! I must tell you about our new mango sometime – we’ve named him Django..
I am growing one too. Love looking at it. Very graceful plant.