How to plant and grow an avocado from a seed
Lovers of exotic home plants have probably thought about how to plant an avocado and grow it at home. Perhaps someone even tried to do this by burying a bone from this exotic fruit in the ground, but did not get any result. And not surprisingly, in this way it is unlikely that you will be able to get what you want. However, growing avocados is quite possible if you follow some simple rules.
First of all, you need to pay attention to the choice of the fruit from which it is supposed to extract the bone for planting. It should be completely ripe, but not spoiled. This is checked as follows: you need to lightly squeeze the avocado with your palms on both sides, and then loosen your grip and look at the result. The fruit of the required degree of maturity will quickly regain its shape.
If the avocado is not ripe enough, then it simply will not shrink, it will be more firm to the touch. In principle, you can take this one and put it at home to ripen in a warm place. The speed of this process can be positively affected by yellow bananas lying nearby.
Planting an avocado
After the fetus has reached the desired state, you need to plant as soon as possible. To do this, you first need to peel the fruit and carefully remove the bone from it. Then there are three possible options.
- An unpeeled bone is placed in the ground. In this case, its blunt end must necessarily be below. About a third of the bone must be left unburied. Further care consists in regular watering once a week. It is also recommended to cover the bone with polyethylene until the sprout appears.
- The peeled bone is placed in water. The sharp end should remain in the air. After the sprouts appear, which will happen in about a month or two, you can plant them in a pot.
- This method is almost the same as the previous one, only here you need to take an unpeeled bone. To fix it on a vessel with water, you can make special supports. To do this, the peel is pierced with toothpicks, just above the place to which the bone should go into the water, and it turns out to be strung on them. You can make three or four such mounts, equidistant from each other.
Advice
For growing avocados at home, it is better to take a large seed. It contains more nutrients, which will significantly increase the chances of success.
Conditions for avocado
Avocado is a tropical plant, and therefore thermophilic and very sensitive to moisture levels. It is necessary to plant and grow it at a temperature of about twenty-two to twenty-five degrees Celsius. If the air in the room is too dry, then the leaves must be sprayed. In addition, in this case, it makes sense to place the pot on a pallet with moistened moss.
Advice
Light exposure is also a very important factor for the proper growth and development of avocados. It is worth putting the pot with the plant in a bright place, but in no case in direct sunlight.
The accumulation of liquid in the ground and the pan of the pot is unacceptable. Water for planting and irrigation should be separated, at room temperature. Under normal conditions, there is no need to spray the leaves. It is advisable to add a little charcoal or activated carbon to it as a fertilizer.
The soil for growing avocados at home should be loose and always moist. A mixture of humus, sand and ordinary garden soil in equal proportions is best suited. You can add to this moss, peat or expanded clay, as well as lime. This tree is very sensitive to soil acidity, it should not be high. Use of drainage is mandatory.
Care features
Growing an avocado from a seed at home is not too difficult. The main difficulty lies in the very beginning of the process - before the roots and shoots have appeared. It is important to choose the right fruit, carefully remove the bone from it and very carefully plant it without damaging it.
Then everything will be quite simple, but there are a number of nuances. It is worth watering the plant abundantly, but not excessively. On average, it is recommended to do this once a week. But in order to accurately determine that it is time for watering, you need to lower your finger into the ground to the second fold. If the soil is dry, then it is time to moisturize it.
It is necessary to feed the avocado with complex mineral fertilizers at least once every two weeks. To make the plant not only tall, but also lush, it is worth pinching it from time to time. Annual transplants are also required, usually carried out in the spring.
Home-grown avocados can be attacked by pests such as scale insects and spider mites. In such cases, it is necessary to carefully treat it with special preparations, strictly following the instructions. In addition, the tree can shed its leaves. This is usually a natural process that occurs from time to time, but it can also serve as an indicator that the room temperature is too low.
Output
Growing an avocado from a seed is a fairly simple process. Although, of course, it requires some effort and has some features. The most difficult thing will be to germinate a tree and find the right soil for it. It is also very important to monitor the humidity regime.
I must also say that the avocado is a rather large tree, sometimes reaching twenty meters in length. To avoid such an overgrowth of the house, and at the same time to give the plant splendor, it is worth pruning the upper shoots. Unfortunately, this exotic will not bloom and bear fruit in a city apartment. But it can act as an unusual decorative element.
Planting and replanting avocados is best done in spring. In winter, the tree is quite vulnerable, and therefore needs more careful observation and care. It is at this time that it is especially important not to forget about fertilization and maintaining a high air temperature. If you follow all the rules described above, then this amazing tropical plant will perfectly exist at home.
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