We want an avocado tree and we eat a lot of avocados. The obvious way to get a tree is to grow one which begs the question - how can we grow one from one of the many pits we throw away?

Notes

Growing fruit trees is finicky as to whether or not they sprout or then produce fruit. Since the process is so long, we will start several at once.

Steps

Sprouting the Pit (2-6 weeks)

The first step to growing a tree is to get the pit to sprout. The way to do this is to submerge about 1 inch of the ‘bottom’ side of the pit in water for 2-6 weeks. It should be stored in a warm but out of direct sunlight. After 2-6 weeks it should sprout a stem and roots.

You can find the bottom side in one of two ways:

  1. If your pit is pointy, then pointy side is the top
  2. Look on the pit for two round concentric circles - this signifies the bottom side (as seen on the left in the picture below):

Bottom vs top

After that, find a dish that can hold ~1” of water in it. I used a plastic deli takeout container. Then, poke your pit(s) with toothpicks to create a support structure for them that will hold roughly 1” of the bottom of the pit in water. The toothpicks should push into the pits fairly easily, even without the point tips.

Here’s the setup I used to try to sprout two avocado pits:

Setup Pic 1

Setup Pic 2

So, after a couple of weeks in indirect sunlight, hopefully these should be growing roots and a sprout. I’ll add to my collection as we eat more avocados.

Resources

  • California Avocados Guide to growing an avocado tree