Avocado seeds grow
well in the compost bin
Have you ever found something strange in your vegetable
crops? One story I read this week was
about a family who found themselves scared witless when they discovered a
mysterious hole in their shop bought turnip.
The offending vegetable was bought from Lidl in the UK and
when the woman’s husband cut into it they found what looked like a hole with a
spiders web inside (fungal growth probably) They are now convinced that
venomous spiders are in their home. The woman said that she was in a “state of
shock” at finding the offending hole.
Lidl are looking into it “as a matter of urgency” and claim
it’s an isolated incident.
I’ll bet that the family don’t grow their own veggies, if
they did, they’d find more than just the odd spider in the sink when they are
washing them… Oh the stories I could tell of the strange things I’ve brought
into the house from the vegetable patch, well not really, it’s mainly slugs,
snails, ant and wasps. The squishiest thing I brought in was a blighted potato.
Now the thought of that could keep me awake at night.
Avocado Selling
I was making my daily visit to the buy and sell websites and
came across an interesting post in the plant section that I had to look at
twice in the same manner as the spider story.
A woman is selling avocado plants (or trees) for … wait for it…€120
each, or 2 for €200. Now I don’t know what you think but that price does seem a
bit steep for a 10cm tall plant with 6 leaves in a 1 litre pot. They tell us
that these plants are really hard to propagate and are worth every cent. I’d
like to save you a lot of money here and tell you how you can grow them for
free. You might already know how to do it because as of yet, surprise surprise,
they haven’t sold one!
Avocado Growing
When we have finished with our avocados I put the stone/seed
in the compost bin and forget about them. When it comes to emptying the bin in
winter/ spring, I just scatter the compost onto the beds in the polytunnel and
fork it in gently.
The forgotten and neglected avocado seeds go in there too
without much thought. So far every one of them germinated and produced healthy
green leaves on sturdy stems. The trees grow in the humid regions of Mexico and
Central America and the compost bins replicate the warm, damp and humid
conditions needed to sprout the seeds.
There are alternative methods, however, if you don’t fancy
rooting around the compost heap:
Pierce the seed with toothpicks and suspend it, pointed end
up, over a glass of water. Roots should start to develop within two to six
weeks. Then pot up the plant, leaving the tip just poking out of the soil.
However, not all avocado seeds will germinate, so if your seed hasn't sprouted
after six weeks, try again with a fresh seed
Leave the seed in direct sunlight until it starts to split.
Then pot it up.
Place the seed in a pot, and cover it completely. Water
well, allow to drain, then leave in a warm, dark place, such as an airing
cupboard. Check on the pot every week to ensure it is moist, and water if
necessary. As soon as the shoot starts to show, move the pot to a sunny spot,
such as a windowsill.
Avocado Care
Use rich, peat-free potting compost and use a pot that has
good drainage. After your plant is roughly 30cm tall, cut it down to around
15cm. This makes the plant grow bushy, rather than tall. Once your plant has
filled its pot with roots, transplant it to its permanent home – the largest
pot you have room for. Fill with rich, peat-free compost, which you should top
up with fresh compost each year.
Avocado trees can take up to ten years to bear fruit and
indoor-grown plants don’t always live that long. However, if you provide it
with a moist, fertile soil and plenty of sunlight, and keep it in humid
conditions such as a greenhouse or conservatory, your tree will have a fighting
chance of fruiting. Mine only last the
year as I don’t move them when they grow, although I might do now and sell them
on the web for loads of money!
