Avocado is an unpretentious tree that can grow up to the ceiling even in an apartment. It is problematic to get fruit from it, but its leaves perfectly clean the air in the room. We will tell you how easy it is to grow an avocado from a seed at home!
How to choose an avocado for planting
You need a very ripe fruit, so you have to work hard with a choice. The fact is that avocados are often brought to us unripe, and then they will not sprout. The same applies to overripe fruits that have already lost all their properties.
A good ripe avocado is firm and healthy in appearance. The pulp bends slightly when pressed, but then returns to its previous form. If it seems as if there is mashed potatoes under the peel, such an avocado is definitely not suitable.
How to get a bone?
In order for the bone to grow, it is important not to damage it while you take it out. To do this, carefully cut the avocado with a knife in a circle, but do not cut it all the way to the middle. Turn the halves to the sides so that they fall apart. Gently remove the remaining pulp from the bone with a spoon, wash it under cool running water and dry it.
How to plant and grow an avocado at home
Take a small pot and be sure to make holes for the water to drain. Fill down with fine expanded clay or pebbles, and on it - a layer of fertile soil. Deepen the avocado pit into the ground with the thin end up and sprinkle some more earth on the sides. It should go into the ground by about 20 mm - and about a month later you will see the first sprout.
There is also an alternative method that everyone in your household will like to follow. You need to put the bone in a glass of water so that it is about half in it. To keep it in place, make several small holes at the widest point and insert toothpicks there.
The sticks will hold the avocado pit over the glass. Do not be alarmed when it bursts somewhere in a month - it is from the ruptures that sprouts and roots appear. After the release of the first root 4-5 cm long, the avocado seedling can be transplanted into a pot in loose whipped soil so that two-thirds are on the surface.
Indoor begonia: home care, reproduction and transplant
Choosing a place for an avocado
A young avocado needs a lot of warmth and light, although when it gets stronger, the tree will feel good in the shade. But direct sunlight is detrimental to leaves and seedlings. Therefore, choose western windows or shade it during the day on eastern or southern ones. If the avocado grows slower and the leaves fade, then most likely it lacks light.
Avoid drafts, open windows, vents and doors - all sources of cold. The optimum temperature is 20 degrees or more, but do not take the avocado out into the fresh air. Due to an unexpected sharp drop, it can shed its leaves.
Watering
Systematic and intensive watering is a vital need for a growing avocado. But the good news is that you don't need to water it as often as you don't need to water the root. Wait until the upper part of the substrate dries, and wait another 2-3 days after that.
Avocados have a hard time tolerating dry air, and spraying the leaves directly is also not recommended. Use a humidifier, leave a tray of wet expanded clay nearby, or cover the tray with moss. You can do with a spray bottle, but then spray not on the tree, but around.
Fertilizers and feeding
Avocados are not very demanding and do not need regular fertilization, so you shouldn't have any obvious problems with it in this matter.
Since autumn, the tree does not need anything at all, even if you are not going to introduce it into hibernation. And since spring, once a month, use a citrus dressing or any other universal complex.
Primula (70 photos): types and features of care
Should I trim my avocado?
Formative pruning is carried out after wintering - this is an important step because the avocado grows and stretches quickly. For better branching, pinch or cut each shoot after eight full leaves have bloomed on it. Repeat the procedure by mid-summer, when the young shoots will reach the sun again.
How and when to transplant avocados?
At first, the avocado grows very rapidly, so you will have to replant it more often. The first transplant into a larger pot will be needed when the tree grows to 15 cm. Then transplant it once a year in the spring, and an adult tree needs it once every 3-4 years or as it grows.
Can I be transplanted into open ground?
An avocado that has already gained strength and has grown at least 40-45 cm can be transplanted into open ground. To do this, start a gradual hardening in advance - take the flowerpot outside for several hours in a warm time of the day. Avocados are transplanted by transshipment - together with an earthen clod, so there are no secrets here.
If you want to transplant avocados into your garden, choose Mexican varieties that can handle the cold better. Keep in mind that in the northern latitudes, the tree will in any case have a hard time surviving the winter. To protect it from frost, you will need not only mulching, but also a full-fledged polycarbonate shelter.
Dracaena (70 photos): types and features of care
Pests
Avocados at home are afraid of the same pests as other indoor plants. Spider mites spoil the leaves, carry a lot of diseases and, if you start the situation, they can destroy all seedlings. To avoid this, regularly inspect the tree and treat it immediately with insecticides!
What is avocado sick with?
If the leaves of the avocado are abruptly flying around, it is cold or it got into a draft. Therefore, first of all, remove it from the window and stabilize the temperature regime. If the tips of the leaves dry out - the fate of watering and increase the humidity of the air. If the leaf plates fade, then your avocado does not have enough sunlight.
