If you’re a fan, you know that most dishes can benefit from the addition of a few creamy avocados. And while you can easily snag avocados at your local grocery store, you may have stopped to wonder how hard it would be to grow your own. The bad news is that it can take five years minimum for an avocado tree to start producing fruit; the good news is that with a single brown avocado seed, a few simple supplies and an understanding of some basic care tips, you can learn how to grow an avocado tree indoors without a ton of effort. Read on if you’re ready to give this fun and inexpensive gardening project a try — it’s a great activity for kids, too!
Check out these five basic steps to begin growing your very own avocado tree from a pit:
Supplies Needed
How to grow an avocado tree at home
- Save an avocado pit (without cutting into or breaking it) and wash off any residue. Let dry, then insert 3-4 toothpicks about halfway up the side of the pit.
- Suspend the pit broad end of the pit down in a drinking glass or jar. Fill the container with enough water to submerge the bottom third of the seed, the Missouri Botanical Garden advises.
- Place the glass in a warm spot out of direct sunlight and change the water regularly. Roots and a sprout should appear in about 2-6 weeks. If not, start with another seed.
- When the sprout gets to be about 6 inches tall, cut it back to about 3 inches to encourage more root growth.
- Once the stem grows out again, plant the pit in an 10-inch pot filled with rich potting soil. Now it’s time to let your avocado tree grow, grow, grow!
Note: You can buy older trees instead of starting from scratch. Amazon sells grafted, 4-feet tall avocado trees that may yield fruit in 3-4 years instead of 10.
How to care for an avocado tree
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Place your pot in a sunny spot indoors and water lightly but often. The goal is to keep the soil moist but not sopping wet, California Avocados recommends. You can place your pot outdoors in the summer as long as temps stay above 45°F. Occasionally prune your plant (every 6 inches or so) to encourage fullness.
Gardening tip: Yellow leaves are a sign of overwatering. Dial back to avoid root rot.
Tips on growing an avocado tree outdoors
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Avocados are tropical plants (they’re native to southern Mexico), so you can also plant avocado trees in the ground outside in USDA Zones 10-12, a.k.a., regions with no frost. They do best in rich, well-drained soil with full sunlight and medium-high humidity. Ideally, you’ll want to plant them between March and June. Give them plenty of space when planting, especially if you’re growing multiple trees, since they can reach anywhere from 40-80 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide under the right conditions. Additionally, avocado trees have very shallow roots that mainly grow in the top 6 inches of the soil. For this reason, mulching (go for a coarse option) is key after planting. Water 2-3 times per week by soaking the soil thoroughly and then letting it dry out before watering again.
Will my avocado tree produce fruit?
Before you embark on growing your own avocado tree, there’s one important thing to keep in mind: These trees typically take between five to 13 years to produce fruit. It’s also quite challenging for this to occur indoors, which is the reason why they’re fairly pricey in stores at times.
But even though your tree won’t produce fruit anytime soon (or ever), you can still round out your green-thumb project with some avo-themed dishes from the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen. This nourishing fruit is packed with nutrients, like healthy fats and fiber, as well as vitamins C, E and K! Browse through our favorite dishes that make avocado the star of the show:
Great Avocado Recipes
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