How to Grow Avocado Nuts
- 1). Cut open an avocado with a paring knife and scoop out the nutlike seed at its center with a spoon. Wash the green pulp from the seed. Pat the cleaned seed dry with paper towels and let it dry out for two days.
- 2). Insert 3 toothpicks, 1/2 inch deep through the pit. Space them apart evenly through the fattest part of the nut.
- 3). Set the nut on the rim of a cup so the toothpicks suspend it over the center of the cup. Set the seed so that the pointy side faces upward. Fill the cup with water until one-third of the seed's bottom is submerged.
- 4). Keep the cup in a sunny spot for seven weeks. Change the water every two days during this time. At the end of seven weeks the plant should have a 6-inch stem with a few leaves. Cut the stem back 3 inches with a pair of pruning shears.
- 5). Wait seven more weeks to allow the single stem to branch into more stems with leaves. When this occurs and the roots are 2 inches long, the seed is ready to plant.
- 6). Fill a 10-inch diameter pot with well-draining potting soil, remove the toothpicks and plant the nut with its roots down. Cover the pointy end of the seed so it is level with the soil surface.
- 7). Water the avocado tree whenever the soil feels dry. Feed it twice a month with houseplant fertilizer.
