Preparing the Avocado Seed

My theory is that washing the seed with warm water helps it develop more rapidly than simply poking it with toothpicks and suspending it halfway in water.

I think that by washing the avocado seed with warm water after you eat it helps to wash away any of the avocado flesh still left on the seed. The surface of the seed is greasy or slippery and after washing it in warm water for about 5 minutes the slipperiness goes away. I think this helps to eliminate any nutrients for bacteria or molds that can grow on the surface of the seed. Molds can inhibit the growth of the avocado tree so it is a good idea to wash the seed or tree whenever you see anything fuzzy or something attached to the seed. Several times I've noticed a transparent goo that sticks to the seed and washed it off with water.
When I started my first tree I read through a website that said to wash with cold water, which is what I did. On my second tree I used warm water because that's what I randomly did. This second seed developed much faster than my first one. The first seed took about 3 months to grow. The second seed split in the first day (after warm water washing) and took only a few weeks to grow.

Two Trees Side by Side

The avocado tree on the right is about six months old. The one on the left is about two months.

Experimenting with Avocado Seeds

What makes it easier for some seeds to grow roots faster than others?

Hypothesis 1: warm temperature, simulating the environment where avocados grow, mainly in Central & South America, California, parts of the Caribbean, and other warm places in the world.

When I started my first tree back in December 2008, I poked 3 toothpicks into the avocado seed, filled a cup of water, and placed the seed halfway in the water. (see picture) I put the cup in the kitchen on the counter where it wasn't getting any direct sunlight and temperatures were around 68 - 74 F. After a while, my wife put it in a cupboard. I still checked on it every few days and added water to maintain the water level at about the halfway mark of the seed.

This seed did nothing until about February 2009, after which it started a root. The seed cracked from top to bottom and in the middle of this crack the root went down into the water. After a week or two, the tree started to grow up. It looked like a purple stick coming out of the seed. Soon it started to have leaves and continued to grow taller and the leaves got bigger.

By April or May it had about 5 to 8 leaves and the tree was about 6 inches tall. I decided to plant it in my back yard. I live in the western part of Washington state where the weather is usually pretty mild except the last 3 years where we've had hot summers in the 80s & 90s and cold winters with freezing temperatures and snow. Last year I woke up and found 14" of snow outside. It should be interesting to watch how it does during the winter. This summer when temperatures reached into the 80s and 90s for weeks at a time, some of the leaves started turning brown. I watered it w/ about half a gallon per day or every other day. To solve this problem, I ripped some leafy branches from a bush and stuck them in the ground around my tree to give it some shade. It worked, and the tree did much better after that.

In October the temperatures have already dropped below freezing some nights and I used an old styrofoam cooler to cover my tree. I cut out the top of the cooler, flipped it upside down and covered the tree to keep it from freezing at night. Avocado trees need temperatures to be above 45 F. I'm pushing the limits here in Washington.

Avocado Tree Grows "Bunny Ear" Leaves

After growing a bunch of small leaves it grew two large ones that almost look like bunny ears.

Avocado Tree in Vase Update

The leaves have grown larger after a few more weeks. At this point the tree is about three months old.

Avocado Tree in a Vase Update

After a few weeks the tree has grown a few branches and leaves.

The root is also growing more extensively.

Growing an Avocado Tree in a Vase

After a few days or weeks the seed splits and you can see the tree starting to grow.

Here we can see the suspended seed continuing to split even more.

The root is starting to grow on the bottom of the seed. It looks like different colors because the bottom of the seed is wet while the top side is dry.

Growing my Own Tree

I have been growing avocado trees as a hobby for a few months now (almost a year). I heard from a friend that if you poke an avocado seed with toothpicks and lay it over a cup or glass, half submerged in water and half exposed to the air, it will sprout roots. I tried it and it sprouted roots, grew leaves, and now it is a baby avocado tree.