If you’ve been trying to root avocado seeds by suspending them over a glass of water with toothpicks, there is an easier way. I’ll show you a no-fuss way to root avocado pits to create new houseplants.
I recommend this method because it takes little effort and shows you exactly which seeds will germinate before planting them in pots.
Different Ways to Grow Avocado from Seed
Forget the toothpicks and water! And don’t bother with the plastic gizmo on Amazon or avocado buoy that suspends the seed over water. This method (below) works better. You will need good potting mix but not much else.
I have tested this easy method on a lot of grocery store avocados, and the germination rate is quite good.
I don’t like the toothpick method because it’s fussy, requires more effort, can rot the seed, and is not as reliable.
You can also try sprouting avocado seeds directly in moist potting mix, but that too can be hit and miss. I’d rather know the plant is going to succeed before going to the bother of planting it.
Before You Start
A little reality check.
No need to rush out and buy chips for your homegrown guacamole.
Odds are, your avocado plant is not going to produce fruit, or, if it does, it will take many years and may not produce good fruit.
Growing an avocado from seed is the slowest and least reliable way to get true (same as the parent) fruit.
Commercial growers use grafting methods to ensure fruit quality and quantity that are not really possible for home growers.
But, starting a plant from the seed/pit is an easy way to grow a free houseplant. If it does fruit, it could take as long as 8-20 years. Grafted avocados produce fruit in 2-3 years.
The actual pollination process in rather unusual and intriguing and worth further reading if you are interested.
So, start saving those pits and get growing.
You can also use this same method for growing mango plants from grocery store fruit.
Save The Instructions
Easy Method to Grow an Avocado Plant from Seed
It takes 4-6 weeks for avocado seeds to be rooted and ready for planting.
- Remove the seed (pit) from a fresh, ripe avocado. Avoid using a knife so there is no damage to the seed.
- Gently clean the seed under warm, running water using a soft brush or cloth ensuring all flesh is removed.
- Wrap the seed in a sheet of damp (not dripping wet) paper towel or tea towel.
- Place in a plastic food bag (do not zip shut) and store in a dark cupboard.
- Check on it every 4 days or so. I put a reminder in my phone calendar so I don’t forget.
At first you just need to ensure the paper towel stays damp. After a few weeks you’ll start to notice signs of germination.
When the seed is germinating, it will gradually crack open, revealing a deep split, and, eventually a root (or roots) will grow from deep inside the seed.
Do not break the seed apart: the seed body feeds the root growth, and the roots are delicate, so handle with care and do not break them. - When the root is 3-inches long, your seed is ready for planting in a flower pot.
- If your root (or roots) are longer than 3-inches and they won’t fit in your pot, you can cut them back to 3-inches in length with sharp scissors cleaned with rubbing alcohol or bleach solution (4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water for at least one minute). I have read this can help produce a bushy rather than a tall, leggy plant but have not tested it myself.
Related: Are Avocado Seeds Safe to Eat? No!
How to Plant a Sprouted Avocado Seed
Supplies
- 8-inch flower pot with drainage holes (for a 2-inch avocado seed)
- Indoor potting mix for houseplants
Avocados like good drainage so you can also amend the potting mix with perlite or sand if you like.
How to Tell Top From Bottom
Can you tell the top of your seed from the bottom? The top is (usually) tapered or pointy. The bottom is often broader and flat with a round, scaly marking. The roots will (usually) grow out the bottom). We plant the sprouted seed with the bottom and roots aiming down into the pot.
After One Month
The next photo shows the same seeds after a month in the damp paper towel.
Notice how they germinate at different rates.
Some are just getting started. Two are doing well. One is refusing to budge.
I will give these ones another few weeks and then plant the strongest ones:
Plant The Sprouted Seed
To plant, fill the pot half way with potting mix and gently place the seed in the pot.
Handle with care so the roots do not break.
While steadying the seed, gently press down the potting mix and add more as needed, leaving the top inch of the seed above soil level. The plant stem will grow from there.
Water (room temperature distilled water) until moist, not damp. Top up the potting mix as needed.
Place in warm, draft-free location with strong, indirect light. Or that’s the ideal.
Related: How to Grow Mango From the Grocery Store
Caring for Your Avocado Plant
Avocado | Genus: Persea
Avocado Houseplant Growing Tips
Tropical plant
• Light: Full, indirect sun
• Humidity: Moderate to high
• Soil: do not dry out
• Fertilizer: 7-9-5
• Shape: Pinch back top leaves to encourage new side shoots
• Room Temperature: 60° to 85°F (16° to 30°C)
Propagation
• For Fruit: Start with a grafted tree
• For Fun: Grow seed into non-fruiting houseplant
Read More
How to Grow Your Avocado Tree Indoors
Includes tips for planting, potting mix, containers, pruning, repotting, and flowering.
Dropping Leaves or Leaves Turning Brown?
This is common with seasonal changes indoors. Change of light and humidity can make the plant sulk: leaves may turn brown and drop. Don’t give up: mine rebound when winter is done and we have the central heating off once again.
Avocado Trivia
- The word ‘avocado’ originates from a word meaning ‘testicle’. Yes, that’s the first time that word has come up in my garden writing.
- The fruit of an avocado (the part we eat), is actually a large berry and the pit is a seed.
- Avocados are considered a healthy food choice, providing (primarily) monounsaturated fat, vitamins B6, C, E, and potassium, magnesium, and folate.
- Avocados are much richer in potassium than bananas (which are always heralded as potassium-rich).
- Bananas have 358 mg per 100 grams. Avocados have 485 mg per 100 grams.
- Avocados must be left to mature on the tree, but then ripen after harvesting. The hard, green fruit can take two weeks to ripen, although this is faster if exposed to ethylene gas.
- Grafted avocado plants produce fruit with a few years compared to germinated seeds (8-20 years).
- The pollination process for avocados is interesting: on day one female flowers open; on day two they are male and shed their pollen.
- There are three species of avocados and many varieties. Fruit sizes and tastes vary.
- 1. Guatemalan (Persea nubigena var. guatamalensis L. Wms.)
- 2. Mexican (P. americana var. drymifolia Blake)
- 3. West Indian (P. americana Mill. var. americana)
- If you do not live in a growing area, the avocados in your grocery store probably always come from the same few sources (depending on import/export laws).
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
How to Grow Avocado From Seed
Supplies & Materials
- 1 Avocado ripe
- 1 Tea towel or paper towels
- 1 Food container or plastic food bag
- 1 8-inch Flower pot with saucer
- 1 bag Potting Mix
Equipment
Instructions
Prepare Avocado
- Remove seed (pit) from a ripe avocado. Do not let knife touch seed to prevent damage.
- Gently wash seed under warm running water removing any avocado flesh.
- Take a before photo.
Start Rooting Process
- Wrap seed in damp (but not soaking wet) tea towel or paper towel.
- Place wrapped seed in food storage container or plastic food bag in dark kitchen cupboard. Do not seal bag/cover container or seed may get moldy.
Check Seed
- Check seed every 4 days or so by carefully unwrapping cover.
- Look for any visible changes and take more photos.
- Ensure towel is still moist and return to container.
- At first the seed will start to crack open (this is good) and one or more roots will grow from inside.
Plant Rooted Seed
- After approximately 4-6 weeks, the root should be around 3-inches long and ready to plant.
- Plant in 8-inch flower pot with roots facing down (or sideways if they grew that way).
- Cover in potting mix with top half-inch of seed above soil level.
- If roots are too big for pot, trim away excess, then plant and water.
Avocado Plant Care
- Grow your plant in a draft-free location with strong, indirect light.
- Avocado plants enjoy moderate to high humidity: never allow your plant to dry out.
- Use 7:9:5 fertilizer as directed.
- Keep taking photos to monitor growth.
Notes
- For more tips on avocado plant care see How to Grow an Avocado Tree.
- To grow a mango plants see How to Grow Mango From Seed.
- For ginger, pineapple, and more see The Kitchen Propagation Handbook.
Janet says
Is there a point at which you would put more soil to cover the seed from which the tree sprouts? My tree is about 4 inches tall right now.
Melissa J. Will says
Hi Janet, No need to add more soil, it can remain fine with some seed above soil level. Congrats on your little tree!
Veronica says
I’m currently trialing this after only dismal success rate and a 50/50 success rate of straight seed to soil. I have one Young avocado tree standing 2 feet tall, I currently have 4 seeds in a bag of which 2 are almost ready for planting! In my experience the toothpick method works for a short time then they die off!
Linda says
This really works well.
I have a question though. One of the seeds has about eight cream colored fleshy growths around the base. I kept waiting for them to turn into leaves, but they aren’t – flowers?
Melissa J. Will says
Sounds like roots from what you described.
Jana says
This is the best method, by far! I’ve tried 3 toothpicks method and none of the seeds sprouted. I’ve used this method and 5 out of 6 sprouted! Thanks!
Tucker says
When trying to grow and avocado does the pit need to be fresh right from the avecado.
Can u use one that isnt fresh???
Melissa J. Will says
Good question. Try it. If it hasn’t dried out, it could still be viable.
Connie Cooke says
I have tried several times and each time my plant gets tall and leggy. I have tried pinching off the top but it just keeps getting taller, not “bushy”. What am I doing wrong?
Melissa J. Will says
Hi Connie,
You are not doing anything wrong. Some get lateral shoots and others do not.
Over the years I’ve had just a few get bushy but most do not. I suspect it depends on the genes but I’m just guessing since it’s not something we can trace with grocery store avocados.
If you want a guarantee of a bushy tree (or fruit), I think you would have to start with a grafted tree from a seller.
Rasna Hussain says
Thank you. The best instructions ever & I cannot wait to start producing plants from it.
Wish I had come across this web page earlier.
Many thanks.
(From a reader who wants to give up.on toothpick method)
Cara says
Hello! I had 3 pits. Two weren’t cracked open. I put them in water and then transferred to your paper towel method and I swear they cracked open in a few days. The other was already cracked open and had 2-3” roots. I planted it in soil from compost but am worried I planted it too soon. How often should I be watering it?
Thank you!
Cara
Melissa J. Will says
Hi Cara, You want to keep the soil moist without being too damp. There is more on watering here (see section 5): https://empressofdirt.net/grow-avocado-tree/
cara says
Thanks for the reply and new link.
Hoping the pit in soil still has a chance! I’ll pot the other two from the paper towels to soil soon.
Cara
Cara says
Hi! The first pit I write to you about died and so I moved it out of the sun but I kept watering it and about a week later it grew a new stem. Now it’s about 6.5” tall. I planed the other two that I started Using your paper wired method and recently planted them. They sprouted so quickly in the paper towel. I had them in there about a month. They grew a stem in the cupboard too so I thought it was time to plant them. I think they all grow about 1/4” to 1/2” a day. So exciting to watch. I need all the excitement I can during these Covid times. Thanks for this post!