We all know guac costs extra. But, you don't have to pay up any longer if you can manage to grow your own avocados at home. That's right — you can easily grow your own mini, personalized avocado farm, and you don't need all that much to get started.
The avocado is a fabulous food to grow because it's not only your favorite, tasty addition to tacos and salad, it's also packed with nutrients. The (healthy) fatty inside is stuffed with B5 and B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin E and even has awesome fiber content.
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A common misconception, though, is that these fruits are difficult to grow and require warm temperatures. Amazingly, you can sprout, plant and grow your own avocado tree right from home so you have access to these fresh fruits all year long. Is your mouth watering, yet? Here's how you can get started.
What you will need to start growing your own avocado's
- Toothpicks
- Small glass
- 10 inch pot
- Rich nutrient soil
- Small glass
- 10 inch pot
- Rich nutrient soil
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1. Sprout the pit of a used avocado
Open up and enjoy a delicious avocado, but this time, don't toss the pit. Instead, grab 4 toothpicks and pierce them into the sides of the pit so they can hold the pit over the top of a glass of water. No need to stick them too deep, just enough to hold the weight of the pit itself.
Then, place your pit (with the toothpicks inserted in the sides) over a glass of water with the pit halfway submerged. You're going to leave it like this in a warm location, but out of direct sunlight, for the next 2-6 weeks.
You're going to wait for your roots to grow about 6 inches, but then, you're going to trim them back down to around 3. This will help the roots and leaves grow thicker later on.
2. Pot your sprouting avocado seed
Now that you have some healthy roots on your seed, it's time to plant it. Grab a 10-inch pot, preferably one with a hole for draining at the bottom, and fill it up with some incredibly nutrient-rich soil. You're going to then dig a small hole in the center to fit your seed and cover it up with soil.
When caring for your avocado plant you want to make sure the soil is constantly moist — but not wet. You never want to overwater — so if you see the leaves turning yellow and becoming droopy, let the soil dry out a bit.
On the flipside, if you forget to water your plant for a while and the leaves turn brown, you need to revive the plant by putting the pot in the sink and letting the water run through the soil for a little while. This is to drain the plant.
3. Watch the fruit of your labor sprout!
Now that you've planted and grown a healthy avocado tree, you just have to wait for it to bear some fruit. It can take some time for your tree to mature enough to sprout its own avocados, but when it does you'll be thrilled with the results.
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