Avocado: Split widens, root lengthens

This weekend was the worst two days of pollen this year. I was knocked out all weekend. Some of that may have been the allergy medicine, but most of it was just exhaustion from sneezing and blowing my nose all day long.

This week the avocado split a little wider and the root grew about 5cm. The weather has warmed up a lot and the average temperature inside the house is getting higher. This is leading to more growth from the seed than earlier when it was very cold in the evenings.

The split in the avocado seed is getting wider. The stem is becoming visible. It looks like a little green nub on the base of the root. Once the stem comes out of the seed, I'll transplant it into a pot.

Avocado: Taproot emerges

Today I am down with a cold or something. I'm feeling pretty terrible, so I am staying home in the morning hoping that I can get better and head off to work later today.

Today I noticed that my avocado has grown a taproot in the past week. A taproot is the large root that grows straight down and will anchor the seed as it grows in the first stages of its life. Later. the root system will grow sideways and provide a wide area which the avocado will use to absorb rainwater. Right now, it's sitting in water, so it's happy as a clam.

In the last week, the root has gone from a little nub in the middle of the seed to an easily recognizable root feature almost 4cm in total length. The root extends past the seed about 1 centimeter. In a few more weeks, the root will grow even longer with more root fibers.

Avocado: Getting started

I've been growing an avocado tree at the house for a while, and it's grown up a lot. It started from a seed which I dug out of a fruit destined for guacamole. I meant to post about it with pictures, but I really didn't get the urge to do it until it was already sprouted and growing in the pot.

So I started a new one. Hopefully I can track it here with pictures every week or so.

It's easy to grow an avocado! All you need is a jar, 3 toothpicks, and an avocado.

1) Eat the delicious avocado. Take care not to cut too deeply into the seed. Save the seed.
2) Rinse the seed off to clean off any remaining meat
3) Put the seed in the jar and fill it with water. Leave for 2 weeks. This will prime the seed for sprouting.
... time passses ...
4) Identify the "bottom" of the seed. The fat side of the seed is the bottom. If the shape of the seed isn't immediately obvious, you may have a defective seed. If this is the case, return to step 1.
5) The toothpicks are going to be used to stabilize the seed around the mouth of the jar. Stick the 3 toothpicks into the avocado seed about a third or quarter the length of the seed.
6) Set the avocado on the rim of the jar and fill it with water.
7) Refill the water when it drops too far.

Today, I checked the water level and I found that the seed had begun to sprout. The seed has split and a root is forming in the gap. From the time I started the seed until now has been about a month. I've read that it usually progresses faster, but 1 month from start until first split is my experience.