About six years ago, I wanted some new plants, but was saving up for a house and didn't feel like spending the money. A cafe in Arcata, CA - where I went to college, had every available flat space packed with avocado plants... they just saved all their pits and kept planting them. I figured I could do the same. So, I tried the elementary school method of poking toothpicks into either side and letting the bottom rest in water. That yielded me a moldy pit in a glass. In hindsight, I think I didn't have enough light in my double wide.
Next step: search the web. I found someone who swore by a very low-tech method. Wrap your pits in a very damp paper towel, stick them in Ziploc bag and throw them under your kitchen sink. By the time you remember they are down there - a few weeks or more - they've sprouted.
And it totally works!
I had four perfectly sprouted seeds. Root on the bottom, white sprout on the top. I planted them in some small pots full of dirt and they have been growing ever since! I have only transplanted them once, and trimmed their roots once in six years.
All four of them are living on my window sill, and in the last couple of months, each has started to take on it's own shape. Until now, they all looked about the same. Now one is trying desperately to grow branches, with no leaves on the bottom. Another one has leaves the size of my head, and the other two are top heavy and bottom heavy respectively. Not really sure what they are doing...
They seem like they want bigger pots, but I don't have any - nor the room to put them. They will just have to do with the pots they have for now. Folks keep asking me if they will bare fruit, but I really doubt it since they just came from a regular grocery store and usually their produce doesn't actually go to seed in a productive manner.
This is the last post about the kitchen windowsill. Next time we start a whole new area!
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