My (Endless ;) Avocado Project

Guess what I found in my compost pile yesterday!! Yet another rooted and sprouted avocado pit. I brought this one indoors this time, instead of planting it and leaving it out do die in our cold winter. It doesn't get that cold where I am (Vancouver, BC), just too cold for avocados, apparently.

I brought this one inside and gave it a good bath, to get any critters off. At the moment it's sitting in water on my kitchen counter, waiting for me to have a moment to plant it in a pot with indoor potting soil (I'll probably do this later today). Meanwhile here are some pics so you can see :)








Plant Avenue Home

Growing Avocado Pits

I was turning my compost pile with a shovel one day last summer when I saw what looked like a tall weed. I pulled it out from the earth only to discover it was a sprouted avocado pit! Intrigued, I planted it in a pot where it thrived, until the cold of our BC winter killed it.

I've been meaning to try growing one again, but this time with indoor potting soil so that I can keep the plant warm in the house this winter. I debated whether or not to simply fill a pot with potting soil and put the pit in it (because that apparently works!), but then I thought I'd do some Internet research on the topic.

Voila! The toothpick suspension water sprouting method! (See picture).

• Clean the avocado pit and remove the thin skin.
• Make a slice down one side of the pit.
• Suspend the pit with toothpicks so that the narrower part of it is above the water and the wider part is below.
• Check water daily to ensure that the bottom half of the pit is still touching it.
• Wait and watch!

The trick to growing avocado plants indoors is adequate sunlight - bright windows are best. I have mine on my kitchen window sill overlooking our sunny back yard.

I'll post more pics as it grows!

Plant Avenue Home

Growing New Plants From Old, Without Buying New Stock

My Father-In-Law bought marigold seeds once, years ago. He plants them every year in our garden but he uses seeds from his own previously grown flowers. He showed me today how he gets the seeds from the flowers - it was far more simple than I had thought.

Marigold Seeds:

• take an old, drying marigold blossom, and remove the outside petals.
• pull the seeds out from inside the base of the flower.
• Once you remove the seeds, leave them out to dry before putting them away for use next season.

My Father-In-Law usually plants his in June (we're in Zone 8). He even showed us an ice cream bucket full of seeds he has stashed from last year.

He has also grown tomato plants from seeds taken from a store bought tomato, by simply removing them from the fruit and inserting them in the soil, without drying them or doing any other prep first. I haven't tried that yet, but I plan to!

Potatoes are one of the easiest foods to grow from your grocery cart - I've done this many times myself. You simply select a few potatoes with eyes sprouting, cut them in pieces ensuring that each piece has at least one eye, and bury them in the soil. They can take over your garden though, so watch out ;) They also can come back year after year, if any potatoes are not harvested and left in the soil.

One day I was turning the soil in my compost pile and I found an avocado pit that I had composted which had sprouted a new plant. I transferred it to my garden and watched it grow, only to have it die over the winter. I wonder now if I had brought it indoors, would it have survived?

What about you - what's your experience with growing new food and flowers from old?

Clip art courtesy of www.artvex.com