The spring is around the corner. That means the growing season is knocking on our door. If you are a pro gardener, you may have already planned for what to grow, when, and how. But if you are a novice gardener, you may still be wondering what, when, and how to grow, where to buy seeds, containers, or soil, and so on.  Let me tell you, gardening does not necessarily have to stick to fixed rules of do’s and don’ts. On the contrary, there is a lot of improvisation and experimentation that you can do in gardening. For example, if you don’t have a plot to grow plants in, you can start thinking about growing some plants inside your own room or apartment. 

Please make no mistake, I am not a gardening expert, but someone who is passionate about plants and gardening. My passion and love for gardening are inspired by my mother, who grows vegetables year around in her rooftop garden in Kathmandu, Nepal. In my plot at SFU’s community garden on Burnaby Mountain, I grow vegetables and herbs every summer while also teaching my daughter a few gardening tips. For those of you, who have not been to the garden yet, I encourage you to visit it in summer to see the diversity of plants that gardeners grow in their plots.  

Why grow an avocado plant?

The main reason to grow an avocado plant to me is that I love plants and gardening in general. Now that my avocado is growing healthy, I love to take its photos every now and then—and experiment with lights and shadows—to document its transformation and growth. Early this year, my 6-year old daughter had insisted that I take the avocado plant to her school to show it to her classmates and teacher. I was happy to see my daughter explain the process involved in growing the plant to her teacher and friends. She was excited to tell them that we had reused her yogurt container to grow an avocado plant. 

For almost a year now, I have been growing a few avocado plants indoors. After watching a Youtube video, I kicked off the project in March last year with occasional help from my 5-year old daughter. The idea was to experiment with something for which I was not 100 percent sure, to begin with.

I started the avocado growing project as a learning process in which the stakes were not very high. Success or failure, there would not be any room for giving up. So, I saved some avocado seeds after consumption. I gathered some small, plastic yogurt containers. I kept aside some toothpicks. And, that’s pretty much what I had had to keep the ball rolling.

With almost a year-long experience of growing avocado indoors, I can assure you that it’s not only easy to grow your own plant, but also fun, fulfilling, heartwarming and gratifying. I cannot describe in words how I feel about witnessing the transformation of an egg-sized pit turning into almost two feet tall avocado plant in less than a year. And that is just by feeding it water! In this blog post, I will guide you step by step for how to grow an avocado plant indoors literally from scratch.

My avocado plant has grown 22” tall in just 11 months. Photos taken on Feb 19, 2020.

Motivated by the success of what was just an experiment, I will be growing more avocado plants this spring and summer, some for myself and some others to share with my friends. And, in doing so, I am hoping to engage my daughter more than last year. Those of you who are reading this blog, please go ahead and start your own. Trust me, you will find it a fun project.

What you need to get started

• 1 avocado pit/seed
• Used yoghurt container or water/wine glass
• Toothpicks
• Big jar to transfer the avocado plant once it grows big

Let’s get started!

Step 1: After consumption, save an avocado pit. Wash it thoroughly and leave it on a plate for 8-12 hours to air-dry. Air-drying will make it easier to remove the skin.

Step 2: Remove the skin from the avocado pit. Soaking the seed in water helps take off its skin easily. You can use a small knife or your nails to gently scratch and remove its skin. Make sure you don’t scratch too much beyond the skin.

Avocado seed with skin (left) and without skin (right)

Step 3. Stick three toothpicks evenly into an avocado seed in an approximately 45-degree angle. (The angle may vary depending on the mouth size of a glass or a container.)

Step 4. Fill the yogurt container or transparent glass with water. And submerge the seed in water leaving only its one-third body above it. Keep in mind that the pointy side should face upward. The wider side, where the root will develop, should face downward. 

Step 5. Put the glass or a container by the window or an area where you have got plenty of natural light. Keeping the seeds exposed to sunlight will help them germinate sooner. Plus, they look great in the sunlight for your Instagram-worthy photos. 

Step 6. Make sure to check the water level and quality. Maintain the proper water level so that the seed’s two-third part is submerged in water. If you see dirty particles in the water, replace it with fresh water. Ideally, it’s good to change the water every 10-15 days.

Step 7. Approximately in a month, the seed will sprout roots. And, it will look like the one you see in this photo.

Step 8. Wait for a few weeks for the seed to sprout a stem and its first leaves. If you don’t have a big jar yet to transfer the avocado plant, don’t worry. The plant will stay just fine.

In approximately three months, my avocado plant was looking like this. Pictured on June 11, 2019

Step 9. Once it has developed a few roots and grows taller than 6 inches, transfer it to a big glass jar.

Stay safe and take care. 

Best, Bicram

Note: All photos are the my own. Follow me on Instagram to see more of my photos.