Nowadays, many people are interested in growingexotic plants. Surely, it has happened to you that after eating an exotic fruit or vegetable brought from the store, there is a desire to try to grow it at home. And if you have only thought about it, then many grow tangerines, lemons, oranges, figs and other exotic joys on their windowsills. Avocado - alligator pear, as the British call it - did not escape this fate. And if you are not afraid of bold experiments, then we will tell you how to grow an avocado from a seed. According to archaeological data, the Aztecs grew avocados as early as the third millennium BC. Today it is grown in Africa, Brazil, Israel. And if you want to feel like a real planter, grow an avocado at home. In nature, avocado grows in the tropics and subtropics, but you can easily create such conditions for it on your windowsill. Avocado is a fast-growing tree, reaching a height of eighteen meters. But don't be alarmed - yours won't grow that big.
Cultivating a bone
This plant requires a sunny location.The soil should be fertile and well-drained. During fruiting, the plant requires a lot of moisture. And if you are still interested in how to grow an avocado at home, then read on carefully. You can germinate an avocado seed in two ways:
- Water
The bone is immersed in water.To do this, you need a small container so that the bone sticks out of the water with its sharp end. Place charcoal on the bottom, which will serve as a source of microelements. Within three to six weeks, a sprout should appear from the bone.
- Peat
The seed is planted in special soil, forwhich mix peat with crushed expanded clay. Plant the seed in the soil with the blunt end, the sharp end should be above the soil surface, which should be well moistened. Cover the pot with a glass jar or plastic bag and put it in a lighted, warm place. In this way, you create a mini-greenhouse with a greenhouse effect, and your pet will not be threatened by any draft. In this case, the sprout should hatch in a month.
Care of the plant
For those interested in how to grow avocados fromseeds at home, we will immediately please you that it is not so difficult. The only requirement for the process to be successful is to create the necessary conditions for the avocado. First of all, this plant needs warmth and high humidity. It is equally important to choose the right soil with good drainage. Put expanded clay or small pebbles on the bottom of the pot in which you are going to grow your exotic tree. When watering the plant, make sure that the soil does not become over-moistened - water it so that there is no water left in the pot stand. It is even better to water it not very abundantly, but spray it daily. The water for watering the avocado should be warm. The plant loves light. And it should be placed where there is a lot of light. But you should avoid direct sunlight on the avocado, which can cause burns on the leaves. The temperature in the room where the avocado is located should not be lower than 16 ° C. For good development and growth of the plant, it should be fed with mineral fertilizers. In the warm season - spring and summer - the plant should be fertilized at least twice a month. To prevent the plant from growing too much, it should be pinched. If you pinch the upper shoots of the tree in time, it will become fluffy and spreading. Avocado is replanted once a year, and in order for the plant to take root faster and better in a new pot, this should be done in the spring. Avocado needs a period of rest. And if your pet begins to shed leaves, do not worry - it just goes into "hibernation". It can also go into a state of rest if the room temperature drops to 12 ° C. In autumn and winter, when there is a short daylight in our climate zone, avocado requires additional lighting. For this, you need a special phyto-lamp. Regular fluorescent lamps are not suitable for these purposes - the plant requires ultraviolet light. If the avocado's foliage dries out, then most likely the reason is too dry air. To add humidity to the plant, place the pot in a tray with wet moss or expanded clay. In addition, for this purpose, you can spray both the plant itself and the air around it. Another reason for the leaves drying out is irregular watering. Make sure that the soil is not overdried, but remember that overwatering is also not good for this plant. Stick to a stable watering regime. The soil for avocado should be moist and loose. Make sure that the soil does not compact or become compacted. Avocado does not like acidic soil, so for planting it is better to make a mixture that includes equal parts of humus, garden soil and coarse sand. You can also add a little lime to the soil for avocado. To saturate the soil with oxygen, moss, sand, expanded clay or peat are added to it.
Pests of avocado
You should know that the plant also has pests.– spider mites and scale insects. Plants damaged by spider mites lose their color, the leaves become pale. Yellowish spots appear on their surface, and their number increases very quickly. They arise because the pests suck out the cellular juice from several neighboring cells of the leaf. If the damage is severe, the leaves can dry out completely. If you notice a thin web that has appeared on the plant in time, you can get rid of the pest by giving the plant a shower. To do this, place the pot with the plant in a plastic bag, wrapping it tightly around the stem. Then water the plant from the shower, from top to bottom, with a good stream of water. After that, wrap the avocado in a large transparent plastic bag and return it to its usual place. Leave it like this for at least a week, continuing to water it as usual. High humidity leads to the death of adult pests. In about ten days, the plant will be completely free of mites. The procedure should be repeated in a couple of weeks, since the pest eggs are not destroyed in this way. No less dangerous for avocado is the scale insect, which is generally dangerous for all indoor plants. The leaves of a plant affected by the scale insect become sticky and shiny, as if covered in sugar syrup. The affected plant should be thoroughly washed under a shower with hot water, the temperature of which should not exceed 45 ° C. Be sure to wash the window and window sill on which the plant stood with soap or washing powder. After you have washed the plant, you need to wipe the dried leaves with cotton wool soaked in thick soap foam or a 70% alcohol solution. You should wipe thoroughly, not missing a single pest. Repeat the procedure every other day. Three or four treatments should be done per week. We recommend reading:
