How to grow avocados from seeds bought at the supermarket ~The Demogorgon's growth story~ (continuation)
Hello, I'm SHUSHI, President of SoCalization, who is turning Japan into Southern California through alcohol.
I posted a blog two years ago titled "How to Grow Avocados from Seeds Using Those You Can Buy at the Supermarket - The Growth of a Demogorgon" , which has been ranked highly in our blog access rankings, and as I thought there might be a demand for a sequel, I decided to post an update.
According to my records, it's been almost four years since I started growing avocados, so I think it's about time I called myself a veteran.
In this post, I would like to share my experience, learnings, and techniques as a self-proclaimed veteran , so if you are interested in growing avocados or have just started, please read on. (If you haven't read the previous article yet, please read it first. It explains how to grow them from seeds.)
table of contents:
- Summer Cultivation Cautions
- Be careful not to overwater
- Indoor cultivation recommended
- Be careful not to pick too many leaves.
- Potted plants
- The significance of half-exposing the seeds
- Recommended watering tools for when you're away for an extended period of time
1. Summer cultivation precautions
Be careful not to overwater
In my previous article, I wrote that "it's best to give your plant plenty of water in the summer" based on information from several other websites, but I think this is a dangerous expression, as what constitutes "plenty" can vary from person to person.
In my case, when I last blogged, I didn't use a tray and just placed it on the outdoor unit, so in the summer I poured so much water on it that the surface was flooded.
To be honest, I don't know if this was the cause or if there were other factors, but the fact is that both Demogorgon No. 1 and No. 2 died...
After it died, I started growing four more Demogorgons (the name for avocados), and since then I've been careful to water them while keeping in mind the length of their roots, and they're growing well so far .
Indoor cultivation recommended
The same goes for water, but one hypothesis for why it dried up in the summer of 2022 is that the summer was too hot.
When I looked back at the temperature around the time the plants started to wither, I found that it was after the rainy season when temperatures were reaching 30-35°C every day.
I remember that the surfaces of the partially exposed seeds were starting to dry out and the leaves gradually began to lose their vitality.
So, I decided to raise the new four in an air-conditioned room, while still keeping them in a sunny spot.
The following summer, 2023, I continued to grow them indoors instead of outdoors, and although some of the seeds in the pots shrank and were sunburned by direct sunlight when I was away for several days on a business trip overseas, they managed to get through the summer safely.
Sunburn can occur not only on the seeds but also on the leaves, so in addition to watering them appropriately, I also spray the leaves with a spray bottle like the one below.
This bottle has a long spray time, so it is recommended for ease of use.
2. Be careful not to pluck too many leaves.
I think this is an important lesson, and not just for summer, but be careful not to pick too many leaves .
In my last post, I wrote the following, but I feel that it would be better to have as few leaves as possible, especially for the first year or so.
The reason I came to this conclusion is that when I was raising the second batch of four siblings, there was one that wasn't growing very well. It was obviously growing slower than the other three, and I was picking it when the tips of its leaves turned brown, but the number of leaves became too few, so I decided to wait and see how it would turn out without picking them, even though the tips were turning brown.
The seeds in the pot will wither and turn brown and eventually disappear, but I patiently refused to give up and continued to care for it by watering it moderately and encouraging it (telling it to do its best lol), and then new leaves appeared from the top where there were no signs of growth!!!
So, from this experience, I have come to believe that leaves are also necessary to maximize the area that receives sunlight and to produce the maximum amount of nutrients, and I think that if the leaves turn a little brown, it shouldn't be a problem! That's my opinion.
If you are concerned about brown leaves from a feng shui perspective, you can either wait until the leaves grow, or just remove the brown parts. (The brown parts are crispy, so they can be easily removed. I also put the bits in the pot and return them to the soil.)
3. The Significance of Partially Exposing the Seeds
In my previous article, I wrote the following:
The academic reason behind this is still unknown, but after raising them for a few years (and actually letting two of them die...), I think I begin to understand a little bit about their significance.
First of all, if the color of the seeds is healthy, the leaves will naturally be healthy as well. When the leaves wither, the seeds will also dry up.
The photo above shows a seed that has started to dry out. The leaves in this pot were small and it was unable to produce any nutrients, so it eventually withered away.
On the other hand, if the partially extracted seeds become completely dried up, it does not necessarily mean that the plant will die .
This Demogorgon has kept as many leaves as possible, so it continues to grow even after the seeds are gone . (The seeds fell off when I repotted it, but the roots were still there, so it continued to grow when I repotted it.)
However, as mentioned above, if the part of the seed that was previously healthy when you are away for a long period of time starts to wither, which is a clear sign that the plant is losing its vitality , so I think there is some benefit to leaving half of the seed sticking out of the soil .
4. Recommended watering tools for when you're away for an extended period of time
Now, for those of you who are wondering, "So, what should I do when I'm away for an extended period of time?", I would like to introduce some recommended tools!
I used this tool, which appears to be made of ceramic, when I went back home for about a week over the New Year holidays in 2024, and in conclusion, it was an extremely useful watering tool !
What's more, you can use wine bottles, so it's a convenient product for those SOCALIZATION customers who like alcohol and have one or two empty bottles at home.
The mechanism is simple; just insert the pointed end into the soil like a screw, then insert a wine bottle filled with water upside down into the hole.
The ceramic part will slowly get wet, and you can water it over the course of about a week.
When I returned home seven days later and checked, I found that one of the four bottles still had water left, and seven days was the limit for a 750ml bottle.
Also, the color of the seeds in the pots where they were still alive had not changed , and some pots had sprouted new leaves and were growing .
*A detailed introduction video will be released at a later date, so please look forward to it.
One thing I'd like to add is that it's probably best to avoid direct sunlight if you're going to be away for long periods of time. In the photo above, it's placed next to a window, but in reality, it was placed further inside, at an angle that kept it out of direct sunlight.
When I went on a business trip to get the seeds, I made my own watering tool using an empty plastic bottle, a cotton swab, and some chopsticks, inspired by a TikTok video, but I couldn't adjust it properly, so no water came out and some of the bottles had fallen out of the pots.
In comparison, I think these Watering Spikes are an excellent product because they are deep and stable!
That's all for today! SoCalize & Socialize!
