Today's episode of the "House Full of Flowers" series will discuss how to grow your own plant from an avocado seed. I invite you. More and more materials about growing exotic plants from a seed appear on the Internet. I also decided to try and last year I planted my own avocado. It germinated in the fall and survived the winter. So there is nothing to stop you from planting more plants and expanding your collection. The seed, which we need to start growing, is of course taken from the avocado fruit. So it is worth spending a while in the store to choose the best one. And the best fruit is healthy fruit. It should have green skin without spots and be neither too soft nor too hard. Unfortunately, we cannot look inside when buying to see how big the seed is, so you can buy two or three. If the avocado is spoiled, rotten, the seed will be grayish and will probably not germinate. Sometimes the seeds are healthy, but small. For dishes prepared in the kitchen, it is better. We have more fruit to eat, but it is a bit worse for the germination of a new plant, because the bigger the seed, the better. Gently cut the avocado in half, being careful not to damage the seed inside. Do not dig the knife in too hard. After cutting, turn the fruit halves in opposite directions and tear them off. The seed will remain in one of the halves and should be gently removed. Then we can gently rinse it and, of course, eat the pulp. We can prepare a delicious paste from avocado, e.g. Mexican guacamole sauce, the basic ingredient of which is of course avocado with the addition of salt and lime. We can supplement this recipe with other additions, including garlic, pepper, chili pepper, eggs or dried tomatoes. Lime can be replaced with lemon. Such a paste is suitable for sandwiches, pasta, nachos or other snacks. There are really many recipes for avocado dishes. However, it is time to return to our topic, namely how to stimulate the seed to sprout. On the Internet, you can most often find a way to sprout avocados using a glass or jar and toothpicks. I grew my avocado by planting the seed directly into a pot with soil. When germinating avocados in water, you can first lightly dry the seed and then soak it in water, e.g. for one day. This will soften the brown skin covering the seed, and to speed up germination, it is recommended to remove it. Then gently insert 3 toothpicks, at a slight angle, more or less equally spaced. They will serve as a support for our seed and protect it from being immersed in water too deeply. Place our seed construction on a glass or jar, which you fill with water. The thicker part of the seed faces down, the thinner part faces up. The water should reach about halfway into the seed. Place the glass in a bright, warm place and wait for the avocado to start sprouting. When the root and the first leaves appear, you can transplant the plant into a pot with soil. And if you want to plant the seed directly in the substrate, it is best to do it immediately after removing it from the fruit. You will need a pot, it can be quite large from the beginning. Fill it with a light, permeable substrate, with the addition of sand or perlite. I used a substrate for green plants and palms. As in the previous example, the conical part of our seed is the top, and the wider, rounded part is the bottom. Place the seed in the soil so that it slightly protrudes above the surface, about one third. Since avocados need high humidity in the substrate and air to germinate, cover the whole thing with a piece of foil, remembering to air it from time to time, or with a piece of a cut bottle. Place it in a warm and sunny place. Patient people usually have no problem with avocado germination. You just have to wait about 2 months. The problem may appear a little later, especially in winter. My plant, for example, lost a lot of leaves at that time. Fortunately, it has already come back to life, so it is time to repot it. Winter is the most difficult time for avocados. They suffer from a lack of light and too low air humidity. They often extend their shoots excessively, and often lose their leaves. Drafts and too cold air are dangerous for them. But in the summer we can put this plant on a balcony or terrace, and then it comes back to life. It is worth changing its pot to a larger one beforehand, especially if it is a young specimen. Before it finds its place outside in the summer, the avocado should be gradually hardened off and accustomed to the conditions outside. We must remember to water it systematically, especially on hot days. Avocados also like frequent sprinkling with soft water. If there is no rainfall or we only grow this plant indoors, it is worth remembering this. A month after spring or summer replanting, we can start fertilizing, e.g. with fertilizer for green plants, approximately every two weeks.