The avocado is a tree from Central Mexico. It has beautiful large leaves and fleshy fruits, each of which contains a noticeably big seed. Believe it or not, these seeds are easy to germinate and to grow into a new avocado tree.

Firstly, extract the seed from the fruit.

Position it with the pointy end up and stick 4 cocktail sticks or toothpicks into it. Then, balance it on the top of an old drinking glass and fill the glass with water.

Place the glass in a dark cupboard. Check on it every few days. It will take a few weeks for the seed to split and root.

As the seed grows, the young plant needs sunlight and is best placed on a windowsill.

When it gets to 30 cm or so tall, pot it up using regular potting compost. Keep it in bright light, warm (10–30 degrees Celsius) and keep the compost moist.

If you live in a temperate area (with a cold winter), your avocado plant can grow outdoors during the summer but bring it inside during winter months.

In tropical, subtropical and warm temperate areas, you can grow your avocado plant outside year-round.

Source: Local Safari, The Jane Goodall Institute Australia, 2020, page 113.

(Copyright: Australian Science Teachers Association 2021, except where indicated otherwise. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.)