How to grow the perfect ‘Avocado’ plant in your home garden or balcony – Times of India

Avocado, a superfood that is all in trend in India and abroad, is quickly gaining fame as a versatile fruit. From adding it in puddings and smoothies to making Guacamole for the perfect tacos and nachos, Avocado has now become a household name for its benefits, mild taste, and how well it can be paired with other fruits and vegetables.
But, one common problem is that Avocados are super expensive in India with a single avocado selling for about 150-200 rupees.And sometimes the avocados turn out to be ripe or spoiled from the inside which results in disappointment and the feeling of money getting wasted.
So, how about, growing your own Avocado plant at home and reaping the fruit of your efforts?

Plus, it does not matter if you have a garden or a balcony, with a little patience and extra care (for the plant) you can grow a healthy avocado plant.
And so, here we mention a step-by-step guide to growing the perfect Avocado plants along with some bonus tips for quick growth.

Choose the seed variety

First things first, it is important to determine the right seed type that will grow well in India. Commonly, there are Hass, Fuerte, and Green avocados that grow in India, and can be grown in the garden as well. And most people prefer to grow the Hass avocado in India because it adapts well to the climate and has a subtle, sweet taste.
Another point to note is that if you are growing it in a balcony, or a space smaller than a home garden, try to go for the dwarf variety like ‘Wurtz’.

Starting the plant

There are two main ways to start an avocado plant: from seed or by purchasing a sapling. Now, although starting the plant from the seed is time taking and will require a lot of hit and trial, it is definitely more wholesome and there is a feeling of accomplishment tied to it with every new leaf that comes up. The grafted saplings, on the other hand, often start producing fruit in just 2-3 years.
How to start with seed
To start the plant from a seed, buy an Avocado from the market, cut it gently (without slitting the seed), take the flesh out to use, and wash the seed. Simply rinse it under a tap of water and make sure there is no more fruit stuck on it.
Then, wet a tissue nicely and wrap the avocado seed in it and keep it in a dark place for a few weeks. You’ll notice that the roots and shoots have started sprouting from the avocado seed, and once the seed has started germinating, take it out of the tissue.

Now, once you see some shoots coming out and a few, small roots, add the seed to a glass of water. Make sure the roots are dipped in water completely, but the shoots on top are in the air. Keep the glass in a bright, warm spot, ideally near a window with indirect sunlight, and leave it there for the next 4-8 weeks so that the seed can sprout some more. Change the water every 2-3 days so that mold does not form on top.
After about 5 weeks, you will start to see that the seed is cracking a little and there are shoots coming upwards.
Seed to pot
Once the avocado sprout is about 6 inches tall, it is ready to plant it in soil. Buy a new pot that is atleast 10 inches deep, has a wide mouth, and the drainage holes below are wide enough as the Avocado does not like loamy soil.
Then, fill the pot with rich soil, making a mix of potting soil, some sand, some cocopeat, and organic compost. Fill the pot well, make a small hole in the soil, and keep the sprouted seed in it, with the top of the seed about an inch above the soil. Then gently spread the soil around the seed, patting it in so that it is securely kept inside.
Keep this in a balcony or in the home garden in a space where there is ample sunlight for the most part of the day, and then gently mist all around the seed and the soil to wet it, but not water log it.
Now the next step is to make sure that the Avocado is receiving enough sunlight throughout the day. Place your avocado plant in a spot where it will get about 4 hours of direct sunlight, and a few more of indirect, shaded light. And throughout the day, make sure to keep a check on the soil, especially that it should not be waterlogged. Keep it moist, mist the plant all around once or twice a day, and pour water directly only during the dry spells and heatwaves.
Overwatering can lead to root rot, so always check the soil before watering again.
Now, it is best to follow these steps religiously for about a year if growing from a sapling, and atleast 2 years if you started the plant with a seed germinated yourself.
When grown from a seed, an avocado tree may not bear fruit for several years, and the fruit may not be the same quality as the original avocado. So, if you wish to speed up the process, get a grafted sapling from the nearby nursery.

And when the tree starts to bear fruit, gently twist and pinch it down so it can start ripening and in a few days you will have the perfect Avocado fruit.