Growing avocado in water - Mid September 2015

I have started growing avocado pit in water a few months back. They had sprouted and grown quite well for a few months and lately something happened.

The pit started to turn colour and I guessed they are rotting and drying up. It has not affected the growth of the seedlings and I'm not sure whether the pits are needed for further growth. The seedlings that are grown in soil after the initial germination in water had the pits still intact. Only one seedling in the soil has half of the pit turning colour. I tried to search in the internet for information on the pit turning colour and rotting but did not get any meaningful answers.

I will try to document in the blog on the colour change and possible rotting of the pits.

The pits were still in their usual colour even when the seedlings had grown to about one feet. I'm not sure whether it is due to the air-conditioning that the plants have been subjected to since the haze has come to Singapore. The seedlings were kept inside the room with the air-conditioning turned on for a few weeks already. I hope this is not the reason.

Avocado growing in water

Avocado growing in water

Avocado pit rotting

Pit rotting and drying up

I tried to move one of the small seedling to the living room where it was not subjected to air-conditioning at night. Only one half of the pit has turned colour and dried up. The other half is still in it's usual colour.

Avocado growing in water

There are new roots appearing even when one half of the pit has dried up. I think it is going to survive. I'm thinking of transferring the seedling to a pot with soil soon. But I'm still thinking whether I can still keep it in water.

Avocado moved to living room to avoid air-con

The below pit has the tallest seedling but the pit has turned colour and possible rotting. There is no abnormality in the root system and I hope that even without the pit, the seedling can continue to grow. I'm also not thinking of transferring it to a pot with soil soon. I will monitor this for a couple of months. So, now it is mid September 2015. I will update the status in mid October. Stay tuned!

Avocado pit rotting

The root system still looks ok. There are more branching on the roots and I have changed the water regularly every week. Currently, I have moved the seedling to a room without air-conditioning at night to see whether there is any effect on the seedling.

I will need to prune the seedling too. I hope the pruning will not affect its health. The rotting of the pit may have been stressful to the seedling and the pruning may add further stress.

Avocado root system in water

Third Avocado Seedling planted

The leaves were greenish brown and relatively small. The roots were quite developed and the stem was  at least 10 inches tall. I realized that it was time to plant this seedling. I planted this third seedling and the second seedling on 1 January 2015. The leaves curled a little bit after I placed the third seedling under direct sunlight for less than an hour. I think that the seedling is not strong enough to place under direct sunlight. It has to be under some shades or indirect sunlight. The second seedling is placed beside the window and it was doing fine. I put the third seedling beside the window and the leaves started to become flat and turn towards green colour. I watered the seedlings every weekend to prevent the roots from rotting.

Third avocado seedling

The stem is a bit crooked and I will probably need to rotate the pot to let the stem straighten up. I will let the seedlings set in their new environment before I prune them. It is crucial to know when you want to transfer them to pots because the first seedling had missed the time and currently it is not doing well. I will do an update on the first seedling soon. Stay tuned!

The three seedlings have different colours to the pits. The first seedling has green pit now, the second seedling has brown pit and the third seedling has beige pit.

Green pit - First seedling

Brown pit - Second seedling

Beige pit - Third seedling

I wonder whether they are from different species or the pit's colour changed over time. Maybe it will be interesting to take note of the colour of the pit a month later to see whether there is any change. The first seedling is a bit malnutrition and probably I have left it out on the balcony and the chilly winds in the night had injured the seedling. I have moved it indoors and will monitor its progress.

Second avocado seedling planted

Finally, I planted the second avocado seedling. It was planted on 01 January 2015. I had planted a third avocado seedling on the same day. I used potting mix bought from the local supermarket store and a 2kg pack can plant two seedlings.

Potting mix that I used

The second avocado seedling has few but big leaves whereas the third avocado seedling has many small leaves. The colour of the leaves for both plants are different too. The second seedling has green leaves whereas the third seedling has greenish-brown leaves. I will post the photos of the third seedling over the weekend.

Second avocado seedling

The second seedling is doing well and the leaves have not changed colour. This is a good thing I hope and I have not watered it since 1 Jan. I intend to water it once weekly and monitor its progress.

Roots of seedling

Roots of seedling

Crown above the soil

Planted in pot - need to remove the toothpicks

After planting into the pot, you need to remove the toothpicks carefully. I rotated the toothpick a bit to turn it and then pulled it out gently. At this stage, you try not to be overwhelmed and excited because you might damage the plant. I watered the soil thoroughly until I could see water coming out from the base. I will leave the plants indoors and see their progress.

How to grow avocado from seed - root turning brown

I have this avocado seed which had split open and roots have developed. However, the main root has turned brown recently. It is not the white root with crystals that I have seen for all my avocado seedlings. This one is different. The root has turned brown and the bottom area is dark brown or black. This is a bit strange as if it is spoilt or dying, the colour of the water will turn brown also. The water is still clear and clean. I notice that one little tiny root has emerged from the side. I hope the seed can survive. I'm not sure how to revive it if it is failing. I will try to change the water regularly to see whether this will help its growth. I have placed it near to the window sill so that the roots can get some sunlight to grow well. Anyone out there had experienced this before and would like to share? I will post updates on this.

Avocado seedling main root turned brown