Hello, i'm new to the board. I'm in southern ontario and I've had experience with some avocado sprouting. well, one really - its 3 years old, about 4ft tall...no sign of fruit. indoors in the winter and out in the summer in a 12" pot. I've been told that it won't bear fruit so I dont have much expectation for it. It's probably due for a bigger pot. I've also had 2 succesful experiences with indoor growing of...err...currently less then legal herbs. That was very enjoyable but I've had my fun and moved on. For the past few years my family has been ordering these '7-day adventis' florida grapefruits which arrive 2 or 3 times a season. These grapefruits are beyond "taste good"...i'm going through withdrawl as I just finished the last one - most likely for the next 8 months. I know that I have no chance of growing this succesfully in Canada without a greenhouse environment but I just want to sprout a seed or two to keep my avocado company. I dont have potting soil at the moment, so the seeds went directly from the grapefruit and into moist paper towel in a tupperware, covered with plastic wrap and placed on the window sill (thats the herb gardner in me). Please reply soon if i've done this wrong! What is the correct method for sprouting straight out of the fruit? Thanks! CanCon -edit- after more searching i've found the answers to most of my immediate questions. Any help or tips are appreciated. I know it may be many years before fruit, but would it be possibly in a large container (2-3ft diameter planter), outdoors in summer (May-October), indoors in winter under a 400W metal halide lamp for 12hrs/day? Also, millet, go easy on me...I see you like to shoot down the indoor grapefruit growers :D
Is it possible to get a containerized seedling grapefruit to eventually flower and bear fruit? The answer is yes, it is possible. However, by the time your grapefruit tree would reach maturity and become capable of fruiting, the tree will not fit inside your house. While I tell you that it is possible, I, nor any one that I am associated with, has ever seen a containerized grapefruit that was started from seed and grown for seven months indoors, and five months outside ever fruit, especially in Canada (my second favorite country). But who knows, you might be the first one. Take care, and good luck. - Millet
Plant a Key Lime seed and actually get fruit in 2 years, or a mandarin seed and it should fruit in 5 years. Both varieties very easy to grow in containers. - Millet
CanCon, In the past I have used basically the same technique but without the use of the tupperware container an plasitic wrap. I have used a zip lock baggy instead. Your technique my even work better. Once the seeds germinate using either your method or mine I plant them in rootrainer trays using a Premiun seed starter mix. If you don't have rootainers no big deal. You can use a small clear plastic or styrofoam cup by adding some holes to the bottom for water drainage. The small clear plastic cups are pretty nice to use as you should be able to see the root system grow giving a better idea to repot.
Does the method keep the seed moist for the 2-3 weeks germination time? or will I need to re-apply water during the process? I started it sunday, and it was very moist when I left it on monday.
Yes, the zip lock bag method will keep the seed moist until germination. However,the seed germination method most commonly used, and by a vast majority, is just planting the seed directly in a small container filled with potting soil. This avoids any transplant stress to the new seedling. What ever method used to germinate the seed, the length of time from seed to germination, is determined by the temperature surrounding the seed. 90F (35C) will germinate a citrus seed in the shortest time. Commercially, citrus seeds are commonly germinated in only 6-10 days, by simply removing the hard seed coat before planting. In the country of Brazil, the world largest growers of citrus, the seed coat is always removed to both hasten the germination time, and to insure a higher germination percentage. Good luck, and enjoy your tree. - Millet
I always enjoy trying different ways in starting citrus seeds, sometimes in a ziplock bag sometimes in a soil mix. The last method was soaking the citrus seeds in a seaweed extract (Maxicrop) for 24 hours before planting them in a seed starter mix, out of 24 seeds 20 germinated. I have never tried removing the out side skin of the seed, as in Millets above posting, but I find it to be interesting enough to give it go on the next seed planting. Thanks Millet.
So I came home today, 5 days after leaving the tupperware/plastic wrap contraption ontop of the fridge. There was moisture on the canopy but for the most part, the paper towel dried out. I think I may have botched it. It appeared to be slightly moist just around each seed, so maybe they didn't dry out too much. I noticed a few small green spots on the paper towel and I figure its the beginning of a mold colony. Also, some of the seeds had a clear jelly-like substance on them - problem? I moved the seeds to fresh paper towel and they are now back on top of the fridge, but in a ziplock bag
I have never heard of the tupper ware method before, however, when germinating citrus seed you should first soak the seed in hot water for 5 minutes, this cleans the outer coating, which greatly helps to retard the chance of the seed molding. Commercially, all citrus seed is also soaked in a 8-HQC solution, to kill any bacteria. Your 5 day old seed should easily still be viable, provided that it had not previously dried. If you have a thermometer, take a temperature reading of your germinating chamber. The farther the temperature is below 90F, the longer the time it will take for a citrus seed to germinate, and the lower will be the successful germination rate. Good luck - Millet
the tupperware method is the same as most any other method which doesn't involve sprouting from soil. The tupperware acts as a container for the paper towel...a plate or frisbee or anything like that workes equally well. Then you add a dome to keep the moisture in & raise humidity levels...plastic wrap, the tupperware lid, a seedling moisture dome...whatever. I used the plastic wrap because it does not completely seal off the container - i assume oxygen is a cruicial component of this process. However it requires a few applications of water through the process. I did not soak the seeds prior...they went straight from the fruit to the paper towel. I know this isn't the right subforum, but do you have any knowledge about avocado? Does it produce flowers and self-polinate? Will my avocado EVER produce fruit? Its about 4-5 feet tall and 3-4 years old.
Hey, just wanted to say that I really don't know too much about plants, but I went on kind of a sprouting spree two summers ago, grapefruit included. I stuffed a shot glass with moist paper towel, with the seeds pressed up against the glass, and in a window. I kept the paper towel moist with regular watering. My grapefruit is still on my window sill today. He's growing pretty slow but never the less he's good and strong. I live in Toronto, and he lives on a window sill for most of the year and outdoors during the warmer months. I don't expect to get fruit, I just love the way citrus trees smell, and they're kinda neat looking too with their spikes and strange leaves. My sister's been growing an orange tree for a good 10 years now, he's at least 4 feet tall. Anyways good luck! P.S. Schultz all purpose plant food works like a MIRACLE on my grapefruit tree. I swear he's been growing in front of my eyes.
I also forgot to mention that before germinating my seed, i peeled off it's hard outer shell... seemed to make it germinate faster...
The chance of your avocado ever fruiting is just about absolute zero. Avocados are only partially able to self-pollinate, because of flower dichogamy. To obtain fruit, you need to have a type A tree and a type B tree. Avocado flowers are perfect, meaning they have both the male and female parts. However,the flowers of type A trees are receptive to pollination only in the morning, but unfortunately type A trees produce pollen in the afternoon. The flowers of type B trees are receptive to pollination only in the afternoon, but unfortunately type B trees produce pollen in the morning. Therefore you need both a type A and type B tree. Additionally, seedling avocados, when planted in Southern California require 6-7 years to mature and begin bearing fruit. Home grown trees in Canada would probably require 15 years to mature, (if ever). Lastly, all commercial avocado trees are grafted trees, seedling trees produce quite inferior fruit. Sorry for the bad news, but on the brite side plant a mandarin seed and eat fruit in 4-5 years, or plant a papaya seed, and eat fruit in 1-2 years, both should grow well as containerized plants in Canada. - Millet
We have sprouts! about 5 of them, I think...out of 7(?) seeds... Good times. Thanks for the help everyone.
CanCon, Looking good! How's the avocados doing? What else are you growing for citrus an tropicals. I'm working on growing Pineapples an grafting citrus. I did a blood orange cleft graft 2 weeks ago which is still looking good. Best of luck.
Here is a picture of the avocado. Its about 3 years old and 3.5 feet tall. Next to it is a 5 or 6 year old tree which I can't identify. It used to grow these upside down trumpet style flowers but has not done so in many years. This is it as far as citrus...pineapple sounds great, but...how do you do it? dont' think i've ever seen a seed before. Apparently some guy in toronto grows pineapple in his office - there is a lot of light and the office is abnormally warm. who knows what quality fruit he's getting. i HATE starting fresh soil - how do you do it? I add water to my potting mix and it goes straight from being dry to mud. I bet most of my seedlings won't survive because of this.
CanCon, Yes very nice, I have 3 avocados going, all from seed only about 6 inches tall. A few ways in testing pineapples is by seed or tops from a fresh one (store bought) for the tops you should be able to find the information on the web. for seeds all fresh pineapples have them. Buy yourself a fresh pineapple with a good looking top find the information on the web to start it, core and peel your pineapple toss the core eat the pineapple, the seeds are found just INSIDE of the peel not the OUTSIDE. You may need to dig around a bit, they look brownish about the size of a stick pin head. Gather a number of them up and wash 'em clean. I do this with paper toweling or a coffee filter, once cleaned and washed remove an place on a clean paper toweling fold over once spray it with clean fresh water and place it in a zip lock bag. Once they germinate remove and plant in seed starter mix or peat. POTTING SOIL.. I only use out of the bag mix for growing Bananas. Citrus, Coffee, Avocados and Palms are planted in CHC and peat. each using more or less peat. Millet was the first one to introduce the CHC an Peat mix a number of years back. Millet tested this mix on his own trees before making it known. this finding alone, has help many,many people archive a goal in growing Citrus. Skeet has also offered many good suggestions on soil mixes. I did some testing using chc coir on some 1 year old citrus root stock which didnt work to well. I feel the coir could use a little peat. Your doing a great job.
I did a cleft graft a few weeks back using some 1 1/2 year old root stock, and bud wood off a Moro blood orange. At his time it appears to have taken some of the buds are starting to grow out. I also did a pineapple top a few weeks back. it is now starting to root and is also looking good. I plan to divide a super drawf cavendish banana pup from it's mother within the coming week. I sliced it from the mother using a sharp knife an I'm letting it rest for a while before removing it. I hope it takes. Other than that nothing new. We did get another snow fall this weekend.
3 little guys popped up this week! One of them appears to be twins. Is this an issue even as a non-fruit bearing plant? (two sprouts from 1 seed...i'm sure i've read here that people separate them). The others...well...they were probably drowned or starved of O2...the muuuuud. Will keep 'em around for another week to see if anything happens. Tell me more about CHC and peat. I have peat. where do i buy coconut husk chips? How long does it stay "good" for? do you recommend this for the avocado too? If the avocado goes into a larger container (10-15 gal) do you fill the whole thing with this mixture? 1: eligible bachelor number 1 2: eligible twin bachelor 3: eligible bachelor number 2 4: eligible twin wanted another shot from a different angle...even still he insists on finishing the day's crossword.
CanCon. I can't answer all your questions. So I hope this helps. Millet was the first to introduced the use of CHC and peat a number of year ago manily for growing citrus. This finding alone has helped many citrus enthusiasts the ability to grow citrus in containers. CHC is more costly, but in the long run you save. It's said they can last up to seven years. They can be reused buy soaking an washing. I tested the CHC an Peat with Avocados and rate it as fair. I plan to repot the ones I have now in a seed starter mix. Avocados from my findings do not like root upsets, so care must taken. I never use plain CHC for my growing needs. (Citrus, Sagos Avocados, Coffee) each needs more or less peat.
If anyone can shed some light on this situation, or perhaps answer my chc question, it would be appreciated.
Coconut Husk Chips (CHC) are the perfect ingredient to use in the growth medium for citrus trees. CHC are available in 1-inch, 1/2-inch and 1/4-inch sizes, I prefer the 1/2-inch chip. The chips last up to five times longer than traditional wood chips, and CHC chips absorb up to seven times their weight in water, while providing a high level aeration to the root system. Further, CHC's natural pH is 6.5 which is the optimum pH level required by citrus.. In the United States there are many places to purchase Coconut Husks, however, in Canada it might possibly be difficult to locate. Perhaps, some of the Canadian members can help you locate a source. An excellent supplier in the USA is The Crystal Company of Saint Louis, MO. The blend when using CHC is 4 parts CHC to 1 part peat moss. COARSE grade perlite can also be added to the medium, if you wish, at an amount equal to the peat moss. - Millet
