Avocado is a tropical (Persea americana) with a single large pit, spherical to pear shape, smooth to rough-textured skin with a green to purplish color and yellow to green flesh with a buttery texture and high unsaturated fat content, generally used like a vegetable and consumed raw, also known as an alligator pear.
History of Avocado
The word “avocado” is believed to be derived from the Nahuatl word ahuacatl, which means “testicle” and obviously describes the shape of the fruit. It also likely refers to the fact that the believed the avocado to be an aphrodisiac.
Discovered By the Mesoamericans
Avocados have long been a part of the Mexican diet. Archaeologists have found evidence of avocado consumption going back almost 10,000 years in central Mexico. Back then, humans were simply gathering and eating wild avocados. Researchers believe that humans began cultivating avocados about 5,000 years ago. Mesoamerican tribes like the Inca, the Olmec and the Maya grew domesticated avocado trees.
The Avocado and The Spanish Conquest
In the 16th century, Spanish explorers became the first Europeans to eat avocados. Martín Fernández de Enciso (circa 1470 – 1528) was the first European to describe avocados when he mentioned them in a book he wrote in 1519. The Spanish called the fruit aguacate, a corruption of ahuacatl. By the time of the Spanish Conquest, avocados had spread from Mexico through Central America into parts of South America. The Spanish eventually brought avocados to Europe and sold them to other countries including England.
The Slow Spread of the Avocado
In 1653, a Spanish padre, Bernabe Cobo, was the first European to describe the three main types of avocados: Guatemalan, Mexican and West Indian. Different people, including George Washington, described finding and eating avocados in the West Indies. Washington visited the Barbados in 1751 and later wrote that the “agovago pears” were a popular food.
Sir Hans Sloane, an Irish naturalist, is believed to have coined the word “avocado” in 1696, when he mentioned the plant in a catalogue of Jamaican plants. He also called it the “alligator pear-tree.”
Henry Perrine, a horticulturist, first planted avocados in Florida in 1833. They didn’t become a commercial crop until the early 20th century, though. While they were fairly popular in California, Florida and Hawaii where they were grown, people in other states avoided avocados. They didn’t start gaining widespread popularity until the 1950s, when people started putting them in salads.
How to Grow Avocado
Avocados are one of the wonderful fruit of summer. High in nutrition and flavor, nothing signals the start of summer like a zesty lime guacamole dip with tortilla chips. The next time you’re making guacamole or slicing an avocado for a salad, try saving your pits to grow into avocado trees. It’s surprisingly easy to grow your own avocado tree from seed, and it makes a great educational project for home and classrooms. Check out our handy-dandy guide below, complete with photos, to learn how to grow an avocado tree from seed.
STEP 1 – REMOVE & CLEAN PIT
You’ll need to start by removing the pit from the avocado carefully (without cutting it), and then washing it clean of all the avocado fruit (often it helps to soak the pit in some water for a few minutes and then scrub all the remaining fruit off). Be careful not to remove the brown skin on the pit – that is the seed cover.
STEP 2 – LOCATE WHICH END IS ‘UP’ AND WHICH IS ‘DOWN’
Some avocado pits are slightly oblong, whereas others are shaped almost like perfect spheres – but all avocado pits have a ‘bottom’ (from where the roots will grow), and a ‘top’ (from which the sprout will grow). The slightly pointier end is the top, and the flat end is the bottom. In order to get your pit to sprout, you will need to place the bottom root end in water, so it’s very important to figure out which end is the ‘top’ and which is the ‘bottom’ before you go piercing it with toothpicks
STEP 3 – PIERCE WITH FOUR TOOTHPICKS
Take four toothpicks and stick them at a slight downward angle into the avocado seed, spaced evenly around the circumference of the avocado. These toothpicks are your avocado scaffolding, which will allow you to rest the bottom half of the avocado in water, so therefore the toothpicks need to be wedged in there firmly. I recommend sticking them in at a slight angle (pointing down), so that more of your avocado base rests in the water when you set this over a glass.
STEP 4 – PLACE AVOCADO SEED HALF SUBMERGED IN A GLASS OF WATER
And set on a quiet windowsill with sunlight. It’s helpful to use a clear glass so you can easily see when roots start to grow, and also when the water needs to be changed. Many guides recommend to change the water every day, but I found, through trial and error, that it is better to change the water every five days to a week or so. You do want to make sure you change the water regularly, to prevent mold, bacteria and fungus growth, which can doom your little avocado sprout.
STEP 5 – WAIT FOR YOUR AVOCADO SEED TO SPROUT!
Many online guides I have read say that sprouting can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks, but in my experience, it usually takes at least 8 weeks to get a sprout, so be patient. Here is the process you will witness:
1. The top of the avocado pit will dry out and form a crack, and the outer brown seed skin will slough off.
2. The crack will extend all the way to the bottom of the avocado pit, and through the crack at the bottom, a tiny taproot will begin to emerge.
3. The taproot will grow longer and longer (and may branch), and eventually a small sprout will peek through the top of the avocado pit.
4. Do not allow your taproot to dry out unsubmerged EVER – doing so will be the death of your plant.
STEP 6 – POT IN SOIL WHEN TREE IS ABOUT 6” TALL
When the stem is 6-7 inches long, cut it back to about 3 inches, this will encourage new growth. When it hits 6-7 inches again, pot it up in a rich humus soil in an 8-10″ diameter pot, leaving the top half of the seed exposed. Place on a sunny windowsill. Avocados love sun – the more sun the better.
STEP 7 – WATER & WATCH IT GROW
Give it frequent waterings with an occasional deep soak. The soil should always be moist, but not saturated. Yellowing leaves are a sign of over-watering; let the plant dry out for a few days.
STEP 8 – PINCH OUT TOP LEAVES TO ENCOURAGE BUSHINESS
When the stem reaches 12 inches tall, pinch out the top two sets of leaves. This will encourage the plant to grow side shoots and more leaves, making it bushy. Each time the plant grows another 6 inches pinch out the 2 newest sets of leaves on top.
STEP 9 – TROUBLESHOOTING BUGS
My avocado trees seem to collect aphids – the nasty critters can’t get enough of the delicious avocado leaves. If you get them, here’s how to get rid of them: Wash all of the aphids off the plant by spraying your plant down with a hose outside or in the sink/shower. Once the little pests are off, spray your plant with a mixture of water with a small squirt of dishwashing liquid and a teaspoon of neen oil. This will keep aphids from returning. Check your plant every 4-5 days and re-clean and spray when necessary.
STEP 10 – WINTERING
Baby avocado trees can kick it outdoors in summer, but if you live anywhere where it gets cooler than 45 degrees F, you’ll need to bring them back indoors in the fall/winter, before the temperatures fall.
WILL MY AVOCADO TREES EVER GROW FRUIT?
Hard to say! Sometimes avocado plants will begin growing fruit after they’re 3 or 4 years old, others take 15+ years to grow fruit, and some never do. It helps to have several avocado trees growing together to aid with pollination. However, don’t expect the fruit to be anything like the avocado that yielded your seed. Commercial avocados are grown from grafted branches to control the outcome of the fruit – a naturally grown avocado may be very different than its parent!
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| Structure of Avocado |
How to Cook Avocado
Use a small knife to cut away the skin, and avocados are great for salads, sandwiches, and of course for making guacamole. Flavor, versatility, and nutrition, avocados have it all! You also can grill them and use them in soups. And it also great to eat them raw.
Sources
@ Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts
@ https://www.avoseedo.com/a-brief-history-of-the-avocado/
@ https://inhabitat.com/how-to-grow-an-avocado-tree-from-an-avocado-pit/
@ http://allrecipes.com/video/134/how-to-prepare-avocados/
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