My Avocado Plant

About four years ago someone gave us an avocado that was especially ono.  So I poked a few toothpicks into its seed and hung it over a bowl of water.  I was surprised when about a week later it sprouted.  It continued to grow with roots going downward and stalk extending skyward.  The roots got so long that I had to transfer the seed to a trimmed water bottle. It thrived. But being very green-thumbless I had no clue what to do with it as it started to outgrow the water bottle.  I finally decided that I'd better plant the thing, so I bought some dirt and a plastic pot.


I so didn't know how to take care of it, but every morning when I let Kona out to do his business I'd pour a big cup of water into the pot. Except for transferring it to a bigger pot and adding a little more soil, that's all I've ever done.  There were many times that I thought it would die . . . when the leaves turned brown at the edges and it looked like the brownness was spreading . . . or when it looked dried out . . . or when it seemed as if it had just stopped growing.  Yet it's still hanging in there.


Lately, now that Spring is upon us, there's been all this sprouting action happening.




Pretty amazing to me.


I should probably transfer it to the ground, but I can't.  Wendell's dad wouldn't like that.  We used to have four plumeria trees, but he had them all chopped down so that he wouldn't have to take care of the rubbish they created.


He even asked me once if I knew of anybody who would want the avocado plant.  I thought, "Yeah, me." Anyway, my friend Linda said that avocado trees can get huge, and I've read that the roots can push up concrete.  So I guess it's just as well that I keep it potted.   Next post I'll show you another Spring happening . . . a visitor who comes tapping on our window several times a day.