Avocados
are rich in monounsaturated fat that your body can easily burn for
energy, and the fat helps your body absorb fat-soluble nutrients from
other foods as well
You
have two options for growing avocado: Either purchase a grafted avocado
tree from your local nursery, or grow it from seed. If you start from
seed, keep in mind your plant may or may not produce fruit
An eight-step guide for growing avocado from seed is included, as are general growing guidelines for all avocado trees
Avocado trees grow well in USDA zones 9b through 11, and need plenty of sun. Eight popular varieties are listed
Avocados
do not ripen on the tree. They will only ripen after they’re picked.
Refrigerated, they will ripen very slowly, whereas left on the counter,
they’ll ripen and soften in a day or two
By Dr. Mercola Avocados are one of the healthiest foods you
can eat every day. They’re rich in monounsaturated fat that your body
can easily burn for energy, and the fat helps your body absorb
fat-soluble nutrients from other foods as well. Research1
has shown consuming a whole fresh avocado with either tomato sauce or
raw carrots significantly enhanced absorption of the carotenoids and
facilitated the conversion of them into an active form of vitamin A.
Another study2
found that adding avocado to salad allowed the volunteers to absorb
three to five times more carotenoid antioxidants, which help protect
your body against free radical damage. Avocados are sometimes pricy, but
you can pick them up when on sale; just make sure they’re hard, and
then store them in your refrigerator. They’ll stay fresh for about two
to three weeks this way. Placed on the counter, they’ll ripen in a day
or two.
An even better way would be to grow your own. Here, you have two
options: 1) Purchase a grafted avocado tree from your local nursery, or
2) Grow it from seed.3,4,5
If you start from seed, keep in mind your plant may or may not actually
produce fruit. Some may start producing fruit after three to four
years.
Others can take up to 15 years, and some never fruit at all.
Commercial avocado orchards use grafts, which is the surest way to get
fruit. Growing it from seed can be a fun experiment, however, and is a
great project for kids. Here’s how.
8-Step Guide to Growing Avocados From Seed
Step 1: Start by removing the pit from a fresh
avocado. Be sure not to cut or score the pit during removal. Wash off
any remnants of the fruit, but make sure you don’t remove the brown
seed cover.
Step 2: Next, determine the top and bottom ends of
the seed. More often than not, the seed will be slightly egg-shaped,
and the bottom would be the thicker, flatter end. The bottom end is
where the roots will form.
Step 3: With the top end up, pierce the seed with
four toothpicks, about three-quarters of the way down, angling slightly
downward. Place into a glass or small bowl of water, so that the water
covers the bottom end of the seed while keeping the top end dry and
above water.
Step 4: Place the glass on a windowsill that gets
plenty of sunlight. Change the water at least once a week or more to
prevent fungal growth.
Step 5: Patiently wait for the seed to sprout,
which can take anywhere from two to eight weeks. As the roots begin to
sprout, make sure the taproot (the longest of the roots) never dries
out. The roots need to remain submerged or the plant will die.
Step 6: Once the stem has formed and grown to a
height of about 6 inches, cut it down to about 3 inches to encourage
new growth.
Step 7: Once the seedling has reached a height of 6
or 7 inches again, and roots are at least 2 to 3 inches long,
transplant the seedling into a pot (6 to 10 inches in diameter) of
humus-rich soil, leaving the top half of the seed above the soil line.
Keep the pot on a sunny windowsill.
Make sure the soil never dries out completely; the soil needs to be
kept moist, but not soggy. Overwatering will result in yellowing
leaves. You can tell the plant needs water when the leaves curl
slightly upward. Leaves curling downward is an indication of sufficient
water.
Step 8: To encourage bushiness, pinch two of the
longest sets of tops once the plant is about 1 foot tall. Continue
pinching the two youngest sets of branches for every 6 inches of
growth.
In the summer, you can place your baby avocado tree outdoors in a
sunny spot. The more sun the better; just make sure the soil doesn’t dry
out completely. If temperatures drop below 45 degrees F., you’ll need
to bring the plant indoors, so avoid planting it in your garden while
it’s still young, unless the temperature never drops below 45 F.
Basic Planting Guidelines
Avocado trees grow well in USDA zones 9b through 11. As noted in the
featured video by California Gardening, your best bet, if you want to
produce fruit, is to buy a grafted tree. Since avocado trees are shallow
rooted, their feeder roots being only about 6 inches below ground, make
sure your soil is well aerated. Plant in spring once there’s no longer
any risk of frost and the soil has warmed.
Avoid planting your tree near lawn or other plantings that might
compete for nitrogen uptake. Ideally, your soil should have a pH of 7 or
below. If your soil is more alkaline, amend with organic matter before
planting. Sphagnum moss is an ideal amendment. To lower soil pH by 1
unit, add 2.5 pounds of peat moss per square yard of soil.6
Alkaline soils will also need some chelated iron. You can tell your
tree is deficient in iron if new leaves have green veins and start to
yellow around the edges.
Select a sunny spot, and as with other plantings, dig a hole as deep
as the root ball and about 50 percent wider. Fill in with soil and add
mulch to lessen water evaporation and weed growth. Using a weed barrier
around the base will further minimize weed growth. Keep the mulch at
least 6 inches away from the trunk of your tree.
Newly planted trees will need about 2 gallons of water at the time of
planting. After that, water two to three times a week until
established. The tree will flower in March or April, producing tiny
fruit buds shortly thereafter. In the first year, apply fertilizer in
March, June and September. Compost and fish emulsion are good organic
options. You may also add a little zinc once a year.
Throughout the growing season, prune off any dead leaves and remove
weeds growing near the trunk. Insecticides are typically not required.
Should you notice insects, snails or slugs, sprinkle diatomaceous earth
on the soil around the tree. It’s a natural repellant against many
crawling insects.
Popular Avocado Varieties
When selecting a tree, you have a number of options. Some varieties
are more cold-hardy than others, so make sure you select a variety that
is suitable for your climate. Popular varieties include:
Haas
Lamb Haas
Reed
Bacon
Gwen
Gem
Fuerte
Pinkerton
Zutano
Brogdon
The featured video focuses on the Gem variety, a dwarf variant of the
Gwen that produces large, fleshy fruit with an excellent buttery
flavor. The fruit also oxidizes slower than the Hass variety. It’s a
heavy producer, making it a good choice for backyard growing, and it
produces fruit annually. It grows best in South California and areas
with similar climate. The Haas and Reed varieties are “alternate
bearing,” meaning they alternate between heavy production one year and
low production the next.
How to Harvest and Peel Avocados
Avocados do not ripen on the tree. They will only ripen after they’re
picked. Refrigerated, they will ripen very slowly, whereas left on the
counter, they’ll ripen and soften in a day or two. In warmer climates,
you can leave the fruit on the tree well into December. Simply harvest
what you need as you go along, picking the fruit a couple of days before
you plan to eat it.
Interestingly, how you de-skin your fruit can have a bearing on the
nutrients you get from it. In 2010, the California Avocado Commission
issued guidelines7 for getting the most out of your avocado by peeling it the right way:
"California-grown avocados contain 11 carotenoids … that may provide
numerous health benefits. Carotenoids appear to protect humans against
certain cancers, heart disease and age-related macular degeneration.The
UCLA research showed that in California avocados, the greatest
concentration of beneficial carotenoids is in the dark green fruit of
the avocado closest to the peel.”
To preserve the area with the greatest concentration of antioxidants,
you want to peel the avocado with your hands, as you would a banana:
First, cut the avocado lengthwise, around the seed
Holding each half, twist them in the opposite directions to separate them from the seed
Remove the seed
Cut each half, lengthwise
Next, using your thumb and index finger, simply peel the skin off each piece
Click on the code area and press CTRL + C (for Windows) / CMD + C (for Macintosh) to copy the code
There are many reasons to eat avocado on a regular basis, and so many
ways to eat them. They can be added to salads and smoothies, for
example, or used as fat replacement in baked goods and desserts such as
chocolate pudding, made with avocado and raw cacao. For a healthy chocolate avocado pudding recipe,
see this page. As mentioned above, avocados contain many valuable
antioxidants known to have powerful anti-cancer activity. They also
contain:
1. Potassium. About 2.5 avocados provide the daily recommended amount of about 4,700 milligrams (mg) of potassium
a day. Potassium is a mineral and an electrolyte that conducts
electricity in your body that plays an important role in heart function,
skeletal health, digestion and muscular function, and is essential for
the proper function of all cells, tissues and organs.
Importantly, consuming enough potassium-rich foods helps offset
the hypertensive effects of sodium. Imbalance in your sodium-potassium
ratio not only can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) but may also contribute to heart disease and stroke. 2. Magnesium. An average avocado contains about 40 mg of magnesium,
which is about 10 percent of the recommended daily value. Magnesium is a
mineral used by every organ in your body, especially your heart,
muscles and kidneys. If you suffer from unexplained fatigue or weakness,
abnormal heart rhythms, or even muscle spasms and eye twitches, low
levels of magnesium could be to blame.
3. Vitamins C and E. Vitamins C and E are important antioxidants
on their own, but put them together, the way they are in avocado, and
the real magic happens. As reported in Critical Reviews in Food, Science
and Nutrition,8 “Avocados are one of the few foods that contain significant levels of both vitamins C and E.
Vitamin C plays an important role in recycling vitamin E to maintain circulatory antioxidant protection …” Research9 has also shown a combination of vitamin C and E can help slow plaque buildup, which could help prevent a heart attack or stroke.
4. Fiber. Avocados are surprisingly high in fiber,
with about 4.6 grams in half an avocado. Fiber plays an important role
in your digestive, heart and skin health, and may improve blood sugar
control, weight management and more. In fact, their fiber content
appears to be one of the reasons why avocados are so good for weight management and blood sugar support.
According to research10 published in Nutrition Journal,
eating just one-half of a fresh avocado with lunch may satiate you if
you're overweight, which will help prevent unnecessary snacking later.
Those who ate half an avocado with their standard lunch reported being
40 percent less hungry three hours after their meal and 28 percent less
hungry at the five-hour mark compared to those who did not eat avocado
for lunch. The study also found that avocados appear helpful for
regulating blood sugar levels.
5. Low risk of chemical contamination. Avocados
are rated as one of the safest commercial crops in terms of pesticide
application, and this is largely because their thick skins protect the
inner fruit from pesticides. Hence, there’s no real need to spend extra
money on organic avocados.
How to Keep Your Avocados Fresh
The flesh of an avocado turns brown once it’s cut because of an
enzyme that oxidizes when exposed to air. There are a number of tricks
to keep avocados fresh. Here are a few helpful pointers:
If you’ll be using only half an avocado at a time, leave the pit in
the half of the avocado you’re not planning to use and store it in an
airtight container in the refrigerator.
Prevent oxidation by adding a thin layer of olive oil onto the top
of the avocado half using a pastry brush. You can use this trick with
guacamole too. It will, however, add an oilier flavor and texture to
your dip.
Lemon juice
also inhibits oxidation. Rub some on an avocado half or sprinkle some on
top of your guacamole. It will add some lemon flavor to the avocado,
which may or may not be desirable depending on your intended use.
Place a handful of large onion chunks into the bottom of the
container and then place the leftover avocado half (face up) on top.
Alternatively, sprinkle some cut onion on top of your guacamole, and remove them when it’s time to serve.
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