The quarantine weeks gave us time to rediscover our domestic passions. Including the one for the world of plants, of course, which combined with that for the kitchen has given rise to one of the most popular home challenges of these times, often and willingly also taken up on social media: the test in question consists in growing a seedling of avocado simply starting from the large central core, usually left to itself after asummer salad or an attempt to guacamole. Difficult? No, not particularly, although it is obviously necessary to follow some basic rules.

To make the tree you need the core

Everything, it was said, starts from the core of the avocado, which must be left half soaked in water and half exposed to air. So let's take four toothpick and with great delicacy we go to stick them perpendicularly in the core, so as to form a sort of cross-shaped structure. At this point we take a glass and fill it with water to the brim, and then lay our core on it, supported above the edge by the toothpicks: the most rounded part must be the one immersed in the water, because it is from there that will come out roots.

We put everything in a corner of the house – or the balcony – lighted on average and prepare to wait. It will take a few weeks (three or four) before it roots and Bud peep out: in the meantime, let's remember to change the water in the glass about once a week, and to keep the level constant day by day.

From water to the pot

At this point the roots will be well projected inside the glass, while on the upper part a graceful leaf will appear like a flag. It's time to photograph our avocado and make a feast of likes on social media, of course, but also to move on to the second phase of the operation #AvocadoPlant. We prepare a vase of at least 30 centimeters in diameter and fill it with potting soil. At this point we remove the toothpicks from the core and go to place them on the surface of the soil, burying the roots, but still leaving the upper part well in the air.

Let's water it regularly, even every two or three days, but make sure that there are no stagnations of water, because they could rot our green creature. And after all the effort – or rather, the wait – it would really be a shame. For the rest, everything can be done safely on the balcony of your home, or even on a window sill, at any time of the year: avocado, as a tropical plant, fears only the temperature changes and temperatures below 4 degrees. Then when the map reaches i 20 centimeters high, it must be ticked 5 or 6 centimeters at its top: a fundamental operation to be repeated from time to time, to encourage it to grow further. And, crossing the fingers, to produce some beautiful fruit.