What’s the best water for seed starting avocado? Is there a way to speed up the germination of an avocado seed? What happens if you add a nutrient solution to the water?
We’ll try to answer those questions with our little experiment.
Water Comparison for Seed Starting Avocado
For 33 days, we tried to sprout 3 avocado seeds in different water conditions.
On the left, we used tap water (settled for 24 hours to dechlorinate) + nutrient solution.
In the middle, a glass of mineral water only (not distilled, not sparkling, just the normal bottled water from the store).
On the right, we used mineral water + nutrient solution.
It is important to note that the avocados used vary in ripeness but all are ready for consumption. The seeds were washed, peeled, and placed in their respective glass with different water conditions on the same day. They were all about the same size.
Water was replenished as it was absorbed. Water was also replaced once because it showed cloudiness.
The lights used are two basic white LED strips placed on top of the seeds and parallel to each other.
We used Yamasaki Hydroponics Solution for this video. (This is not a sponsored post).
You can use other Nutrient Solutions available in your area.
Here’s the closest one we found in Amazon, it’s called Pure Produce.
Both are hydroponic nutrient solutions – having 2 parts that you have to dilute in water.
Yamasaki Hydroponic Nutrient Solution Usage:
Leafy Plants: Add 2 ml from both A and B for every 1 liter of water (4 ml in total for every 1 liter)
Fruit Plants: Add 2.5 ml from both A and B for every 1 liter of water (5 ml in total for every 1 liter)
Pure Produce Hydroponic Nutrient Solution Usage:
1 oz from both A and B for every 1 gallon of water (2 oz in total for every 1 gallon)
Observations:
The first one to reveal its root outside the seed was the one in the middle (mineral water only), followed by the one on the right (mineral water + nutrient solution).
Black spots appear in the roots that are exposed to the nutrient solution.
Even though the middle seed was the first to show its root, it stayed dormant for a while.
The first to grow a stem was the one on the right (mineral water + nutrient solution), followed by the one on the left (tap water + nutrient solution).
The root system is far more elaborate and looks healthier on the left seed (tap water + nutrient solution). It also gave us three stems in one seed.
Even though the seed on the right (mineral water + nutrient solution) grew a beautiful stem and set of leaves, it showed signs of root rot – possibly caused by fungus accelerated by the brown skin that remained in the seed. Make sure to carefully remove all the skin from the seed and replace the water much more often to avoid this.
In a span of 33 days, both seeds on the left and right were able to sprout and the one on the middle was left behind.
We started this experiment on July 17. We removed the sprouted seeds and planted them to soil on Aug. 19. Today is Sept. 7, exactly 52 days from the start of the experiment, but the middle seed still hasn’t sprouted yet.
Conclusions:
Is it safe to say that it is possible to speed up the germination process?
We’d say yes to that because adding a nutrient solution surely made a huge difference.
We also think that the LED lights played a huge role in speeding up the sprouting and keeping the main stem short as the light was turned on 12 hours a day to shoot the timelapse.
The leaves look wider as compared to another avocado seed we sprouted indoors with no focus light and with no nutrient solution using just dechlorinated tap water.
Look just how leggy this one is:
But what’s the best water for seed starting avocado?
Mineral water + nutrient solution is an obvious choice, but you also won’t go wrong with using just tap water — as long as you dechlorinate it and add a nutrient solution.
Here’s the 33-day timelapse:
Please don’t forget to like and subscribe as we’ll do more comparison videos. Happy sprouting!
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