How to grow an avocado plant indoors from a seed

Always wanted to grow your own avocado plant? With this guide to growing an avocado tree from the seed indoors, you can. You will end up with a beautiful green-leafed baby avocado tree.

Your avocado plant may never fruit. It can take 10 years for a tree to mature enough to grow fruit. With patience, though, you will have a pretty specimen with roots and long, oval leaves.

Quick tip: take the avocado seed out with a spoon, not a knife. We want an unbroken seed for these methods.

Method 1: toothpicks and water

1. Wash the seed with water to remove all the avocado flesh.
2. Insert 3 toothpicks into the seed and suspend it, broad end down, over a glass of water.
3. Cover about an inch of the seed with water.
4. Keep it in a warm place, out of direct sunlight.
5. Change the water every couple of days.
6. Within 2 to 6 weeks your seed should start sprouting. Let the plant grow to about 15cm, then cut it back to about 7cm, or half its length. This encourages stronger root growth.
7. Once the roots are thick and dense and the stem has new leaves, plant your baby avocado tree in a 25cm pot with good drainage. Leave half the seed exposed above the soil. Or leave it in its watery home, where it will happily keep growing.

Method 2: paper towel

1. Clean the seed and peel the skin off. This prevents mould. You can do this while the skin is wet, but it is easier to peel once it has dried.
2. Wrap the seed in a wet paper towel and place it in a zip-lock bag.
3. In 2 to 3 weeks the seed will have sprouted roots. Place it in a jar of water or a pot as in Method 1.

There you have it: two easy ways to grow an avocado plant from a seed. For more ways to grow your own plants and food at home, see how to propagate plants and can plants grow in artificial light. Avo good one!

By Charlotte Sheridan

What we would use

Hold up a leaning stem with houseplant stem supports.

Last reviewed October 2026.