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Wed 26 Apr, 2006 07:31 pm
In Gulliver's Travels there are the big-end-ians and the small-end-ians or some such thing. They are people who agrue and go to war over which end of the egg to crack.
I probably have the names wrong but the whole endian priciple applies to my life in the avacado areana.
Tonight I sliced an avacado and thought "I should do that whole toothpick planting in water deal and grow myself a lovely avacodo plant".
I have tried this only maybe a hundred times with no success.
I have looked it all up and read all about it and never, no matter what end I dealt with have I had the remotest success with propagating an avacado plant.
Still, every time I slice an avacado I think I'll grow some damn tree and I keep doing it and doing it despite the fact that I cannot make it work.
Has ANYONE ever, ever in the history of the universe, ever in the name of science, botany or curiosity made this happen?
Am I completely retarded or do I just not know the proper spell?
Help me out.
I beg you.
I did the avocado plant/tree thing a coupla times in university. Would get the thing about a foot tall and then have to give it to someone because I was moving.
Then, in my final year, one of my beaux of the day was living in a prof's house while the prof was on sabbatical. There were a number of big ole plants not doing well. We drove/dragged them all to my apartment where I revived them - including an avocado plant that was about 4 feet tall. There's a photo somewhere ... do I know how the new scanner works?
I'm better with avocado pits than I am with scanners.
Or, just call them alligator eggs and sell them to the tourists.
I grew an avocado treelet from a pit once or twice, but a long time ago. Don't remember it being hard to do... but I've forgotten the details.
My dad did it several times, we always had big ol' avocado plants at my house. I think he may even still have one that's become truly humungous.
I can ask for his tricks. What I remember (but can't swear to) is that he'd put four toothpicks in at about the middle, then suspend it in a glass with, and this is important (unless I'm totally misremembering), the top of the water barely touching the bottom of the avocado pit. Then careful attention to maintaining that level. Something about rotting if the water is too high, and not sprouting if it's too low.
This says to have an inch of water over the bottom (and makes me want to try this!):
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2002114535011263.html
One resident of the apartments planted an avocado tree in the middle of a small section of lawn. Out of deference to her, I let it grow there. Then, when she moved, I cut it down. I would have loved to save it, but I was sure it would die if dug up. No way the powers that be wanted a tree to grow there, of course.
You know you're a geek if you saw the title of this thread and came here
expecting a discussion of byte-ordering.
For background, Miss Boom refers to the Lilliputians, who had been divided long ages before Gulliver arrived by a question of whether one ought to open the big end or the little end of a soft-boiled egg. It was marvelous satire about religious bigotry.
Re: The Bigendians and the definition of insanity
boomerang wrote:Am I completely retarded or do I just not know the proper spell?
Are you sure this is the question you want to ask of this group?
This site says big-end down:
http://www.crfg.org/tidbits/AvocadoFromSeed.html.
Quote:Avocado roots, like those of most other plants, need oxygen, so the seedlings would actually grow better in soil than in water. When growing a seedling in water, the water should be changed at least every couple of weeks, before it gets dirty and depleted of oxygen. One way to speed germination in soil is to remove the parchment like seed coat and slice a thin layer from both the top and the bottom of the seed before planting. In water or in soil, set the seed with its base (the wider portion) down.
Indoors, avocado plants are often gangly and sparse with leaves. One reason for the plant's gawky appearance indoors is light. Lack of sufficient light causes stems to stretch for it. Another reason is that avocados shed many buds along their stems, buds that might have grown into side branches. The result is a plant stretching out for light, sending out new growth mostly from the tips of the branches and shedding old leaves.
I'm thinking of tossing a couple of seeds into the back yard and seeing what happens....
Since there does not appear to be a spell I'm thinking I'm completely retarded as so many of you have had success with this!
<grumble>
I have my avacado pit from last night and I'm going to plant the damn thing and see what happens. Perhaps I'll try the soil method.
Which leads to the whole 'endian thing again.
<grumble>
I challenge all of you to try to grow an avacado plant starting this week. I think we should aim for each of us to plant a pit this Sunday at noon PST.
Let me know if you're in.
OK, I'm in. Do we get to plant multiples?
I'll try!
We currently have zero yes zero houseplants, which is plain sad, so I'd love to manufacture some.
The Pasta Pope wrote:
Quote:OK, I'm in. Do we get to plant multiples?
Well, duh . . . you should plant at least one big end down, and one little end down.
Yeah, well, I'm a rebel. I shall plant all of mine sideways.
I sense a science experiment....
Right on!
I think multiples are fine. In fact, I do belive there is another avacado in my fridge right this very minute. I'm sure that I can force myself to eat it in time for planting.
It is the A2K science challenge!
I thought the A2K science experiment was that thing in the back of the fridge that Craven never threw out . . .
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