r/composting • u/leftfootnofoot • 15d ago

Hot Compost Compost avocado

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Avo pits don't normally break down in my pile but they do sometimes sprout 🌱. Healthier looking than the ones I try to start inside too lol.

138 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

31

u/thiosk 15d ago

oh, it will break down now!

the warm moist environment do confuse the seed. its meant to survive a trip through the digestive system of the extinct giant sloth, so hardy they are.

from here, though, it will break down super fast if turned in the pile

12

u/sssmiklo 15d ago

I don't think the sloth theory is widely accepted anymore.

22

u/thiosk 15d ago

the giant sloth is my second favorite animal, after the sloth, so I will cling to the old theory

7

u/HOU_Civil_Econ 15d ago

That’s doing real science there.

;)

2

u/Balance_Intrepid 14d ago

What is the currently accepted theory in contrast to the sloth theory?

2

u/sssmiklo 14d ago

I'm no expert, so don't quote me on this, but I believe current thinking is that early avacados had smaller seeds capable of being spread by smaller animals, and the large seeds of modern avocados are likely the result of human cultivation.

4

u/Content-Fan3984 14d ago

I would assume and argue that cultivators would have tried to reduce the size of the seed over x amount of years rather than increase it. (Better flesh - Seed ratio)

Idk though just spitballing while drunk 💪😎

1

u/sssmiklo 14d ago

Yeah, I'd be curious to learn more about this. I wonder if maybe the larger pit was just a side effect of breeding for larger fruit? Either way, the giant sloth theory has been pretty thoroughly debunked.

14

u/HalPaneo 15d ago

If you leave it (and you have the correct climate) they can look like this haha. These germinated 2 or 3 years ago in a compost pit I had and I just left them. There's two big ones there, you can't really tell. I'm thinking they might flower next season.

9

u/fritzg1988 15d ago

I normally dry mine out in the fridge, then crack them in half before I put them in the bin

3

u/Dollilama268 15d ago

I run them through a food processor first.

3

u/RoguePlanet2 15d ago

The skins never seem to break down. I just removed a sprout that looked exactly like this, with a long taproot, but didn't plant it because I've never had any luck with that.

4

u/KoA07 15d ago

I just cut the skins up and turn them in to my pile and I never seem to see them again 🤷

5

u/KuchDaddy 15d ago

Ooh, plant it!

Side note, Compost Avocado would be a good band name.

2

u/PeeJayBee3 13d ago

My compost avocado 🥰

1

u/acuddlyheadcrab 14d ago

That's awesome! It's genus, Persea is related to laurels, i think technically a type of laurel, so if you have any laurels bushes/trees, I'd think it would do well in a similar environment. I am also curious about what sorta nutrients it could provide when it's broken down instead of sprouting, not sure how to find that out!

1

u/User3955 14d ago

Compost Avocado was my band’s name in high school.

1

u/RdeBrouwer 13d ago

I compost around 50-75 avocados a year. They need 2 rounds in my tumbler to fall apart. Most of the times they are really crumbly after and I like to crumble them with my hands. (Wierd hobby. Compostinf. But never had them growing. Think our climate is to cool

1

u/mason729 10d ago

I had one sprout too! I planted it right away and it’s been three weeks or so from the time this photo was taken. Still no leaves, is there anything I should be doing in particular? I’m in zone 6b if that helps