Growing Avocados (Wolf Cub Scout Elective 15 - Grow Something)

My kids and I decided to grow avocados.  Partly for one of my son's requirements to earn the Conservation Badge and partly just to give us something to do.  We ate the avocados (well, mostly me) on the same day and suspended them in water on the same day, but had vastly different results.  Here is our avocado journey:

Week One

Week 2 - Still nothing

Week 3 - One of the avocados starts sprouting a root!  the other one still looks like it did on day one)

Week 4 - No real change to speak of

Week 6 - Holy moly!  One of the avocados took off!  The second avocado finally starts to take root.

Week 7 - My camera was lost, so I really wish I had pics of this week.  The first plant sprouted up a lot and had leaves!  The second one had little change.

Week 8 - We transplanted one of the plants.  It is a little over a foot tall, but leggy from the lack of sunlight here in Washington state.  I pinched off the top three leaves, as I read that it will encourage the plant to fill out and be healthier.  The second plant is only about two inches tall.  This is definitely not for the impatient!

I've learned 3 things from attempting to grow avocados:
1) The best time (in doing this in a cloudy and rainy place) to start them is in the summer when there is plenty of sunlight.
2) This project requires a lot of patience, as well.  I did this project with my kids and put them on top of the entertainment center so they would get more light and be relatively out of sight and out of mind.
3) Keep out of reach of kids.  We attempted to do this last year and placed them on the kitchen table by a sunny window.  As they were at the table, though, the kids asked when they'd be grown at every meal.  With it being within their reach, the kids also sneaked into them and tore them apart to see if they were growing, so that was the end of those plants...
4) Every avocado grows differently.

Thanks for reading!

 ~Vanessa