The avocado main root will continue to grow downwards and it will eventually reach the bottom of the container. When it reaches the bottom, it will be blocked and bent. In my impression, I have not seen the main root split open before when it is still growing vertically downwards. Is it possible that when the growth of the root is restricted, it will then split open? I'm not sure but recently I have seen a couple of avocado seedlings with split opened main roots.
I'm going to do an experiment on this. I have transferred an avocado seed into a 1.5L bottle and this will allow the main root to grow longer in length downwards. The main root will have time to grow thicker and this may be able to prevent the splitting of the root. It is not proven yet but when it does, I will update in another post. So, stay tuned for the result of the experiment.
I observed that when the root split open, it will become darker and turn into brown colour. It is very obvious but I have no idea whether the root has been damaged. I have planted avocado seeds with roots in browning conditions but I can't remember whether the growth is restricted. In my earlier seeds, the roots did not split open and a lot of crystals accumulated on the root's surface. I need to find the picture of the root and post them here.
I'm going to do an experiment on this. I have transferred an avocado seed into a 1.5L bottle and this will allow the main root to grow longer in length downwards. The main root will have time to grow thicker and this may be able to prevent the splitting of the root. It is not proven yet but when it does, I will update in another post. So, stay tuned for the result of the experiment.
I observed that when the root split open, it will become darker and turn into brown colour. It is very obvious but I have no idea whether the root has been damaged. I have planted avocado seeds with roots in browning conditions but I can't remember whether the growth is restricted. In my earlier seeds, the roots did not split open and a lot of crystals accumulated on the root's surface. I need to find the picture of the root and post them here.
Yes, I have found the picture and you can see that there are are lot of white crystals on the root. The roots are white and not brown. When the stem has grown to about 7 to 8 inches with about 4 to 5 leaves, you can transplant the seedling onto a pot with good potting mix. I bought the potting mix from a local supermarket.
The first avocado seed that I had planted did not survive. The only reason that I thought was the timing of the transplant. I might have waited too long before I transplanted the seedling onto a pot. But I still cannot believe that this had caused the plant to wither. The leaves started to dry up and drop away one by one. Eventually, there were no leaves on the stem. Recently I think that the root cause is that I have under watered the plant that caused the leaves to turn brown and wither away. Avocado plant needs a lot of water to survive and yet you cannot soak the roots in water as the roots may rot instead. You will need to water the plant quite often, maybe every two days. Wait till the soil is slightly dried and you need to water the plant again. You may want to water the plant and drain the water from the bottom of the pot every month to remove the salt that has accumulated in the soil. Try to use tap water that has been staged overnight to remove the chlorine.
The first avocado seed that I had planted did not survive. The only reason that I thought was the timing of the transplant. I might have waited too long before I transplanted the seedling onto a pot. But I still cannot believe that this had caused the plant to wither. The leaves started to dry up and drop away one by one. Eventually, there were no leaves on the stem. Recently I think that the root cause is that I have under watered the plant that caused the leaves to turn brown and wither away. Avocado plant needs a lot of water to survive and yet you cannot soak the roots in water as the roots may rot instead. You will need to water the plant quite often, maybe every two days. Wait till the soil is slightly dried and you need to water the plant again. You may want to water the plant and drain the water from the bottom of the pot every month to remove the salt that has accumulated in the soil. Try to use tap water that has been staged overnight to remove the chlorine.