Are my avocado seeds a lost cause?

It takes a long time via the toothpick method. Regardless of that, from what I have heard and read, even if you do get roots and shoots, you won't get avocados..just a nice houseplant most of the time. If you are lucky enough to get fruit, it takes 3-4 years.

I've never tried that method, but I've heard it can take a month or more. Just make sure the water is fresh.

My avocado sprouting is restricted to the ones in the compost bin. They usually sprout, but never in a convenient place. I've always been put off growing them though for several reasons - they don't produce fruit for quite a few years, they are picky about climate, and you often need two different types to set fruit. Some avocados are Type A and others are Type B. I've copy/pasted this bit from Wiki because it sums it all up much better than I could:

"The species is only partially able to self-pollinate because of dichogamy in its flowering. This limitation, added to the long juvenile period, makes the species difficult to breed. Most cultivars are propagated via grafting, having originated from random seedling plants or minor mutations derived from cultivars. Modern breeding programs tend to use isolation plots where the chances of cross-pollination are reduced. That is the case for programs at the University of California, Riverside, as well as the Volcani Centre and the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias in Chile.

The avocado is unusual in that the timing of the male and female flower phases differs among cultivars. There are two flowering types, "A" and "B". "A" cultivar flowers open as female on the morning of the first day and close in late morning or early afternoon. Then they open as male in the afternoon of the second day. "B" varieties open as female on the afternoon of the first day, close in late afternoon and reopen as male the following morning.

* "A" cultivars: Hass, Gwen, Lamb Hass, Pinkerton, Reed.

* "B" cultivars: Fuerte, Sharwil, Zutano, Bacon, Ettinger, Sir Prize, Walter Hole."

Give them time and they may still grow but even if they do they will not be lek the tree (or the fruit) they came from. Just like your kids dont look like you. If you want a god avocado tree go to a good nursery and buy one. But remember they take a lot of care and take up a lot of space in your yard. Do you live in an area of southern Caliifornia or Florida that is fairly frost free-this is required for avocado trees.

Avocado is genuinely a tree, I easily have quite a few super ones on my plot, yet then I stay in a heat u . s .. I had 3 of them planted approximately 15 ft aside and doing very poorly till I shrink down the middle one then the two ultimate ones began to flourish and undergo fruit. ought to be the roots are actually not getting adequate space in that pot or the plant ought to be close to the heating duct it somewhat is drying the leaves out. attempt to transplant right into a larger pot.

Ok soo i had the same problem but is you gently peel the skin off the bottom of the seed then the root will spring out in no time try it

I never could get one started that way, so I just pushed them into an existing potted plant, buried them completely, and they are now about two feet tall. I've never given them any special care, they get watered when the other plant gets watered.