Avocado pit rooting help needed

[Midlife]

Simple thing any kid could do....... right? Stick toothpicks in an avocado pit and suspend it in water; scrape the 'root' end and cut into the pointy end. Change the water every few days. Wait.

It's been 3 weeks and absolutely nothing. Last time we tossed the pit after 6 weeks.

Any clue what we're doing wrong? Anything we didn't do that we could do?

TIA

[Bottomless_Pit]

I had a sweet potato and it took over a month to root, I really had given up hope. I conclude that seeds/tubers can take quite a while to root. I'm beginning to think patience and gardening go together. :)

[mlipps]

Potatoes, and maybe sweet potatoes? have to go through a certain sort of cycle, and they will root when it is time, thank you very much. Barbara Kingsolver explains this nicely in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Maybe that's what's going on here?

[Midlife]

We may have tossed the original pit too soon. I tried a second one that had split about halfway up the middle inside the avocado, but it just kept splitting and came apart completely after a week. Time to make some guacamole and try again.

[EWSflash]

I swear, the last ones I rooted took months- seriously! I couldn't believe they would actuallly root after that long, but they did. It had to be five months or more, so i'd say as long as it doesn't shrivel up it'll eventually sprout.
I hope it doesn't take that long for you, by the way, some avocados I've gotten have pits that are already starting to root

[geminigirl]

agreed, mine took months as well! I've just started another one at work for fun and put the date on the jar so I know for sure...

[appycamper]

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/child...
says only 1/3 of seeds will grow. perhaps you just haven't prepped the right one in three?

[Midlife]

Thanks for that link. We don't seem to recall having this much trouble many years ago. Must have been luck.