One day on Pinterest I saw a pin about growing your own Avocado tree from an Avocado pit. I was ecstatic since I have an amazing authentic Guacamole recipe and love Guacamole. Next time I had an Avocado pit I saved the pit and put toothpicks in the pit just like the post described (if you haven't seen this before you can see it here). I filled the water to the appropriate level and waited weeks in anticipation... AND my pit broke in half! I was so disappointed, but I did not give up hope and started a second Avocado pit. While all of this was occurring my family was cleaning out my grandfathers estate and I found a planter  made just for growing avocado trees from pits. And best of all it had instructions! 

It even came in this adorable little crate.

 I followed the directions cutting off the pointed end of the pit and pointing it up in water. I use the small hole in the container to add water occasionally.  It did take a few weeks before I saw any growth. I also misplaced the directions for a while so I actually translated the tree and it had leaves before I pinched it off.

Here is my Avocado tree after it was transplanted and pinched off. Pinching off all the leaves made me nervous so I pinched all the leaves except one big one and one little one. I wanted the tree to have a way to obtain energy still. You can see the new growth at the top.

I found these instructions to be super helpful, hope they help you too. I am sure using tooth picks to hold the pit will still work, but these directions will give you a better idea of what you are doing. Good luck!