Gladys - your seedlings look great! I really do think the freshness of the seeds is key, or maybe Pacific Giant is a more reliable germinater? I tried an experiment earlier this year when I was starting a packet of PG seeds under lights - split them into 3 groups: room temp, fridge stratify, and frozen. (Of course I didn't write down any of this when I did it, so I can't exactly remember all of the variables.) I think I may have soaked some overnight as well. In any case, I planted 2 or 3 seeds that received each treatment and I ended up with a lot of seedlings...by spring I gave 3 plants away and planted about 10. I can't recall any individual treatment that particularly worked better than another, though I do remember thinking that the room temp seeds had a better germination rate than expected. Here's a pic of a weird little seedling that came up as a fused dicot. Its first true leaf is popping up on the left.

I remember seeing this in corn long ago. I haven't seen it recently and don't remember seeing it in anything besides corn. Without any chlorophyll the plants do not live for long. Once they use up the food stored in the seed they are done for. How are yours doing? It could be that the parent plants carried the albino gene along with a normal gene for chlorophyll. Offspring that received only the albino genes would exhibit the white coloration. I imagine a mutation could also cause this to show up now and then. Is there any greenish tint at all to your plants? This old GW post might help some: "Yes, there are albino plants, but no, they don't usually live long. The ones that survive usually have some chloroplasts containing chlorophyll. These plants will be sickly in comparison to a healthy plant, as well as a pale greenish-yellow color. A full albino plant doesn't survive long because the chloroplasts' function is to convert solar energy into energy that a plant can use--in this case, sugars. So, a plant without functioning chloroplasts would be like a human without a functioning digestive sytem, pretty much doomed. Scientists and hobbyists have experimented with feeding sugar solutions directly into the plant's system, with some success--I've read that some plants can absorb sugar through their roots, other plants through the leaves (usually the underside) and others, by feeding it through a wound in the stem. Delicate work. Other times, albino plants are grafted onto normal plant stock, so that the stock can provide the albino graft with food. Those neon-red cactuses that you sometimes see for sale are the result of this type of grafting. I'm not sure what would be the best way to care for your shoot--if it is still alive. I'm hoping that it was only partially albino, and lived, and is providing you with some lovely pale wisteria flowers by now." Here is a link that might be useful: Old GW thread, 4th post

This is really cool and unique! I'd keep growing it as is, to see what may become of it. I'm wondering if those white, downward-facing, paddle-like appendages were the pits way of trying to right itself while germinating upside-down. The pit has remnants of mold, but I do not think this would effect the avo's genetic growth, even though I was thinking "genetic mutation" at first glance. Anyway, it is more than ready to be planted. I hope you can keep this one and send us an update!

As long as the plants continue to grow OK, don't worry about it. But this is an experience I had several years ago. I used some soil that was comprised primarily of wood pieces. I thought it was bark, but it was actual wood. The seeds germinated fine and grew great until they started to get their first true leaves and then they all turned blackish and stopped growing. After a week or two, some started dying. I took a shot and replanted every one in different soil and within a week they started turning more green and began growing normally again. I did lose several of them but I caught the problem in time and saved my season. I think it was tanins and other stuff leeching out of the wood pieces that caused the problem. But also, keep in mind, some pepper plants are naturally black or dark purple. Here is a photo of two Bolivian Rainbows that I am growing this year. Each plant came from a different seed source however.