CreamyAvo
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 9:18 pm
Location: San Diego

my trees keep dying!!! - Avocado

ok, so this is getting annoying. I put my first avocado in the ground about 6 months ago. dug out the hole really big, mixed in cactus mix and grow mulch with existing dirt. went great for a while but then the leaves started getting brown at the tips. I gave it a systemic pesticide which helped, but then the branches started turning black and it has been downhill from there. the plant came from home depot in a 5 gallon size. it did not freeze over and drainage is decent, but somewhat suspect-the tree is on the edge of a hill.

so, after this, I saw the avocados at costco which looked great so I bought one. I put thi one on the slope(good drainage) and in better sun. for the first month the tree was doing great!!! new growth at every node, nice purple leaves of new growth, just a great tree. well, recently, the tips of the leaves have started to turn brown and crisp off. same sypmtoms as the first Home Depot tree.

two more things which may be of significance. First, there are pine trees very nearby, so the soil may be very acidic. Second, gophers are present!

Otherwise, the trees get good light and I water....every 5-7 days.

here is a link to the photo of the leaves: https://picasaweb.google.com/RichardAll ... directlink

ill try the embed thingy here.......[https://picasaweb.google.com/RichardAll ... directlink]

cynthia_h
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7500
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 7:02 pm
Location: El Cerrito, CA

I'm sorry things have gone so poorly for you and the avocado trees. :(

The trees could be dying from any number of factors. I'm not familiar with San Diego County growing conditions, but the *first* place I would look is your soil.

Soil: Contact the county ag. extension office and see whether they perform soil testing and, if so, how much it costs. (These tests used to be free, paid for by our taxes, but many if not most or all counties now charge when they do the tests at all. *sigh*) If they don't do soil tests for individual homeowners, ask who does *or* what commercially available soil-test kits they recommend. If there's a deficiency or excess in your soil, even the best of care won't make up for it.

Next, I recommend ascertaining your Sunset climate zone. These are much more finely drawn than the USDA Hardiness Zones, which are only useful in determining what will survive the "winter," not what will live and thrive and produce food! There are eight to ten Sunset climate zones in San Diego County--neither the [url=https://www.sunset.com/garden/climate-zones/sunset-climate-zone-san-diego-area-00418000067314/]online map[/url] nor the map in the Sunset Western Garden book shows county lines, so I'm guessing at the approx. location of the SD / Imperial County boundary. Depending on where you are in San Diego County, avocadoes may or may not grow.

"Why," you may be thinking, "can I purchase avo trees/plants from Costco and Home Depot if they might not grow here?!"

Because they're Big Box stores. The BB stores don't tailor their plant inventory to the locale, nor do the staff members in the plant department have any expertise necessarily in caring for plants.

To get good advice on getting a young avocado tree successfully into maturity, work with an independent nursery near your home. The plant itself will probably cost a few more dollars, but those dollars cover virtually unlimited advice from knowledgeable staff, staff who truly LOVE plants and who are gardeners themselves. Many independent nursery staff members have degrees in horticulture, botany, or related fields, and work for the very non-wonderful money in the nursery trade because they love plants so much. Make their day: ask them questions and follow their advice! :)

In general, a stressed plant will be more stressed rather than helped by applications of fertilizer or other strong chemicals when it's already showing visible signs of such distress. This would be the time to take a few leaves in a ziploc-type bag to that independent nursery and ask for advice: too much water? not enough? (remember: you'll already know about your soil :) ) what other nutrients might it need/have too much of? etc.

The third time may be the charm: test the soil, find out your Sunset climate zone, and work with a knowledgeable, local, independent nursery.

I've been going to one of the local nurseries up here so long that it would feel like a betrayal for me to buy certain kinds of plants anywhere else.... :?

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9



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