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Hello there. I'm new to growing avacados and need some help. I've grown two small avocado plants, each about 15 inches in heigh currently. About a month ago I recently transferred both plants into larger pots as I felt they were outgrowing their small pots. Also note that they were both on my kitchen window ledge and have now been put on a table in the living room that does get light but not nearly as much and is also next to a vent.

Plant #1 is significantly older than plant #2. Quite some time ago the new leaves that would sprout from the top stopped coming. Not sure why or if there is a way to stimulate growth. However, that is a secondary issue at this point since the top 3 leaves are now all quickly turning brown as you'll see in the attached pictures. These leaves are firm but all browning towards the back side. I've also noticed that the stems of the leaves are much lighter in color (a shade of yellow) compared to that of plant #2.

Plant #2 is younger but taller. The lowest hanging leaf is turning brown from the bottom up. The rest of the leaves are drooping and appear wilted. When I transferred it to the larger pot I initially planted it too close to the top so I had to take it out and place it deeper in the pot. I was gentle in the process but am concerned maybe the plant has gone into shock or that I hurt the root system.

I try to only water them both when the soil is dry to the touch. I've noticed for some reason the soil in the pot for plant #1 always appears darker than that of the other plant.

Any ideas suggestions or tips?

Thank you so much for your help.

Hello and welcome to the forum! Hopefully we can help revive your avos.

Hmm.... Why are you surprised that soil in one pot is darker than the other? Did you not plant them yourself? Also, did the soil come directly from the garden and not a potting mix -- commercial or home made?

Funny thing is, in the pot with the darker soil, I see what appears to me to be a Rush plant growing next to the avocado -- grass-like plant with tubular hollow stems. That to me indicates that this soil must have come from wet swampy/boggy ground. It probably holds too much moisture, more than what avocado will tolerate. Avocado needs WELL DRAINING soil. (That weed needs to be removed from the pot by the way -- it will steal the limited amount of water and a nutrients from the Avo.)

The other pot -- is the lighter color from sand? Maybe too much sand for avocado because even though it needs well draining soil, it is also a heavy feeder. If you wait to water until dry, THIS one might be too dried out while the other is still staying too moist towards the bottom of the pot.

It's almost like the two contents of the pots had been scooped up and had been intended to be blended together to make a more suitable soil mix to be distributed equally in the pots, ...but were not.

Now, the two plants look like they DID get sufficient light and were growing well in the planting mix (or water?) they were in BEFORE, but a table in the interior of the room next to a vent sounds like the wrong place to put them. If they had been water-grown, then the problem, in addition to too heavy soil, is also that they are trying to grow soil-roots while their existing water roots are not capable of functioning in soil.

...I'm not positive about this, but you may also have planted them too deep. Avocado seeds are planted in the soil with just the bottom 1/4 to 1/3 of the seed nestled in the soil, and by the time they grow to this size, the seeds are often completely pushed out of the soil. Once the roots are getting plenty of nutrients from the soil, the remaining seed halves shrivel and break/fall off.

That said, seedlings are used to getting buried with extra soil and debris that get washed or blown onto them and so I'm not positive that this could be part of the problem....

Both of these look like they are planted in dirt. The light colored one still looks like clay dirt to me, very hard and compacted. Sand doesn't generally compact like that. Dirt/ clay/ topsoil is not appropriate for use in containers. They need to be in some kind of good potting mix, preferably mixed with additional perlite or bark chips for better drainage.

To me the brown leaf in plant 2 looks crisped/ burned. That could happen if it was too near the heat vent. The droopy leaves look like wilting/ drying out. The soil in that container looks so dry it is starting to pull away from the pot at the edge.

The spotted brown leaves on plant 1 look like either disease or maybe some kind of sucking pest like thrips.

Ha. Not used to seeing light/tan colored clay since mine are blue green

If the second container us also clay, then the two contents should be mixed with 2/3 to 1 container full of sharp sand or pumice gravel or perlite or crushed granite and 2/3 to 1 container full of shredded coir/peat moss/leaf mold/finished compost that is not mixed with dirt.

Applestar,

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

At first I thought the soil I had for plant #1 was soil that I stole from a pot that had a commercial plant in it, but now I'm not sure. I know the soil in plant #2 I recently dug up from a park nearby my apartment.

Is there a commercial potting soil I could buy that would work well for both plants? I will move the plants asap. It's just difficult to find a well lit area in my apartment for them. Do I need to cut back the brown leaves on plant #1? Are there any suggestions for how to go about taking the plants out without screwing up the root systems in the soil?

I'll get rid of the weed in pot #1, I was kind of fond of him but what you're saying makes sense.

When I made my initial response I only saw Applestar's comment, sorry I missed yours Rainbowgardener.

So a few things to add. I'm pretty cheap, I usually pick up pots and trays from thrift stores when I come across them. The tray I have Plant #1 sitting on is actually for a smaller pot and I picked it up tonight and saw water sitting in it (meaning that at least water is traveling through the plant).

Whenever I've water Plant #2 since transferring it to the bigger pot I've never watered it to the point that water has run out the bottom (which seems to indicate that the dirt it's in isn't allowing water to go all the way through). My wife watered Plant #2 this morning with two glasses of water and it still didn't come through. Usually I water every couple of days but I have noticed that with Plant #2 the dirty appears dry pretty quickly although if I move around the dirt on the top it is still a little moist underneath, again it appears to be an issue with the quality of the dirt/soil with Plant #2.

You guys are going to have to be patient with me, I'm not familiar with various soils (and all that jazz you guys started talking about). Is there something you can recommend that I can find at my local gardening shop (or a Lowe's?).

Also, it seems pretty clear that I'll need to change the soil with better quality stuff. What is the best way to go about transferring the plant out without shocking the roots? Also, should I cut off the brown leaves or just let them stay? PS: the weed is gone from Plant #1.

You both have been great. Thanks again so much for your help. If my plans survive I shall rename them in your honor.

I really should let someone else make the recommendation Because I'm ...well... Picky.

When I buy commercial potting mix, I usually get Espoma organic or Dr. Earth organic POTTING mix from local Ace Hardware or delivered via Amazon when on sale. I haven't tried buying from big box stores since several years ago when I bought Miracle Gro organic potting mix and found it to be horrible and swarming with fungus gnats,

Also, note that THIS time of the year, garden centers and gardening departments are turned into one giant Christmas/Holiday extravaganza and it's hard to get anything useful.

But it you do decide to try buying from local stores, make sure to get POTTING soil and not garden soil or top soil which are meant for in-ground use.

I'm on a budget, too, and if I had what you have now, I would just blend the soil from both pots and add some sand and coir which I have on hand. You could get perlite or all purpose sand (not from garden department but from all the way on the other side of the store in lumber and concrete department) and a block of coir reptile bedding/mulch from the pet store/department.

I personally recommend putting an earthworm or two in each pot -- you could get either baby crawlers (night crawlers) or red wigglers (composting worms) from a fishing/tackle/bait shop.

Now, to unpot these plants, spread a tarp or plastic trash bag on the floor or table where you will be working, turn the pot upside down with your hand over the soil and fingers spread with the trunk in between fingers to support, then if the whole thing doesn't tumble out, gently knock the rim of the pot down on an edge of a table or counter.

Again, if the whole thing doesn't tumble out but the soil "unmolds" from the pot, great! Turn the pot back upright, then lay it on the tarp with the opening of the pot and tree away from you, and give it a sharp shove and pull back on the pot (you get it?) the soil and tree should slide right out.

If the soil in the pot crumbles when you knock the pot upside down, then your hand will be supporting the tree from falling and breaking on the floor (be sure you are knocking on a surface that is high enough).

If the rootball/soil is pretty solid, then what I do is sort of bounce the rootball on the surface by dropping from a height of a few inches to loosen it up and let the potting mix crumble away from the roots. Sometimes avocado roots are thick and brittle so be gentle and let it uncoil without pulling or pushing/bending too much.

I'll stop here for now. Will post more if you need clarification.

Oh! I use organic citrus or fruit fertilizer for the avos. Also water with leftover fruit juice, coffee, tea... Much with used coffee grounds and tea leaves as well as avocado leaves cut into strips.

And I forgot to mention -- don't worry too much about yellowing and browning leaves if that happens uniformly and not from the edges. Avocados do lose some leaves in fall and winter, even indoors. I actually have a tubful of fallen avo and mango leaves that are waiting to be snipped into mulch:
(my avocado jungle.... )

From the pics it is a guess your plants are suffering from nutritional deficiencies. Potassium, Magnesium, as also Nitrogen. To begin with apply diluted sea weed solution using rain water, then apply N K and Mg at different times with a gap and in low strengths every hundred days cycle. Best of Luck