Hi. This happened to a couple that I planted from seed quite a while back. I don't want to be pessimistic but they didn't last too long after this. However, I'm thinking maybe it's because they were grown from seed, not grafted, and not planted in the best of soil as well as too much shade.

Are yours in full sun? Have you sprayed for fungus? Noticed any chewed leaves or other pests on them? Maybe in this hot weather it needs more water and richer soil.

P.S. Maybe the leaves were burned from excessive fertilizer? Just a thought.

Keep me updated, okay?

Sheri

You either overfertilized and burnt it or more likely watered it too much and it got root rot fungus. With Avocado trees its always better to give too little water then too much.

Try getting some copper based fungicide (Southern AG makes it) dilute to the amount recomended and then soak the roots with the copper mixture once. Cut back the watering schedule to no more then every other week. When it rains in between that dont water it at all and just let the tree recover.

Again...With Avocado trees its always better to give them too little water then to too much.

Good luck with your tree.

Thanks for the feedback. A brief follow up :
Sheri;
Yes, my 4 ft ( not 3 ft ) avocado tree is in full sun.
No, had not sprayed it previously for fungus.
Did not notice any creepy crawlies on the leaves, - none were chewed.
The soil in the hole when planted was a careful mixture of 1/3 top soil, 1/3 cow manure and 1/3 sandy soil ( some clay ) that existed there before the planting. After every watering, there were no standing puddles,..good drainage.
I doubt the culprit was fertilizer burn, only applied barely 4 handfuls as I recall, - the first fertilization since it was planted in March..
swrancher ;
I already had that Southern AG liquid copper fungicide in my shed,..using it mostly for the 4 mango trees. So just now hooked up the plastic spray jar to my garden hose and soaked the avocado roots with it, as well as a sparce spraying of the leaves. ( Sprayed the mango trees as well while at it lol )
Am hopeful this will do the trick. Will in future limit watering that avocado to twice a month at most. Will report back if there is any improvement. Thanks again.

Hi Jofus. Sounds like you're doing the right things for it. Guess cutting back further on water will help. Let us know, okay?

Happy gardening.

Sheri

I had the same problem. I purchased it at a garden shop, so I made sure it was grafted. I was planning on keeping it in a pot till it was past a few Florida winters and a little bigger and more stable. But for the time in the pot, I kept it moist, if not soaked from time to time. There were a few cold snaps (under 30 degrees F) but I always brought it inside, but I left it outside for some of the 'warmer' cold fronts, (that were in the 40's and 50's). I wondered if it was the cold. I had read that the choquette was a little better at handling the Florida cold, hence my purchase of that particular variety.

Now reading here, I see that I may have put too much water in the container it was sitting in, a few weeks before any of those cold snaps, whether it was inside or outside.

After reading your posts, I quickly put it in the ground on high dry soil. I hope it lives. It's leaves have successively browned now, down to about halfway down the sapling. The rest of it seems quite healthy. Should I get that copper stuff? Does it help?

So, any follow ups on the other posts? Did your Choquette live? I want some homegrown guacamole. Anyone?

The leaves of my 3 ft avocado plant are getting chewed up from the outside. Does anyone know what I can do to save my plant. Ive looked for any pest that were present and couldnt find anything.

Thanks

wasnt sure how to post my own thread sorry for the add on

jofus,
Do you happen to have any choquettes left? I'm looking for some pits for starting rootstocks.
Thanks
Ken