One of the many signs of the fall season in Southern California is the browning of avocado leaves that is also called “tip burn” because the browning starts at the leaf tips. The photo above shows leaves on one of my Hass avocado trees in late fall. Why do they look like this? And what can be done about it?
(Note: This post is mostly about avocado leaves that have browned due to water-related issues, but there are many other reasons that avocado leaves discolor. Please see my post “Reading avocado leaves” for some of these other issues.)
Why do avocado leaves turn brown?
There is one primary culprit of the typical leaf burn that develops in the fall, and that’s chloride in our irrigation water. In Southern California, much of our water is imported from the Colorado River, a source which is salty. (What is a salt in this context? See Wikipedia’s salt page.) One of the salts that the Colorado River contains in unfortunately high proportions is chloride.
How high is the chloride level? Usually from 80 to 100 parts per million. You can look at your particular water district’s annual quality report for more precise numbers, but most of Southern California is similar because we import from mostly the same sources. According to researchers at the University of California, in a study titled “Adoption of Water-Related Technology and Management Practices by the California Avocado Industry”, avocados suffer if the chloride level is over 75 parts per million.
What happens is that all spring and summer we water our yards with this high-chloride water and most of our plants don’t show much dislike, but avocados are especially sensitive to it. Avocado roots take up the high-chloride water and move it up their tree’s trunk, out the branches, and into the leaves. Leaves breathe out this water, but while the water evaporates off the leaf surface, the chloride remains within. It’s like when you take a swim in the ocean and the sun dries the water off your skin but leaves a crust of salt.
Over the irrigation season, the chloride level builds up in the avocado leaf until it reaches a toxic level and the leaf tissue begins dying, starting at the tip. That’s the brown: chloride-induced death.
The phenomenon of chloride leaf burn has been understood by avocado farmers for a long time, at least 75 years. (Here’s an article from 1951 titled “Leaf Burn of Avocado”.)
What can we do about it?
Let me first note that minor tip burn on avocados is no big deal. More specifically, if less than about ten percent of a tree’s canopy is brown (dead), there should be no reduction in fruit yield. In other words, if a tree has only a little tip burn, it will still produce as much fruit as if it had perfect foliage. I’ve seen this play out over and over on my trees.
Why does more than about ten percent leaf burn cause a reduction in yield? It’s because when the season for flowering begins (usually in late winter), the tree will drop those damaged leaves and grow new ones rather than do much flowering. Few flowers equals few fruit.
The question then is how to keep the fall tip burn to a minimum. The answer: water enough.
The one good thing about chloride is that it moves with water. Because of this, commercial farmers primarily manage it through leaching, as can we home gardeners. By leaching, I mean that they overwater on purpose so that the extra water will carry some of the chloride that has built up in the soil down deeper into the soil, so deep that it is below the reach of the tree’s roots — and therefore no longer able to affect the tree.
(During the summer, the chloride level increases in the soil for the same reason that it increases in the leaf tips: evaporation. The sun evaporates water from the upper few of inches of soil while leaving the chloride behind, thereby increasing its concentration.)
How to leach
There are two main ways to leach. You can water a lot at one particular time. For example, farmers who use micro-sprinklers will run the sprinklers for up to 24 hours straight, and they’ll do this once a month in July, August, and September. Alternatively, you can water a little extra every time you irrigate. This is called adding a “leaching fraction”, and the fraction is usually 10 to 20 percent on top of what the tree needs to grow well otherwise.
For myself, I’ve done it both ways and seen slightly better results with a leaching fraction as opposed to monthly leachings. So, these days, I deal with chloride by watering a little extra every time I water.
It has also been my experience that avocado trees do better as they get older if watered by sprinklers rather than drip irrigation. (Young avocado trees do fine on drippers.) This doesn’t seem to be the case with trees I’ve seen close to the beach which never experience intense heat and low humidity, but inland it seems to make a difference. (See page 20 of this slide presentation by David Crowley of UC RIverside for an illustration of how sprinklers and drippers leave salt in the soil differently.)
If you’d like some guidance on how much and how often to water avocado trees in order to keep leaf burn to a minimum (and fruit production to a maximum!), see my post, “How much and how often to water avocado trees in California.” There I provide a table with recommendations on gallons and frequencies according to the size of the tree. These are primarily based on what has worked for my avocado trees over the years.
Just underwatered?
It’s important to note that an underwatered avocado tree can end up with brown-tipped leaves in the fall even if the water it has been given has not been high in chloride. I have seen many avocado trees in abandoned yards or groves that now survive on rainfall alone and end the growing season with brown-tipped leaves, yet rainfall has almost no chloride. The problem is that in Southern California we don’t usually get enough rainfall to satisfy the needs of these avocado trees. So in your yard, even if you are watering with high quality water (stored rainwater, for example), you still must give an avocado tree enough of it or the leaf tips and margins will brown.
South side versus north side
Look at the south side of your avocado tree. Notice the amount of leaf burn.
Now compare it to the north side.
Always, the leaves on the north side are a deeper green and have less browning. And this is related to the fact that the sun shines on the south side more intensely, extracting more water from those leaves every single day of the year, which means more chloride is collecting in those leaves compared to the north side. (This is for the Northern Hemisphere.)
It’s also possible for avocado trees to have their leaves burned by intense sun, and that will cause them to brown in a different fashion compared to the chloride issue. (For more on this, see my post, “Avocado trees get sunburned — What to do?”)
Also note that an avocado leaf that dies a natural death — a healthy death, you could say — a death from old age (called senescence by botanists), does not die starting at the tip nor does it turn brown before it falls. It turns uniformly yellow.
Cold-damaged avocado leaves
Avocado leaves damaged by cold turn brown, but in a different pattern than tip burn caused by chloride. Cold temperatures can make young leaves curl up and brown while older leaves take on a mottled browning. If the air gets extremely cold, say low 20s, then avocado leaves completely brown and dry up within days and they don’t even drop from the tree.
Here’s a video where I show the difference between browning on avocado leaves caused by cold versus chloride:
Varieties and rootstocks
As I mentioned earlier, avocado varieties differ in their tolerance to chloride, and therefore get more or less tip burn even if given the same amount of irrigation water. Hass is particularly sensitive to chloride. Reed and Fuerte, on the other hand, are two varieties which show more tolerance. I’ve observed this in my own Reed and Fuerte trees as well as those of others.
Avocado rootstocks also differ in their tolerance to chloride and other salts. The most common rootstock used for avocado trees sold in retail nurseries in Southern California is Zutano seedling, and such a rootstock is less tolerant of chloride than many other rootstocks. (For more on this, see my post, “Avocado rootstocks: What do they matter?”)
Newly planted trees
Lastly, brown leaves on a young tree that has been in the ground for less than a year is most likely due to watering too infrequently rather than chloride build-up. Newly planted trees are different: they need a little water often. The intervals then spread out as the tree ages. (See my post, “How to water a newly planted avocado tree,” which contains a reference chart of watering frequencies.)
Spring update
Just to show the yearly process with avocado trees and their response to chloride-damaged leaves, I’ve taken a couple photos of the same Hass tree as above, now in spring. These photos are also of the same branches on the north and south sides of the tree.
This is the south side. Note that almost all of the leaves are new. The tree has grown them in the past month or two. And note that almost all of the old leaves that had tip burn have been shed.
Now the north side:
Some new leaves, but still many old leaves hanging on. This is because they weren’t as damaged as the ones on the south side, and so the tree still finds them productive. Therefore, the tree doesn’t feel the need to put its energy into shedding them and growing new leaves to replace them — and is able to allocate more energy into flowering and fruiting.
May your avocado leaves be mostly green this fall, and may they be flowery and fruitful come spring. If not, more water ought to solve your lot.
All of my Yard Posts are listed HERE
This website has no ads because of the wonderful, direct support from gardeners like you. Learn more about supporting The Yard Posts HERE
I was wondering if you have any knowledge of anyone using a whole house water filter for removing chlorine and other contaminants prior to irrigation? I know they are expensive but my wife would love a whole house filter for bathing and drinking and an added bonus would be cleaner water for our avocado trees, just a thought…
Funny you should mention that. I put a chlorine filter on my Christmas wishlist this year.
I don’t know anyone who filters both their household water and irrigation water (not for chlorine, anyway). I’m going to ask around though. It’s something I’ve been considering for avocados especially and plan to try it on some of my trees this coming summer.
For me, the deterrent has always been the cost since you can just add more water to leach for cheaper. Also, since I already have rain tanks, I have that source of extra clean water to help.
But I remain curious about using filters and am going to finally try it despite the cost. I’m planning to just use a simple carbon filter that has hose thread, and I’ll install it on one irrigation station.
If you end up trying a filter too, please let me know how it goes.
Shark tank idea. Make a device that filters as you spray it through hose.
Tony and Eric,
I’ve bought and installed a device that may do the trick: a CAMCO RV Filter. I’ll add some words and photos about it to the end of the post above. It will be at least six months until I get any idea of whether it’s effective, but the experiment has begun . . .
How cool…definitely interested in seeing the results, good luck Greg!!
I looked it up on Amazon. It appears to filter chlorine but not chloride.
Hi Dave,
My goodness, what’s wrong with me? How did I overlook that one? You’re absolutely right. Thanks for calling it to my attention.
I’ve got the filter installed so I might as well let it go through the summer to see if there are any noticeable effects, but it won’t be due to the removal of chloride!
I’m going to remove the mention of the filter in the post above so it doesn’t mislead anyone who doesn’t read these comments.
UPDATE:
Writing here in April 2019, I see no evidence that the CAMCO RV carbon filter has benefited my avocado trees at all. Compared to my other avocado trees not on the irrigation line of the filter, these trees have as much tip burn. Also, compared to the appearance of the trees in previous years, the tip burn is about the same (actually a bit worse this year).
I’ve now removed the filter and see no reason to try it further.
Hello, i have question. We’ve had some seed in our hands and throw them in the garden not knowing what they are. Now we have 1 tiny and 1 growing avocado trees in the garden. I’m living in the complex so I can’t water them but I notice that it has some damaged leaves. Should we remove dead/old leaves, or just leave as it is.
*When not knowing what tree it was, last year I removed the old/dead/chlorine infected leaves and it gave new ones.
Hi Greg,
A friend of mine has a good size Haas tree in Carlsbad that he waters using the water spigot on the side of his house. It’s a gorgeous tree with not a single brown-tipped leaf – I didn’t even recognize it for an avocado tree at first. It bewildered me at first, but then it clicked and I asked him if he had a whole house water filtration system (he did). With whole house filtration, the irrigation water isn’t filtered, but the hose spigots that come out of the wall are filtered. I’ve since seen another similar tree in Encinitas and inquired with the home-owner and confirmed the same setup.
Hi John,
Thanks for sharing that. Any chance you know the kind of filter your friend is using (reverse osmosis, etc.)?
Have you seen the tree in December? That’s about when avocados show the most tip burn. I wonder how it looks at that time. Mid-summer is when avocados typically look their best.
Hi Greg,
I just planted my first Hass Avacado tree. Something is eating the leaves? What can I use to protect the leaves? Today a couple of the leaves had brown tips.
Hi Hortencia,
I think I’ve written a post that might help you here. Check out, “Who is eating holes in your avocado leaves?”
What about letting the tap water stand in buckets? Chlorine is a gas and will wick off naturally. We do this with our drinking water in the house. I am going to try setting some buckets of water around the trees and waiting a few days to allow the chlorine to gas off…
Hi Tracy,
That seems like it should work. I’m unsure of what effect it would have on the chloride in the water. I don’t see that being affected, but chlorine is unhelpful to the plants so it shouldn’t be a bad thing to get rid of it.
Most municipalities chlorinate water with Chloramines and have for a couple of decades. The days of bubbling chlorine gas into tap water are mostly (all?) gone. The result is that letting the water sit has little dechlorinating effect.
Might be interesting to try an aquarium dechlorinator intended for chloramines, such as AmQuel from Kordon. Although it may just change the chloramine into some kind of chloride compound, like salt.
If you want to effectively remove chlorine or chloramine from your water you can use sodium thiosulfate crystals which will do it very quickly. I treat water with it for my fish pond and it is by far the cheapest and best solution for chlorine removal. Charcoal filters don’t have the capacity required for effective chlorine removal since they adsorb chemicals not neutralize them.
I’m not understanding the overwatering idea / solution. Doesn’t any watering just add more chloride?
Greg, would post a picture of flowering Avocado tree? I thought I had flowers last year, it was cold in Southern California and the wind may have disturbed the flowers…. No fruit 😩
Hi Bob,
See this post: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/how-avocado-trees-flower/
Hi,
I wasn’t sure how to get in touch with you, but I have read a lot of your posts and I am hoping you can help me. We are trying to sort out why (and if) our Haas avocado tree is in distress. We live in the valley of Los Angeles and had a gnarly heat wave a little over a week ago. The tree which had been full of fruit and healthy leaves now seems thinned out especially near the top of the tree. The fruit on those branches have shriveled, turned blackish, many have fallen off, and the rest are clearly not going to make it. The branches in the same area seem wilted and lackluster while the lower more shaded branches seem fine. Is it just burned from the sun and heat? Is it a sign of illness? I’m worried about it because it has thrived in this spot for over 20 years! Please help if you can, I can also send pictures if need be. Thank you in advance!
We have just reslized one of the 7 avocado trees on our 95 year old property is a puebla avocado tree. Can you tell me how rare are these trees? Thank you, l
That’s very interesting, Lisa. I’d love to see the tree. I have seen very few old Puebla trees; I can only think of two off the top of my head although I’m sure there are many more surviving where old groves were.
I’m selling Puebla Avocados to SpecialtyProduce for two more weeks. The tree is in the heart of one acre with a modest home in modesto
Thanks for sharing, Laura. If anyone is interested in buying some of your Pueblas, how could they find them?
The tree is in Modesto California but I’m shipping them to San Diego Specialty Produce.
I’m not up with technology, how can I send u I pic of Puebla
I can send a pic to SpecialtyProduce?
My grandma planted a Puebla 55 years ago, it is wonderful!
As usual, another great write-up with perfectly timed suggestions…especially as we head into fall and winter…hopefully both seasons will favor us with mucho rain.
Thanks, Jock! Praying for rain . . .
My Avocado tree is a year old. It had probably 20 Avocados on it & got a fungus. Leaves turned almost black & fell off. Sprayed it with a fungicide & it looked ok . Then same thing happened again & fruit fell off. It’s not looking good.
Last summer I planted a 15 gallon Wurtz. It had pretty bad sunburn and it lost lots of leaves, exacerbating exposure issues. It hasn’t put on any new growth, and I was wondering if you thought I should pull it and start over. I am in Zone 23, and it’s planted in a very sunny wind free spot.
Hi Matt,
I’ve learned to go to great lengths to take great care of young avocado trees, but also to not waste time in removing and replacing young avocado trees that aren’t thriving. It seems that if an avocado doesn’t get a rapid and smooth start to life, it never fully recovers. I’ve experienced this over and over, unfortunately.
That is to say, unless your Wurtz makes an amazing show of new growth by the end of February, which is the latest any avocado tree in Zone 23 could possibly wait to start flushing, I’d shop for a replacement in March.
Okay, thanks for the definitive timeline. I planted a Wurtz because it is on a slope and there isn’t a ton of space. Once I remove it, should I plant another dwarf avocado, a Haas or something similar, or a different tree there altogether? I’d like to go for another avocado if possible. Is it possible to prune a Haas by topping it to be 10 feet tall, bushy, and productive (like I thought the Wurtz would be)?
First, let me say that I’ve never tasted a Wurtz. But I’ve also never heard anyone say they taste great. For example, one person whose opinion I trust is Julie Frink. For decades she has volunteered at the South Coast Field Station in Irvine, where they grow a collection of dozens of avocado varieties (actually, hundreds if you count seedlings). So she’s tasted many different avocados. And she rates Wurtz as “good” whereas the Hass she rates as “excellent.”
If you haven’t already, you might enjoy reading my post titled, “Can you grow an avocado tree in a small yard space?” The URL: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/can-you-grow-an-avocado-tree-in-a-small-yard-space/
Yes, you can keep a Hass productive at 10 feet tall through consistent and skilled pruning. I have a Hass that I keep productive at just under 15 feet tall, and I know of other similar Hass trees. Also, the most common method of planting new commercial groves is to plant trees very close together and prune them, some to as short as seven feet tall.
But you might also consider a Reed. Reeds are even more productive than Hass but with a less spreading canopy, so they are easier to keep within the bounds of 10 feet. For example, my Reed is the same age as my Hass, but is still only 12 feet tall without having been pruned. (I’ve already pruned my Hass a number of times to keep it down to 15 feet tall.) The trees are both entering their fifth years in the ground. Plus, Reed tastes great, everybody agrees.
One other variety that is easy to keep pruned down and that also tastes great and is available to buy at many nurseries is Lamb. (Its official name is Lamb/Hass, but I hate to use that name because it’s misleading.) I like my Lamb tree a lot, but if I had to choose between it and Reed, I’d choose Reed.
All three of these varieties (Hass, Reed, and Lamb) produce well as lone trees.
Thanks a lot for the great info, much appreciated. I’m going to give it until the end of February and then replace it with one of the varieties you’ve mentioned. Thanks for such a fast response too, your site is great.
I live about 100 feet off the sand in San Diego and never get true East County heat on my two young (5ft tall Hass) Avocados. However, one of the two showed a big leaf die back last week.
Because they both get the same heat I was ruling that out for why the leaves look so sunburnt. This could be a late fall chlorine build up, but why only one tree? Then I remembered they have different soil mixtures though.
Could the slower draining soil add to the chlorine intake of one vs the other?
Hi Laura,
Are these trees both in containers?
Forgot to ask: Can an avocado tree recover from bad sunburn?
Depends a bit on the nature of the sunburn. If it’s a single branch that’s badly burned, then recovery is very possible. That branch can be pruned out and any other exposed branches can then be painted for protection.
But if many branches — especially on a young tree — have been burned, the likelihood of recovery is low. Part of the reason is that this kind of thing only happens if a young tree has been stressed from poor irrigation or gopher damage to roots in the first place. That will cause it to lose leaves and expose its branches. So it’s like a damaged tree just got further damaged by sunburn. I recently coddled such a tree for over a year before giving up on it.
That makes sense, thanks.
Update: There hasn’t been any really growth happening, some branches are starting to shrivel with entire leaves turning brown. So I lopped the top 2/3 off, and discovered inside the trunk was half rotten (on the side that was sunburned). Continued lopping to get to a healthy looking trunk, which eventually happened about a foot above the graft.
Decided to yank the whole thing to be safe health wise, and sterilized my tools. I was curious if you happened to know any diseases that cause 1/2 of an entire trunk to go bad (or if it was just a fatal sunburn)?
My guess would be sunburn as the cause if the dead side of the trunk were the south- or west-facing sides (where the hottest sun comes from). After the bark gets sunburned, it blackens and dies and shrivels and shrinks, actually sinks inward, if the sunburn is bad enough.
I planted a cold hardy avocado this last spring, I live in Louisiana, zone 9b. The tree did great for awhile and it’s still alive but all the leaves are brown and dried up. We did get a couple of hard freezes and snow this year (surprisingly) but I made sure to wrap up the trees. I built something around the tree to keep out the cold and during sunny days I would take the top off so that the tree could get sun. We live with no bright sun for days and it rains a lot. Is it possible that it’s just not getting enough sun light? Every leaf is brown but the stems are still green. Help?!!!
Hi Kathryn,
It sounds like you did everything right. Avocados actually don’t require as much bright sunlight as some other fruit trees, especially when they’re young, so I would guess that’s not the problem.
The issue might just be the cold, and more specifically, prolonged cold. Sometimes, a brief dip below freezing does nothing, yet a night with many hours below freezing does damage. Many subfreezing nights in a row are even worse. Anyway, if the limbs are still alive then paint them white to protect from sunburn and enjoy watching new leaves grow in spring.
See this post that has a couple photos of cold damage on young avocado trees in my yard, and compare to your tree:
https://gregalder.com/yardposts/the-new-years-2015-freeze-damage-and-its-lessons/
And see this post about painting avocado trees: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/
I hope your tree comes back strong!
Whoops, didn’t see your previous comments re: avocados–mine doesn’t look much like any of yours–far sicker, more yellow than brown, some leaf curling. And a lot of flowering–I know flowering on any plant is a bit stressful, so that might be contributing to its problems. We have had some odd weather this year–buckets of rain, but thankfully, no mudslides around my house. I honestly can’t wait to move…
Hi Judith,
Where do you live?
In late winter in Southern California, avocados tend to look their worst. Some will have tip burn plus maybe browning from cold damage. Then when they start to flower, many of their old leaves will turn yellow and soon drop. If the tree is generally healthy, all will turn out fine. By June, the tree will have grown new leaves and be green and carrying small fruit.
What I mean to say is that the appearance of an avocado tree can be unattractive here in late winter even though it is not diseased or dying.
Have two trees, 40+ years old. Coastal S. Cal. Tips of leaves get brown shortly after they grow to full size, drooping as well. Lots of flowers, but fruit is small. Is this due to chloride in water?
Hi KK,
Unfortunately, those symptoms sound like root rot rather than merely chloride. What’s happening is that the roots are damaged by a fungus to a degree such that they can’t properly function and take in water; hence the drooping leaves. Infected trees often flower profusely and have small fruit and also defoliate, particularly in the top of their canopies. Sound like your trees? See this page for a fuller description of root rot symptoms on avocado trees: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r8100111.html
Thanks for info. In reading the UC guideline provided, not good. ..bummer.
Why watering more would remove the chloride since chloride comes from the water??? Doesn’t it bring more chloride?? Thank you!!!
Hi Gisele,
I totally understand that it doesn’t make sense at first, but I tried to explain it in the post starting at the paragraph whose first sentence is, “The one good thing about chloride is that it moves with water.” When you add water, it does add more chloride, you’re right. But let me try to explain in a different way with sample numbers. (Don’t take the numbers seriously.)
If your water has a chloride concentration of 75 parts per million, then your soil might eventually have a chloride concentration of 100 parts per million in the upper three inches if you have been watering lightly and because the sun has been evaporating water there in the upper three inches but leaving the chloride behind. This raises the chloride level over time.
So then you water a lot (overwater) with your 75 ppm water and essentially wash the chloride down through the soil profile until it is below the level of the roots (since chloride moves with water). Now your soil in the upper three inches is back near 75 ppm: the level of your water.
Does that make any sense?
Thank you for the info! I live in Costa Mesa and my 7 year old avocado had a ton of flowers in the past few weeks and the bees have been having at them. Last year was the first year it fruited and I got about 8 good avocados.
Unfortunately last year I started getting spots on my leaves and I think I got mites. I am worried that if it gets worse it will really harm the tree. Any recommendations or anyone I can send pics to? Now I have a decent amount of other leaves near the top yellowing and browning in a different way and I am worried I have a disease of some sort.
Hi Jonathan,
Check out this webpage about persea mites on avocados to see if this is what you’re dealing with: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r8400211.html
During flowering, avocado trees often also shed older leaves so this might be what’s happening.
Thanks for the amazing blog post on Avocado trees. I live in Santa Clara county. Mine is planted on the ground and is about 7-8 years old. It has just started giving fruit (got about 3-4) so far. We noticed the leaves turned brown and like your post, one browning looks like due to excess chlorine and the other one seems a bit different (not sure if its due to cold or its normal).
The branches of the tree are also getting brown. I read your post about tree painting and am considering trying that out in addition to watering more. There is also a branch that is kind of weak and leaning onto a support. The remaining branches look fine though.
I wanted to share two pictures with you (one with different brown leaves and one of the branch) but I don’t think the email was sent successfully due to the message limit. Your opinion and help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot for your blog again.
Hi Vinitha,
Your comment reminds me that one of the most beautiful Fuerte trees I’ve ever seen was up your way in San Jose.
Anyway, send a photo of your branch and leaves, and hopefully we can identify what’s going on.
Hi Greg,
Thank you very much for the information. I live in California and my eight foot newly planted avocado tree looks like it is in a precarious state with the leaves turning brown and crispy. I used mulch as suggested . Now I will have to water a lot more. I would never have guessed The water from the Colorado River is salty. I thought ocean water was salty and river water was fresh.
What about citrus leaves curling up and turning brown and there is a swirling silvery residue left behind on the leaves? I keep cutting the leaves I consider “diseased” to the point of my trees almost getting bald. Does it sound like a disease of some type? I am afraid to use pesticides. I eat only organic hence my planting food sources. Thanks again.
Cecille
Hi Cecille,
If a newly planted tree has brown, crispy leaves it’s likely because of not watering often enough, especially during a heat wave. Maybe that’s your case?
Your citrus leaves might have leafminers. They’re no big deal although they make the leaves look ugly. No need to bother with pesticides. See this post: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/dont-spray-for-citrus-leafminers/
I have a miniature avo growing in a pot–I recently moved it from the garden-bag it was in when bought. It’s just approaching winter here, and we’ve had a mild, not-too-hot summer. During summer, my avo lost all its leaves, and over the past few weeks has sprouted new shoots all along branches (including tips of course). However, the tips of every branch are browning and drying off, with any new shoots overrun drying up also.
It was in response to the new shoots that I decided to move it into larger pot, fresh soil, but the burning tips have become more pronounced.
I suspect some salt build-up from early-summer fertilizer, but reading above I’m beginning to also suspect root-rot.
I would treat for root-rot but the product I use relies on absorption through the leaves . . . and there are none!
So, do you think my lovely little tree is doomed, or would flushing of salts possibly bring salvation?
. . . oh, “here” is Perth, Western Australia ?
Hi Shel,
Man, avocado trees in containers are extra sensitive! Often it seems that the leaf burn of potted trees is due to not watering often enough especially during hot spells, plus salt damage. I’m inclined to say never fertilize a potted avocado unless you’re absolutely sure it needs it.
Maybe your tree can recover if you hold off on fertilizer and water only when the surface of the soil has dried through the winter, so as not to exacerbate root rot, if that’s the issue. Then next summer be sure to never let it dry out.
Also, go ahead and give it one thorough flushing now.
Hi Greg: I love the information you have provided. I grew up in San Diego County and my parents had an amazing avocado that produced fruit throughout my childhood.
I live in Missoula Montana now. I decided to plant the seed of an avocado in a pot, because I recall the beauty of the leaves. I am not expecting to grow fruit with this young tree in a pot.
My questions are: Can I repot into larger container now, or only in early spring?
When I re-pot, go up one size or 2 sizes?
Do I fertilize with low nitrogen fertilizer?
My tree has nice green lush leaves but they droop. Is that Ok?
Leaf tip browing from underwatering or from sunburn? I only use spring water on my plants.
Hi Dori,
Missoula is a beautiful place. A couple of our good friends live there.
You can repot an avocado tree any time, and I would go up just one size. I have never actually found the need to fertilize an avocado seedling in a pot, but I’ve also never kept one potted for more than a year or so (since they can go into the ground here). One time a long time ago when I fertilized a potted avocado it got bad leaf burn, so I’ve always held off since.
Avocado leaves naturally droop somewhat so yours are probably fine as long as they’re uniformly green like you say. (Young leaves are red.) When avocados are too hot or thirsty, they droop excessively and they also lose their shine.
I live in Sonoma County and planted my grafted Little Cado in a container 3 years ago. I transplanted it into a larger, wine barrel-sized container this year. It is stunning, with the leaves a beautiful green and auburn new growth, just like in your “Spring Update” picture above.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any evidence of fruit yet. Is there a chance it will still produce fruit? The gardener who planted it didn’t do much fertilizing (if any), and the one who took over after one year has fertilized every 2-3 months for the last 2 years. Should I fertilize more often (e.g. monthly) or do anything else to support fruit growth?
Hi Heather,
Avocados can be frustratingly slow to start producing. They really test our patience. You’d enjoy reading my post, “How long until an avocado tree fruits?”: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/how-long-until-an-avocado-tree-fruits/
If your tree’s foliage looks good, then don’t bother fertilizing. Here in mid June, it’s likely that the period of flowering for your tree is over for this year, so no further chance of fruit this year. Look for the tree to flower next starting in the winter probably.
When flowering starts, your concern will be pollination. A small, lone tree is not in a good position to set much fruit, but a lot of bees in the vicinity will help the most. It is bees that do most avocado pollination.
With regard to this, you might like to read this post: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/oh-mistakes-ive-made-thinking-flowers-girls/
Fingers crossed for next year!
Gostaria de saber como cu cultivar abacate no vaso
Hi Greg!
I live in Melbourne, Australia and recently decided to try my hand at growing some Avocados from seed. I’ve had great success with sprouting 10 out of 12 seeds. I recently transferred the sprouted seeds to pots as per the instructions in one of your previous posts. The leaves on one plant in particular have started to turn brown and shrivel up. They’ve only been in the pots for a few weeks and I’m using exactly the same tap water I used to sprout them. I’m also getting new growth on this plant. After reading the above and your previous post I’m assuming this is possibly a build up of salt in the soil?? If you have a moment to let me know your thoughts I’d greatly appreciate it.
Kind regards, Debra
Hi Debra,
It might just be that your little avocado in the pot got thirsty for a spell, which turned its leaves brown, but now it has enough water and so is growing well again. Avocados in pots are extremely sensitive like this since their soil volume is extremely limited; the soil also usually heats up more than ground soil because the pot’s sides can be heated by the sun.
It’s ideal to use very clean water (i.e. unsalty water) for avocados in pots, but it’s not necessary. Your tap water might work acceptably. I use tap water, and I have decent results with seedling avocados in pots when I water thoroughly every time I water. I always water until water is running out of the holes in the bottom.
That being said, my avocados in pots never look as good as those grown by my friend who uses water that has gone through a series of filters, including reverse osmosis.
At my Ranch a Cow chewed off my first Hass avocado. She Smelled something.
We just bought our Mexicola avocado tree about a week ago, it’s still pretty small so we just have it in a 24” tree box right now. On Friday we got hit with 115 degree heat and our poor tree wilted within hours. We’ve been trying to keep it watered but it’s showing no signs of recovery. The leaves are dry and the leaves that are still soft have brown patches on them. Is this a combination of shock from the heat and the chloride in the water? I’m hoping that our tree is t completely without hope after only having it a week!
Hi Amy,
It’s not your fault. It’s the temperature. Avocados simply can’t take 115 degrees. Moreover, trees in containers are more vulnerable to heat stress than trees in the ground since they have such a limited soil volume from which to drink, in addition to the fact that the soil in the container heats up more than the ground.
Your tree might recover. About now you should be able to see the extent of the damage. This Friday, my post will be about this last heat wave and how to care for damaged plants such as your avocado. I’m in the same boat with some of my trees!
But right now you should read my post about sunburn on avocados: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/
I accidentally put too much avocado tree fertilizer on a 4-5 feet avocado tree. In addition temperatures have been 115 ! Leaves curled up and are toasted :(.
Small branches look a bit brown :(.
Is there any hope ?
Thanks!
Hi Miriam,
Sorry about your tree. Ouch. I’ve found it very hard and slow to get newly planted trees back to good health if they’re severely damaged like yours. These days, I usually just buy a new tree to replace it.
There’s the possibility of hope for yours though. It all depends on how many green leaves it has left and how carefully you can care for it for the rest of this summer and fall.
See this post for details on sunburn to avocados: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/
And see this Friday’s post too, which will be about the recent heat wave, its damage, and dealing with it. Talk to you then.
Greg my Furete in Pasadena ca is about 35 years old and about 30 ft tall. It has produced good crops for the last 20 years. This year was set to be spectacular however since the recent heat wave I have had a good portion of the young fruit drop and now I am getting patches is completely brown branches and leaves with black shriveled fruit. I water for about 11 minutes every other day with a bubbler that is set in a buried onefoot rock filled tube surrounded by a berm about two feet from the trunk. Is it the heat or am I overwatering? Thanks for any advice or assistance you can provide
I live near Cape Town in South Africa. I have a Pinkerton and a Fuerte both grafted to one root-stock. The Pinkerton leaves are healthy with no bad signs but the Fuerte has tip burn, yellowing under size leaves. I have always watered the tree with rainwater. Both being on the same root-stock is puzzling.
Hi Phil,
That’s extremely puzzling. In Southern California conditions, it is always the Pinkerton that has poorer foliage than Fuerte when things get stressful. Also, it so happens that I too have a tree on a single rootstock with both Fuerte and Pinkerton grafted on. For that tree, both varieties have approximately equivalent foliage appearance.
Here our seedling rootstocks are mostly of the Mexican type, especially Zutano. Do you know what your rootstock is?
Might there be a mild fungal disease affecting only the Fuerte limbs? Do you see any lesions, cankers, white powder, or streaks?
Hello Greg, I have a question?
The top of my avocado tree trunk is black (look like is burned) but the rest of the tree looks good and healthy, only a few leaves are brown. Do you know what I should do to make sure my tree keep growing? Do I should cut the top or what I should do? Thanks, its about 5’6″ feet tall right now.
Hi Daniel,
You don’t need to do anything special or different to make sure your tree keeps growing. If you’re in Southern California, then you can expect the tree to have at least one more burst of new leaves before the end of the year.
Only cut the dead stuff at the top if the green leaves below it are shading all lower branches. See this video I made the other day about that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPrTyO0I5Ms
Thank you, yes I live in Southern California, I Will do that.
Hello Greg,
I saw the video and the only different is that the part that is burned on my tree is the top of the trunk so there are not other branches that can shade it, I dont think is going to grow, because looks really dry its only like 4 inches are burned, I was trying to sent you a picture but I believe is not possible through here.
Please let me know if you know what to do in my case. Thank you.
This is the best article I’ve read about watering avocado trees, wish I seen it sooner. Trying to save my haas tree in hawaii, but I think I’m losing
Hi Gregg , I wish I came upon your posts a lot earlier. I have thoroughly butchered my Hass tree, thinking I was pruning.it, I now have a very lopsided somewhat bare and sunburn avocado Tree. It’s approximately 8 years old and just gave me about a dozen avocados, so I think there may be some hope to salvage it. It was planted near a bougainvillea that was shading it but when that was cut back the avocado tree was heavy with foliage on one side and Tilting slightly, and the exposed side got sunburned. Now I see there is a nice healthy shoot going straight up but the rest of the tree is not very pretty looking. Any tips on how to help the situation?
Hi Debbie,
Sorry to hear this. I’d paint branches as necessary to prevent more sunburn: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/
Otherwise, you might need to prune or stake so the tree doesn’t topple in winds. Look for new growth in late winter and manage it by pinching and pruning as necessary so the canopy comes back into balance and protects its bare branches.
Hi Greg!
Thanks again for all the great advice you give. You are quite the resource!
So, I’m very concerned about my tree. It is very tall–about 30 ft and probably 35 years old, I’m guessing. It has less than a full canopy now and there are some new green leaves in various areas but some very dead areas as well. Now there is a crack on a large branch about 5 feet from the base. My gardner tapped on it and it sounds a bit hollow compared to other branches and the trunk although there is green growth all over the place off that branch. I don’t want to lose it! And I’m really worried about the tree in general.
Can I send you some pictures? Let me know. Thanks so much!
Hi Mike,
Thanks! And sorry to hear about your tree. Yes, send a couple photos from close up and farther away.
Just sent the photos, Greg. Thanks again!
Im a little confused. My Cold Hardy is in a pot and i’ve been trying to figure out why these leaves are the way they are – THANK YOU SO MUCH for answer this question. But how could overwatering my tree help remove the Chlorine? Is it because after it evaporates, concentrated chlorine stays behind and you want to drench it to wash away the concentrated chlorine? Do you recommend watering MORE often? I was always told to not water unless its already very dry. Thanks so much!
Hi Lisa,
Your avocado tree in a pot might have damaged leaves for reasons not related to chloride in the water. It sounds to me like you might not have watered often enough.
You definitely don’t want to wait to water until the potting mix/soil is very dry. Avocados don’t like that.
As long as your pot has holes in the bottom, and the mix/soil is not dense (like actual dirt is), then it’s hard to overwater an avocado tree in a pot as long as it’s getting plenty of sun. For example, avocado trees in pots at nurseries here in Southern California often need to be watered every single day during the summer.
Hi Greg! Would love to send you a picture of a large old tree in our yard. The leaf burn is pretty significant this year compared to past and I really want to try and make it better! Is there and email I can shoot you picture at?
Hi Greg, I have two large old avocado tree in my back yard but I think they are suffering from root rot disease as the leaves are burnt at tips, twigs die back, the canopy has been reduced a lot. I’m living in Southern California. Please help
Hi Thai,
I’m sorry to hear about your trees. Last year was very hard on avocados because of the dry winter and hot summer, but this wet winter should help. You might want to wait and see how the trees do this spring as they benefit from those winter rains and try to replace their lost canopy. A couple of my trees look bad too. If around July, your trees still look bad then take action.
Greg, thanks for all the useful info you have on your website. I have a large Fuerte tree in my yard that shows the symptoms of chloride leaf burn every year and drops its leaves each spring (I live in Pasadena). I ran across some info recently on plants that accumulate salts and was thinking of underplanting the tree with such a plant to see if it helps.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925857416302919?via%3Dihub
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsta1957/31/4/31_4_255/_pdf
I was going to try sowing some garden orach in the sprinkler zones for my avocado to see if it helps: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DIEVLS/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Have you heard of this being done with avocados?
Hi Heath,
I haven’t heard of anyone trying this with avocados. I’m going to ask a couple of soil scientists who work with avocados and I’ll post again on this comment thread if I learn anything.
It so happens that I’ve planted a half-dozen sunflowers around my Fuerte this year. I did so in order to draw bees for pollination, but now I’m thinking I might plant a bunch of short sunflowers around the canopy edge of my Hass and see what happens. (The article you linked from Japan reports that sunflowers remove large quantities of chloride from the soil.)
Thanks so much for this comment.
I got some interesting feedback from someone with a lot of experience in this field. He said he doesn’t know of anyone who has tried this with avocados, but some factors to consider are:
The plants used to accumulate chloride must be removed at some point or they will just be delivering the accumulated chloride back to the soil below.
Anything planted with the avocados will be competing with them for water. So you’re going to have to water more if done outside of winter.
Because of this, ideally, you’d grow a winter annual that can use our free California rainfall (when we have it).
Dear Greg,
I have few avocado trees. I try my best to look after them. But every year the thrips attack the whole tree with no fruit coming up. Please advise what should I do to control them.
Hi Benu,
Are you sure thrips are the cause of your tree producing no fruit? In my experience, thrips just cause scarring to the avocado peel, but the fruit otherwise grow fairly well. Maybe you’ve got an exceptionally bad case though? Here’s a good page on dealing with thrips on avocados: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r8300311.html
I’ve been looking for well thought out perspectives on Avocados. I’m so glad I came across your post.
Thank you
Good morning Greg,
I started to notice tip burn on my Sir Prize about a week ago and it’s only september. For the month of august, I’ve watered about 30+ gallon per week (3 days a week) on this tree. I transplanted it in March and it has about 3 feet canopy now. This is more than what you recommended in your chart and it still has tip burn. How would you recommend in leaching out the salt in this tree? Thanks. I send a couple of pictures of the tip burns to your email if you need it. thanks
-James
I have a hass Avocado tree in San Diego, that is seemingly healthy, fruit looks great, but some of the leaves have small bugs (black tops and clear bottoms) that look like they are laying small black larvae on the bottom of the leaves, which is burning the middle part of the leaf from bottom to top. Any idea what this might be? I can send pictures if that would be helpful. Your site is amazing and so helpful! Thanks!!
Hi Aaron,
Thanks! You might be describing persea mites. See this webpage to help identify: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r8400211.html
Hi Greg! Thanks for the reply. I am convinced they are avocado lace bugs. Will neem oil help?
Hi Aaron,
If the population is low, I wouldn’t do anything. It’s good to have some bugs munching on and living in your tree. Neem oil might kill the lace bugs, but it will also kill bugs that aren’t harming your tree and that might even be eating the lace bugs. Leave them all alone to control each other as far as possible.
See the management strategies for Avocado Lace Bug at the UC IPM site here: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74134.html
Hi Greg
I live in Cyprus and my avocado is a couple of months passed the germination stage. It’s still in a pot about 6 inches in diameter and is single stemmed and 14 inches tall. Although it’s growing well the leaves turn brown, curl up and drop. I water it a little daily and it has good drainage. Any ideas where I’n going wrong? Thanks Sylvi
Hi Sylvia,
Here are possibilities to consider: water too infrequently, not enough water volume, water too high in salts (like sodium and chloride), sunlight too intense, heat too high.
I read your discussion of why avocado leaves turn brown with interest. However, I’m concerned that my problem might not be the same as you have described. I purchased this Holiday avocado plant last month. I live in San Diego County about 10 miles inland (La Mesa). I purchased my young plant from Four Winds Nursery.
I planted it in in a 15-gal container with good planting mix soil (including cactus mix soil) and watered it thoroughly only once when I planted it in mid Sept. It hasn’t been watered since, but our moisture meter still shows that it is wet, even near the surface. I had placed several inches of mulch on top of the soil, so pulled that back in a couple of places to make sure sun and air got through to dry it out. The container has holes at the bottom, which clearly drained when I watered it. I set it up on our patio so I could keep the sun levels controllable. It gets later morning and early afternoon sun only, though we are and have been having Santa Ana conditions right now. I thought about drilling holes in the side of the plastic container that it’s in now to help it dry out.
Your article indicated that chlorine in our Southern California water might be the culprit for leaf browning. However, in this case, it’s only had one watering since I got it (of course, the nursery it came from would have also been using So. California water). I have photos that I wanted to send that I took last week, but I don’t see the ability to send photos with this message. Since that time, the lower leaves have almost totally shriveled. The top of the plant still has healthy growth, but I fear I’m losing my avocado. I’ve moved it more into the shade of our patio in recent days until I can figure out what is happening.
Is the plant responding to too much water? Too much chloride in our water? Or, even though seemingly quite limited, sunburn? Your thoughts are very much appreciated!
Thanks. Stan
Hi Stan,
I have a guess on what is happening with your new Holiday. Those avocado trees from Four Winds are small. They come in small plastic sleeves and have small root systems. (This is not a bad thing, just a fact.) Then you put it into a (relatively) giant 15-gallon container. It is difficult to properly water a plant whose roots take up only a small portion of a big container, especially if the mix that the roots are in are different from the mix of the rest of the container — and they usually are.
You’re almost certainly right that your tree’s problem has nothing to do with chloride in the water. That is almost never the problem with young trees, whether in a container or in the ground.
My guess is that even though you might feel moisture in the surrounding container mix, where the tree’s roots are the available water has been sucked up. (I don’t find moisture meters very accurate or useful in general. I find that it’s better to put your fingers in the mix and see how much water there is where the roots are.)
I would plant the tree in the ground now (if that’s your long term goal) or put it into a smaller container (if you want to grow it in a container), about 3.5- to 5-gallon size. And whatever mix you fill the container with, try to match it as close as possible to the original Four Winds mix. Contact Four Winds to ask them what they use. They are nice people with good customer service and should be able to tell you. It likely has a lot of peat moss and perlite in it.
Until you do any of this transplanting, apply small amounts of water right at the base of the tree’s trunk to attempt to get water to its roots. Tell me how it goes. Best of luck!
Hey Greg! I found your site because I have two avocado trees I’ve grown from pits that I have recently transferred to soil. A few days after transferring them one started getting burnt tips on the lowest leaves. I was told maybe it was too cold or too much water. I’m in Indiana, they are indoors sitting about 18 inches from a big window wear they get plenty of sunlight. The room they are in isn’t below mid to low 70’s and I’m using the same water I had the pits suspended in. How much water should a 6 month old tree be getting?
https://imgur.com/gallery/tgBQa9L
Hi David,
I can’t say for sure what is causing the burning on the margins of those leaves, but I can rule out a few things. It’s not too much water or temperatures too cold. It’s possibly either too little/too infrequent watering or the media/soil the roots are in contain substances that are toxic to the plant.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to give a hard quantity for an amount of water that your tree should be getting. The principles are that you don’t want the potting media to dry out nor do you want it to be constantly soggy: keep it in between those extremes. It looks like the media is fast draining so my guess would be that you need to water more/more often.
Hello,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world. Do you know of any other Avocado varieties that are more tolerant of chloride other than Reed?
Fuerte, Lamb, and Bacon seem somewhat more tolerant to chloride, in addition to Reed (this is compared to Hass).
4-yr old Haas tree: leaves have brown spot in the center, top side, only the spot, underside shows the spot plus small, black gritty attachments. Looks and feels like sand.
What might this be and how to treat?
Hi Jim,
My first thought is to consider avocado lace bug. Check these pages to see if they look and sound like what is on your tree:
Avocado lace bug
Avocado lace bug and its damage
Greg,
Your analysis was precise. Your internet references and others, including http://hdoa.hawaii.gov/blog/main/nr20-01avocadolacebug/ show the lace bug to be the invader.
Thank you very much for your help and quick reply.
Jim
Hi Greg,
I’m from the UK and have been following your work for a long time and read a lot of the original studies and guides for avocado leaf issues but i’m struggling with my two trees which are now around 1 1/2 2 years old now.
I have been growing plants from seeds with great success but after around a year i tend to get issues with them, either root rot on a couple of younger ones or browning tips which are eventually leading to the tree dying out.
Now learning from plenty of mistakes over the years i have been avoiding tap water or if that can’t be done then i will make sure the soil is leeched fully to stop salt burn. Normally using bottled spring water only and have recently started using a Miracle-Gro All Purpose Continuous Release Plant Food fertilizer with an NPK rating of 17-9-11.
My problem is i can’t tell what my problem is, they are potted in a mix of sand and potting compost for drainage in medium sized pots, however Gary Matsouka from laguna hills nursery states that compost isn’t really best for growing avocado trees in and swears by a mix of sand, silt and clay for a loamy mixture.
I have a few pictures for you if you would be able to advise in anyway, would really appreciate your help. I have pruned one which i would like to keep slightly more bushy and has plenty of new nodes and the other is growing freely.
https://imgur.com/gydu0nL
https://imgur.com/36q8SRU
https://imgur.com/mWWEP2h
https://imgur.com/LSRWJRC
https://imgur.com/N0Udgw1
https://imgur.com/ViQMTJQ
https://imgur.com/2PmOT7u
Hi Joe,
I think it’s great that you’re growing these trees in the U.K. I bet that if I lived there I would be doing the same thing.
While I have grown many avocado trees in containers, I’ve never grown them indoors so I feel a bit unsure when trying to figure out what’s going on with such trees.
But let me say a few things that I know about potting mixes for avocados. I find that my own trees that I grow in containers filled with “chicken compost” do very well. This chicken compost is a bit of my sandy loam soil plus composted plant materials and chicken poop. It’s what I scrape up from the bottom of my chicken pen, and my chickens are fed lots of food scraps and garden clippings, and I add lots of wood chips to soak up their manure.
Also, I know what some nurseries here in Southern California use for the potting mix for their avocado trees. Brokaw Nursery told me that they use wood chips, sand, soil, and coir (coconut husk fiber). Subtropica Nursery uses coir, peat moss, and perlite.
Do you take your trees outside for spring, summer, and fall, or are they always indoors?
Thank you so much for the reply, I’ve been checking back here frantically in case you replied!
I’ll definitely take a look at changing up my potting mix I think as my current one does seem to be cutting it.
They are always indoors as the temps seem to drop way too much during anything other than summer and even then the British weather is soo unpredictable that you can’t tell spring from summer.
I’ve been following you for quite a while and still hoping to achieve something close to a full grown tree at least once like yourself!
Thanks so much
Joe
That’s great, Joe. I wish you luck. Do remember that avocados don’t actually need much heat to flourish. The native environment of the types of avocados that most of us grow is in the tropics at high elevations where it is very mild. Avocados love to grow in temperatures near 70 degrees F. There are parts of the Central Coast here in California that grow amazing avocados, and these areas are chilly and foggy even in the summer (for example, Morro Bay).
I say all of this to encourage you to get your trees outside as much as is healthy for them. They can handle night temperatures down to freezing even as young trees. The largest avocado nursery here in California only protects their young trees when the air temperature drops to 28 degrees F.
I have a problem with my young avacado plant. It’s about 3 months. Happened in the last 48 hours. The leaves curled under and turned brown. It has been upwards toward 90, but I brought it inside. Otherwise it’s been outside. If I could post pictures I would. The variables are endless and I know you need a little history to help. How can I reach out for help?
Hi Jaye,
Uncurl the leaves to see if there are worms and frass inside.
What a great group to follow. I’m in Belgium and just for fun one day I started planting seeds and about 4 of them have grown. I let them “grow” indoors next to a large kitchen window which faces Southwest with mostly afternoon sun. Two of the plants have made it to about 1.5 meters tall. My oldest plant (2 years old) is now trying to grow new leaves but they get a little bigger than a large fingernail and them curl up and fall off. The tree looks like it is trying to produce new growth all over the place but same results. The bottom half of the tree has large green leafs with no sign of browning, etc. Would love any advice as these plants are about two years old and seem to have hit a wall. I haven’t made any changes to my watering schedule or placement indoors. Thanks for any advice
Hi Tim,
That’s really odd behavior. I’ve never experienced that before. Are there any bugs that you can find within the curled up leaves? Any chance the tree has roots that are circling at the bottom of its container?
Hello Greg! I am taking care of my friends avocado plant whilst he is away on holiday, but recently it started to develop these spots that look like wood in colour on the leaves (I guess maybe a brownish colour), and I am worried sick whether I’m doing something wrong. The instructions that he gave me were to water the avocado plant every 3 days with 300 ml of filtered tap water, and it’s filtered because the tips are turning brown and he suspects that it’s because of salt burn. To give a bit more background, the plant used to be in doors all the time and behind a window, but since the plants has been staying in mine I have started to put the plant out when it is sunny, so I think that this might have something to do with the problems I have been noticing with the plant. In addition, almost all the leaves have some degree of tip burn, and a few of the bottom leaves are turning slightly yellow along their stems and veins, and in random spots as well. I’d appreciate it if you could give me some insight as to how to handle this situation, if you want I can also email you some pictures of the leaves for a better look. But regardless, I have so far really enjoyed the few posts on avocado plants that you’ve written, simply because they are so extensive! Keep up the good stuff!
Hi Marcos,
Thanks for the encouragement. Sounds like the yellowing leaves down low might be dying a natural death. If so, then no problem there. But it sounds like the rest of the foliage might be stressing because of having to deal with more intense sunlight along with too little water.
300 ml every 3 days is not much water for a tree out in the sun. Even if the tree is very small, it almost surely needs more.
The coloring on the leaves is likely sunscald, a response to not being acclimated to such intense light. But don’t worry too much about that. It’s temporary. Keep putting it in the sun (unless there’s a heat wave), and give it more water, and the tree should respond in the long run by growing new healthy leaves and growing more in general. After a month or so, the tree will be fully acclimated to the sunlight and likely looking beautiful with some new leaves.
Feel free to share some photo links though, as sometimes they tell a larger story.
Hey again Greg, thanks for replying. I’ve uploaded the pictures here http://imgur.com/gallery/55eqBSs
Trees are in a 18″ pot probably time to move to a larger one. Thanks for the comments.
Hi Greg,
Wife and i have a small Haas avocado farm on east coast of Taiwan. After 1.5 years of attempted growing we realize what we need most is a mentor. IF you know anyone provide them our email, we can chat & video of our plants via LINE app as it is free to use.
Problems: do we have problems, Yep, Water buffalos, salty air, salty water, pests (snails, leaf cutters etc.) but we are determined to grow organic haas no matter what!
Thanks in advance!
Hi Rob,
Love your ambition and commitment. First I’ll put you in contact with an acquaintance growing avocados in Thailand.
Help Greg, My avocado leaves i noticed had some brown circles on the south side of the tree. It is now spreading to the middle. I told my gardner he looked and we noticed tiny bugs around the brown spots. Like they are eating that part and the leaves die on that part. Where can I send pictures? Please help!
Hi Denise,
First, I’m going to guess that you’re dealing with avocado lace bugs. They have been particularly bad this year. You’re not alone. Check this page: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74134.html
Hi Greg
In 3/2017 I planted a Wurtz Avocado,the trunk split into two and is now about 6.5 feet tall. The leaves are sparse but look ok, its never fruited or had a bud? About 8 feet away in 5/2019 I planted a Bacon thinking maybe it would help the Wurtz with pollination. The tree was about 1.5 feet when purchased, it may have grown 2” in over a year. Neither tree seems promising at the moment. Am I over reacting or do I pull out and start over. We have several citrus and stone fruit in the same area of the yard seem to do fine.
Hi Rob,
Something is not right. You should be getting more growth out of those trees. A couple of common causes of these symptoms that you should explore are:
1. Soil that drains slowly. Have you done a drainage test? See this post for directions: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/how-to-plant-and-stake-an-avocado-tree/
2. Insufficient watering. It might be that you’re not giving the avocado trees enough water, but just as often the case is that a larger tree or shrub nearby is stealing much of the water that you are giving the avocado trees. Small trees are especially vulnerable to this (that is, trees that are small when planted). Larger trees of the 15-gallon size or more are less vulnerable.
After you get a good idea of the cause of the weak growth of the Wurtz and Bacon, decide on whether to change your care or replant, as well as how and what to replant.
By the way, I have a friend who is in a similar situation where his citrus and stone fruit and apples and figs grow very well, but his avocados in the same area have struggled for years. His challenges are a bit of both of the above two that I mentioned.
I had this happen and the tree end up dying, so I replaced it and have only watered it with rainwater. Is inside under grow lights, next to another avocado tree that suffered the same problem but survived. The same thing is happening with rainwater. Any suggestions?
Hi Kelly,
What happened? The leaves turned brown and then the tree died? If you’re getting brown edges on your leaves and you’re using rainwater, you might not be watering the tree enough overall. Too little water of any kind will cause brown margins and tips on avocado leaves.
I don’t think it’s under watered, I actually increased the water when it started turning brown, but that didn’t help. At this point most of the leaves are brown, but the tree itself is not dead.
Hi Gregg my question is that my avocado tree is quite tall and one branch has grown so high we can’t reach the fruit and I worry when we get high winds it might fall. Do you have someone you can recommend to come see my tree. Thank you.
Hi Anna,
Where approximately do you live?
Hi Kelly,
What makes it tough to know the cause of the brown leaves is that if you correct the issue (e.g. by watering more) the brown leaves don’t go away. In fact, the leaves might continue getting browner for a little while until they eventually drop and are replaced with new leaves.
Anyway, you might also consider the soil mix your tree is in. It could be salty or heavily fertilized.
I used a cactus/citrus soil. Could that be the problem?
Hi Kelly,
I doubt that’s the problem, unless it’s some mix that comes with a lot of fertilizer mixed in. But usually avocados grow great in cactus potting mixes.
However, cactus mixes are very porous so you have to water frequently. That makes me suspect the issue might still be related to watering too infrequently.
I have an avocado seedling that was doing really well. It is about 2 feet tall. I’m in Nashville TN. It started getting cold so I brought it inside. It is now losing it’s leaves. I keep it moist for the most part, watering about once a week. Please help. It has taken so long to get to this point.
Hi Debbie,
This is happening to many avocado trees that are being brought inside for the winter right now. I don’t know the cause, but I’d guess it’s related to either low light or overwatering, or both.
Hi Greg, I live in Australia in the South West so it gets quite cool in winter and can get hot in summer. A couple of weeks ago we had a really hot day and ever since my tips have been going brown. Now I’m not sure if it’s a sun burn or possible as you mention chloride in the tap water. I am able to water it with rain water. But atm we have it connected to a dripper with town water like the rest of our garden. Is there a way you can tell from a photo which the damage is likely to be from? The tree is not very old and probable around 7ft high. Thanks
Hi Zoe,
If only the tips of leaves are going brown, then it’s probably not sunburn but thirst that caused it. In other words, during the heat the tree didn’t have enough water to help tolerate the heat. (If the heat is extremely high, no amount of water in the soil can prevent such damage, however.) On the other hand, if the browning is also or only in the middle of leaves, then that is sunburn damage.
Have a look at photos in this post for more examples that might help you determine what exactly caused the browning on your tree’s leaves: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/reading-avocado-leaves/
Hi Greg, my question is regarding avocado propagation, here it is
one of propagation methods is rooting avocado cuttings but how it works? i mean it will grow like seedling tree (fruiting after 10 years lets say) or like grafted tree (will fruit after 3-4 years)? what about size ? will it grow like like seedling tree more then 10 m or grafted size 2.5 m
my second question is, can i make scion wood (scions witch usually used for grafting) rooting ?
Thank you in advance
Hi Irakli,
I don’t know the answer to the first question, but I would guess that a rooted avocado cutting would flower earlier than a seedling, on average, if you’ve rooted a cutting of mature wood.
As to the size, that depends on what you’re comparing. Avocado trees on clonal rootstocks (which have become rootstocks because a cutting was rooted) can eventually grow just as large as seedling trees or scions growing on seedling rootstocks, in general.
However, all avocado varieties are more or less vigorous so if you rooted a cutting from a less vigorous variety, such as GEM, then I wouldn’t expect it to grow very big very fast, just as GEM scions on any other rootstock don’t grow very big very fast compared to many other varieties. (Likewise, certain varieties are chosen to be used as clonal rootstocks because they impart slower growth on the scion variety grafted on top.)
I’ve never rooted avocado cuttings so I have no firsthand experience to share, but I can point you to an old article in the California Avocado Yearbook from 1937 that describes the types of cuttings used in one experiment, along with their results: “Rooting Avocado Cuttings” by Eggers and Halma.
Super, thank you
Hi Greg – I have a ~7′ Lamb Haas avocado, planted last August in East Bay of San Francisco (it was grown in San Diego). I don’t think salt is an issue up here, and I’ve read the Lamb is not as picky. Still, our tree looks EXACTLY like your top photo, all the way around. Our bushy, 7’ Fuerte was planted at the same time and has some brown tips but fairing much better. It is in a slightly shadier spot. I’m interested in your thoughts and what to do! I’ve asked around and gotten a wide range of opinions, but none seem to fit. I’m suspecting one or both of the following: 1) sun exposure – we have a lot of sun exposure in the backyard, which I was told was a good thing (but now I’m learning avocados are understory plants); 2) damp soil. We have fairly dense, clay soil, so added a lot of amendment and planted on a mound to help drainage. Since we started getting heavy rain this winter, the soil around the tree stays damp, probably because now the ground is saturating. This wasn’t an issue in the summer because we were only watering the tree – not the surrounding yard, so the water had somewhere to go. Do I throw mesh over the tree or spray it with clay – to shade it? Do I cover the tree mound with plastic when it rains to shed some water?
Here are some pictures – the fence behind the tree is west.
Upon Planting: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aU2NpCVxUyTjJxvS8
Now: https://photos.app.goo.gl/g4LtQ1WUqtTJ94dAA
Thanks for any suggestions.
Hi Karen,
Looks to me like a tree that didn’t get enough water during the past summer and/or fall. This could be due to your underwatering, but it could also be that a mature tree nearby is stealing some of the water that you’re giving the young avocado. I am wondering about that apple in the photo, specifically, and also whatever tree is to the left of the photo. I’ve seen many trees in this situation. (Some are in my own yard.) Outside of removing or reducing the size of the mature trees, the most effective solution is to water the avocado more in volume and more broadly.
Avocados are not understory plants. (See photos of wild avocados in my post here.) In fact, in tropical America they are used to shade other crops such as coffee and bananas. They can take as much sun as you can give them in your area, but they need ample water to run their engines and keep themselves cool.
If water is the issue, you can expect the tree to look better only after it has grown new leaves in March, April, May. And then you’ll know if the tree is truly being given what it needs if it has mostly green leaves in the late fall and winter next year. Good luck!
Hi Greg,
Thank you! The ground is currently staying quite damp now that it is winter, but it makes sense that 1) we should have watered it more during summer and fall, and/or 2) water is being siphoned by the mature apple trees (we actually have one on either side of it) !! The first picture here shows the whole backyard, including the Fuerte on the far left — https://photos.app.goo.gl/aU2NpCVxUyTjJxvS8
great information I’m growing a hass avocado in a pot I live in s e pa. I have it in a enclosed porch with afternoon sun I noticed leaves are starting to turn brown it is similar to the pictures of the chlorine problem with leaves because I do use municipal water and I do keep it on the dry side because of overwatering . I thought maybe it was a temperature problem nights are low 40’s days are mid 50’s to low 60’s its the month of February and hopefully I can get it outside some time in may. do you think the lights would help if night temps are to low, I didn’t come across any information about prolonged cool/cold temps. thank you
Hi Rocco,
Those night temps should not be a problem for avocados, even for a prolonged period. My night temps are in the 30s and 40s almost all winter, occasionally rising into the low 50s while my day temps are generally in the 60s and 70s in winter. That being said, lights wouldn’t hurt, and the sooner you get the tree into more sun and warmer temperatures the sooner it will begin growing and grow faster.
Three year Haas avocado planted at 4 ft ,now 6 ft
Leaves have turned brown ,curled outward.Leaf abnormality worse higher Looks like picture of Cloride excess-or dry.
We had 12 inches of rain 2 weeks ago which should have cured the problems Now looks worse. Central California coast
Thanks for any suggestions
Hi Greg!
Novice gardener here! I am located in Southern California and I have a large avocado tree in my backyard (it touches the roof of our two story house).
When we moved in two years ago, we were caring for a newborn and spent very little time out in the garden. Our avocado tree did not get much attention during that time. Now that I have emerged out of the fog of sleep deprivation, I noticed my avocado tree is not looking so good. It is dropping many leaves daily. I water it when the soil appears dry, usually for a few minutes or so. I don’t know the first thing about avocado trees so any guidance would be helpful. I don’t even know what kind of avocado tree it is!
If you have the time, I would appreciate it if you could provide some guidance. Thanks!
https://imgur.com/a/7E1bGpH
Hi Kristen,
Your tree’s foliage looks perfectly healthy. Those leaves that are yellowing and dropping are old leaves that emerged last year; an avocado tree’s natural cycle is to shed many of those old leaves here in the spring as it grows new ones.
Our three-year-old just slept through the whole night, which doesn’t happen all the time. I hope you get some similarly quiet nights!
Hello!
Phew, it’s a relief to know that the tree is doing ok! Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. You took a weight off of my shoulders.
Congratulations on the sleeping toddler! Our 2.5 year old just started sleeping through the night a few months ago and I still wake up amazed that we made it the entire night. I know your little one will figure it out too.
Happy gardening!
Hi Greg,
I’m a landscaper. I visited a new client today in Palos Verdes. They have a beautiful umbrella shaped avocado tree that won’t produce fruit. It gets flowers each year and gets small fruit that soon fall off. They didn’t know the variety – just that their gardener had planted it years ago. My thought was it’s a pollination issue and could perhaps benefit from another avocado tree being planted nearby.
Today I saw the tree in person for the first time. I witnessed lots of flowers, but relatively few small fruits. They have a big yard, so I recommended planting an A and B type nearby. I suggested a Hass and Fuerte, even though my guess is their current tree is a Hass. They had relatively few flowers that would attract bees, so I will follow up with that recommendation.
But I’m still a little stumped by the lack of fruit as I’ve seen avocados self pollinate many times. I also noticed more leaf tip burn than I typically see. Can excess chloride in the soil cause the lack of fruit? Do you otherwise think I’m on the right track?
Hi Joe,
You’re on the right track, for sure. Unfortunately, there are some trees that are drones and remain unfruitful no matter what you do. (I have two such trees in my own yard, and I have seen some very old trees like this too.)
I’d be very surprised if a Hass tree in Palos Verdes didn’t set fruit. I’ve personally never seen a Hass tree that didn’t set, especially near the ocean. I’m wondering if it’s a grafted tree at all. Might it be a seedling?
Usually, giving an avocado tree cross-pollination opportunities by planting another tree nearby will increase fruitset but it won’t make a barren tree productive. Trees that don’t ever fruit don’t benefit from cross-pollination opportunities in my observations. They seem to have something internally defective in their flowers. Only trees that at least produce a little fruit benefit from a pollenizer, and sometimes they can benefit a lot.
It certainly can’t hurt to plant another avocado tree near this one. If the tree still has any flowers, then you can observe whether it’s an A or B and then plant a tree of opposite flower type. Or just plant one of each since they have a big yard. Hass and Fuerte sound good.
Leaf burn only significantly affects the yield if it’s bad. It’s probably not the problem if you’re seeing plenty of flowers and small fruit forming while the tree also has a good amount of leaves on it.
Thanks so much for the detailed response. I couldn’t see where it was grafted – usually that’s pretty obvious to me. I didn’t dig down, so it’s possible it’s buried. The other odd thing is the tree forked immediately above the soil line, which I’ve never seen in a nursery tree. He said his gardener planted it from a local nursery, but it’s possible or maybe even likely that it’s a home grown tree. I was curious what would explain the fact that it gets small fruit (jelly bean sized right now) that fall off. Is that a pollination thing? Is that how these drone trees typically behave?
I honestly think it’s possible the tree produces a small amount of fruit that the owner misses. Based off the condition of the rest of his fruit trees I would say they don’t give a lot of attention to them. And it is a decent sized tree tucked into a corner, where it might be hard to see.
Regardless, it’s a beautiful tree worth keeping just for looks. And the new trees I plant will provide avocados.
Hi Joe,
Sounds like a sure win if you plant those new trees because, as you said, they will provide avocados and then they will possibly help the old tree to produce or produce more, too.
In many studies in many places it has been found that trees of different varieties held onto their fruitlets (like the jelly bean ones you’re seeing now) better when the fruitlets were cross-pollinated compared to pollinated by pollen from a flower within the same tree. (This hasn’t been found in every study, though, I must add.)
Here is one from South Africa: http://www.avocadosource.com/Journals/SAAGA/SAAGA_1997/SAAGA_1997_PG_039-041.pdf
Here is one from Israel: http://www.avocadosource.com/CAS_Yearbooks/CAS_75_1991/CAS_1991_101.pdf
Hi Greg,
Just wanted to follow up as I was on site again last month and have now seen a complete year with this mystery tree. It carried about a dozen or so fruit for most of the year, but now has only a few left. I believe the squirrels have gotten the rest. The puzzling thing is the fruit never sized up. It got to maybe the size of a tennis ball or slightly smaller. Any idea what that would mean? Does it need fertilizer or a change in its irrigation?
I planted a Zutano and Hass nearby. Both had a decent first season of growth and I’m hoping to see some fruit this year. All three trees seem to have a fair amount of salt damage. Perhaps the result of growing so close to the ocean?
First a little background.. I bought my home with a 3/4 acre lot in the mid 70’s in East Anaheim. It was the first home built in this area, in 1948, in an existing old walnut grove.
At first, I still had 7 surviving and producing walnuts, but over the next approximately 10 years they all declined and died, starting at the western end of my lot and slowly progressing eastward until all were dead, covering a distance of about 200 feet. Examining underneath some of the peeling bark on the major branches and trunks of the trees as they were dying revealed the typical black shoestring mycelium associated with armillaria root rot fungus.
Now to my question: How long can this fungus survive in the soil, and is there any hope for eradication or cure? I presently have many different fruit trees growing successfully, but have also had many die after one or two years in certain spots, mainly where an old walnut died 25 years earlier. i have been unable to keep alive any avocado, cherimoya, guava, jackfruit, orange and others in or near these locations…..
Hi Harmen,
I have no personal experience dealing with Armillaria root rot, but here is a publication by the University of California about Armillaria for avocados: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/IPMPROJECT/ADS/Armillaria_root_rot_UC_ANR_3503.pdf
This only says the fungus can remain in the soil “for years.” How many years? Doesn’t get specific.
But it is helpful with some other suggestions, such as removing all wood pieces and roots from infected trees, as far as possible. It also recommends not watering excessively, as the fungus is susceptible to drying out.
I have a young, potted Reed avocado tree that is 5 months old. The bottom leaves started turning brown and burning. They would fall off when I touched them. I tried leaching the soil but the leaves still burnt.Then I began to notice brown circles on the leaves. The circles had yellow rings on them and the edges of the leaves were burning. I suspected it was a bug even though I was growing the plants indoors. I sprayed the leaves but the bug still spread. I cut off all of the affected leaves (about half of the leaves). What is causing this and what should I do now? Also my avocado tree grows next to tomato plants and I live in growing zone 8a. There was a heatwave recently.
Hi Greg. Thanks for all that you do to help us care for our avocados! I have been losing sleep over tip burn. I have just over 30 large, mature Haas trees in Elfin Forest (on a roughly south-facing steep slope). I made it through much of the summer with fairly little tip burn, and they are producing lots of very good looking (and large) avocados. But in the past two months, tip burn has come on strong! Some of the trees are starting to look positively ravaged by it. I’m on municipal water (Olivenhain), so I suspect it’s a chloride issue. (I’ve been following one of your watering tables, so I don’t think it’s underwatering.) Perhaps I waited too long to do so, but I tried leaching by overwatering in late September, and I spread gypsum around the same time. The tip burn has continued to worsen–though I have noticed the trees “fighting back” by sprouting new growth, particularly up high. I don’t remember it being this bad the past few years. Anything else I should be doing? Should I be losing sleep? Thanks!
Hi Bob,
This year is worse in my yard than last year too, and I think it has something to do with our municipal water having higher chloride as well as overall salts; that’s what the report from my local Ramona Municipal Water District shows so I would guess it’s similar for you since you get water from the same sources.
There’s nothing we can do to stop the tip burn here in fall. We can only water well with the goal of limiting its progress (deterioration) until spring.
I have a 5 stage reverse osmosis filter for household drinking. What if I water the avocado once in while with the filtered water to resolve leaf tip chlorine burn?
Hi Kevin,
The clean RO water can only help. Don’t expect it to result in zero leaf burn though, as you aren’t using solely the clean RO water.
Hi Greg,
Could any of these salt problems be caused by “soft water” (Culligan or other water conditioning services)? I was having trouble with my Zutano seedlings both before and after grafting other varieties onto them. I bypassed the water softener for my “orchard” water source and the problem seems to have disappeared. My Simi Valley water is not quite as good as rainwater but I believe it’s better than soft/conditioned water for my trees. Keep up the good work……Ken
Hi Ken,
Some water softeners add sodium to the water and that wouldn’t help avocados so it makes sense that your trees appreciated less salty water.
I’m on my 2nd Haas Avocado tree due to not understanding the impact of Chloride in my tap water I was using to water my tree. Once I got this 2nd one (~36″) high transplanted in a well draining pot and started watering it with ONLY distilled water it was like MAGIC. All the old brown curled leaves slowly dropped off and within 3 weeks I had TONS of new bud clusters and growth appearing from the base of the trunk to the top of the tree. I struggled and struggled with my first one, I hope this helps someone and at 99 cents/gallon its a CHEAP Fix. I’m going to buy an inline dual filter (5 micron and .2 micron) made for RVs when I transplant it outside next Spring and link my garden hose through that long term.
Hi Greg! I just moved to the San Diego area from the midwest and we are so lucky to have an avocado tree in our backyard! Its about 7-8 feet tall and the owner said it was producing avocados this past summer but unfortunately, the leaves are turning yellow-is and there are brown spots throughout the leaves not just at the ends. I’m wondering- is this a pest issue, or chloride watering? Thank you for your help!
Hi Mija,
It sounds to me like you are describing persea mite damage. Find examples of that on this post: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/reading-avocado-leaves/
I live in north San Diego county in SoCal (Vista). I have a large Fuerte, about 30h x 20w’, about 25 years old growing on a semi-steep hillside in my yard. It’s watered via city water system on my automatic timed irrigation 2-3 times a week, approx. 40 gal. each into a basin around it on the hillside. The last few years there is significant browning on leaf ends and much of the fruit it bares has also has brown cracked ends. Does this sound like chloride damage? If so is there a hose end filter that will help resolve if I add appropriate connection to the line?
The trees is otherwise relatively healthy and still produces abundant fruit, in the neighborhood of 150+ avocados. Currently has around 80 hanging and is in full bloom top to bottom.
Another issue is the height. Hard to harvest these and when they fall on their own squirrels have a picnic. Is it safe to top it and if so, when is the best time?
Appreciate any feedback on this.
What about sprouting, new leaves on a young (grafted) tree? The leaves are barely opening, still very small, and turning brown at the tips. The tree is in shade, not exposed to this recent heat wave.
Hi Greg,
I am living in Sydney Australia. I have just got a young Avocado plant which I will plant on this Saturday. Before planting, I wish to know if I need deep water the plant or not after as the moisture meter indicated that soil of root ball is in wet condition, deep watering the plant, I afraid the plant is overwatered.
Kindly advise
Hi Kenneth,
It’s not important to water the plant right before planting, but it is important to water it deeply immediately after planting.
Hi Mr. Greg Alder
Thanks for your prompt reply, I planted my young avocado on Sunday and watered it deeply
immediately after planting.
This is interesting. I am in Southern Africa in a country called Zimbabwe. I have an avocado tree in my yard and we have harvested two seasons. We just woke up one day and found our tree leaves had dried up! I will try to water it. It’s summer here and we have drought!