{"id":5412,"date":"2026-11-07T07:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T15:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=5412"},"modified":"2026-11-07T07:07:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T15:07:21","slug":"reading-avocado-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/reading-avocado-leaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading avocado leaves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was my first avocado tree’s first winter when a couple leaves started getting yellow veins. Oh no, what disease is this?<\/em> I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took a picture and sent it to a seasoned avocado grower. He wrote back, “This is leaf senescence. The leaf is just dying naturally.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With this post, I hope to calm your worries or clue you in when the leaves on your avocado tree take on unexpected appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What follows is a gallery of photos of avocado leaves along with explanations of why they look the way they do. Many of the photos were taken in my yard, but some I took elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning to read the leaves of your avocado trees can help you care for them, and it can help you just relax and appreciate their stages of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Red avocado leaves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"red<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Don’t let the red shock you. While these are among the reddest new avocado leaves I’ve ever seen (they’re on a seedling tree), most new avocado leaves are reddish. That’s just the way they grow (even in the wild<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lime green avocado leaves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"healthy<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the new leaves age they become light green, and then they turn deep green at maturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yellowing avocado leaves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"yellowing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the end of their lives, avocado leaves begin to yellow, starting with their veins. The look could alarm you, as it alarmed me. The above photo shows dying (“senescent”) leaves on a Fuerte avocado tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photo below shows the leaves on a Reed avocado tree that are so old and yellow that they will drop very soon. This is their natural end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"yellowing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So . . . from red to lime green, to forest green, to yellow: that’s the colorful cycle of life for an avocado leaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here’s video of avocado trees in my yard in May of 2021, showing leaves in all natural stages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n