Looks like root rot; the next one, plant on a mound so that you get better drainage. I think your little tree is doomed.

Plant the next one over a couple feet to avoid the fungus contaminated soil, or solarize the soil.

Bummer. I thought maybe the little buds on the green trunk would survive..........

How do I solarize the soil?

Suzi

I can only tell you what I would do and have done with 'cados, and it runs contrary to what applenut is recommending. He is more knowledgeable than I am on 'cados, but with the cost of a new tree, it might be worth trying to bring it back to health. You have to make sure the root ball gets a good soaking every time you water.

I've followed Axel's advice in this thread and my 'cados that were failing like yours have now been doing great: Is my Lamb Hass going to survive?

I feed mine with citrus-tone fertilizer, do the deep soakings and mulch heavily. It's made a huge difference.

Thanks for the link. Good information and encouragement in there. I'm reading up on root rot. I think if anything, it didn't get enough water.

Our seedling has obvious dampness around the trunk, but this baby looks dry. It has a dripper, but might need a bigger one. Our soil drains a little too well. Decomposed granite.

We'll treat for root rot assuming it has that, and cross our fingers. I liked everything I read about the variety and if we replace it we'll get another Mex Grande.

Suzi

This post was edited by desertdance on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 11:01

I hope to post a bit more on my 'cado experiences on the California forum or elsewhere. I've not been terribly successful with them historically, but have started to turn the corner lately. The well spaced deep soaking method has made a huge difference for me.

mrclint,

I hope you update that site on Cloud Forest. I've never been to it, and I like their philosophy, so I just joined. I love to push the limits of my planting zone!

I just walked down our slope and tested the depth of the dampness. We gave our sick avocado a good soaking last night. It's damp a good 2' down, and cloudy today. There are so many green buds all over the trunk, I have a feeling it will recover. We'll shut off it's dripper for 3 days then hit it again with a long soak.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Suzi

I'm not sure if Axel posts here or not, but he is pretty insightful, knowledgeable and has a good sense of friendliness and community over there. GW has a greater volume of traffic and activity, but I do have to ignore or post over and around certain individuals. But there are some nice folks here that have helped me a lot - most belong to other boards as well. :)

I hope your 'cado pulls through and if it does, that doesn't mean applenut was wrong. Some of the roots may be rotting and some may need deeper watering.

Grew up on an Avo ranch in Carlsbad CA. Lived around all different kinds of Avos all my life.
Avocados take a lot of water. This baby looks thirsty. There is a very good reason why the ranch I grew up on and many ranches in the Fallbrook/Vista area are gone and its a water issue. $$$$$$
Maybe you could make the trench around larger and completely cover the drip area with mulch(3-4inches deep)(the mulch I see is NG).
It needs deep watering like others said, but not too often.
No fert. for now let it get healthy. I think if you water right and mulch it good that will get it on its way to recovery.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.

Funny you mention Fallbrook. There was a time I wanted to move there and own an Avocado orchard. When I found out how much water and fertilizer it took, I happily buy my avocados at the grocery at their high prices.

But now, since we have a productive lime and halapeno, and love guacamole, we think we can handle 2 trees!

We will take measures to stop any root rot, and will make the trench larger. Hubby's Chipper Shredder arrived today, so mulch will follow in that trench.

Is twice a week too often for a long watering?

thanks!

Suzi

How did it turn out Suzi?