first.. there is a tropical fruit forum.. as well as a fruit forum.. you might find some real expertise in either ... or both .... maybe even the houseplant forum .....

next.. any tree in a pot.. most likely.. does not like that kind of media... unless As are somehow different.. which i doubt ...

trees like a sip of water.. and then drainage.. a high peat reinforced high peat media.. is too much peat in one sentence ... let alone in a pot ...

google: als gritty mix ... al is from GW ... but google is the better search engine ... an alternative.. if you dont need yards and yards of mix.. is a cactus mix ....

the damage itself.. looks like sunburn... but if you are rotting all the roots off.. the leaf burn can happen ...

at least you have an endless supply of seed... lol ...

your plant is severely stressed ... it is NOT hungry.. fertilizer is not recommended .... until the top buds show proper growth ...

on some level.. you MIGHT be loving these things to death .... and in this case its a high water rention media... and i bet you are watering it all the time ... or i am wrong ...

change the media.. with damp media... water it once to settle it in .... and then dont water it again.. UNTIL IT NEEDS WATER .... insert finger.. and find out ... and once you learn how to do that.. you can do it by pot weight.. not watering until the pot loses half its water weight.. or so ... some greenhouses dont water.. until the first signs of droop ... as a sign of when the plant itself.. thinks it needs water ..

ken

ps: your media.. is near bog like... these things grow in the near deserts of CA ... think about that .... and if the light goes on.. you will come to understand how bipolar your media is ...

There are a few growing in the ground around here producing nicely. If you are growing this as a houseplant, you probably don't get enough sun, plus hard water leaves salts in the soil that burn the leaves. If you plant a small rooted plant into a large pot, the soil remains too wet for too long. Up-pot as necessary. Put it in a pot that just holds the root system, not a whole lot bigger. When the top of the plant goes downhill, usually it is the roots that are having a problem. Lift it out of the pot to see if you have nice firm roots, or rotted ones.

I agree with Ken, you are probably loving it to death. We ALL have done that.

It most likely won't produce any avocados for you. They take many, many years to do that. Check the link below. If you are doing this outside in a non-freeze area, I think you should just go to a nursery and get a grafted plant which will eventually produce some yummy avocados. Go Guacamole!

OBTW, rooting an avocado seed was the very beginning of my gardening life back in the late 60's. I put the pit in a glass with toothpicks and was overjoyed with seeing roots. My brand new husband bought me a pot and potting soil to plant it on a window sill. I was delighted. I have been a gardener ever since. (The avocado branched once then died.) Then we bought our first house with a YARD and I never looked back.

Don't give up... this is only the beginning for you.

-Babka

Here is a link that might be useful: Grow your own avocado

Thanks for the suggestions! I will definitely repot it with different soil and then just leave it alone. I don't think salts in water is the problem, I've tested our water before and I don't have hard water. I'm not growing it produce avocados, I know it probably never will. I just like the looks of trees inside and figured I'd try my luck with an avocado pit. Planting it outside isn't an option...I'm in zone 5 and we get very cold in the winter. Thanks so much for the help. Hopefully I can save it.

Hi wpark, was wondering how your tree turned out. Did it survive?

I'm having the same problem with my avocado, in zone 5, different circumstances.

I just brought it outside, it's now approximately 8 inches, at same time, I cut the stem leaving 2 sets of leaves under. I'm guessing I probably stressed it because first night it rained and hasn't really settled.

Should I bring it back in ? Or something else?

You'll see in the picture that I added calcium to my soil. (Powdered egg shells)

should have started your own post...

if you took it from indoors.. into sunshine.. you sun burned it ... shocked it ...

i have never heard of adding calcium in that form .. nor understand the reason why ...

regardless.. its shocked.. most likely.. not hungry

ken

Thanks for your answer. Do you think I should bring it back inside?

To the original poster:

Your soil looks like it's essentially peat moss. You mixed a prepared mix (most of which peat moss based and you mixed more peat moss into it).

Peat poses two opposite problems. It holds water once it does get wet, but when it gets dry it repels water (especially when the container sits in hot sun). You soil looks dry. It could be that your plant is dying from thirst.