thats a lot of fert ...

i cant see the trunk/root flare ... can you pull back the rock and show us..

if its not there.. its planted too deep ...

whats your status re: CA drought ...

you should water when it need water.. insert finger ... two or three inches ..... and find out if the soil is wet or dry.. you make it sound.. like you are guessing ...

leaf loss.. even on an evergreen.. is not extreme.. the year of transplanting ... life is all in the new spring growth ... IF... you dont kill it with too much love ...

as far as i am concerned.. greening of the branches.. looks like it is waking up for spring... but i dont do avocado ...

more facts

ken

ps: in my garden.. its time for the stake to go ... first year only ...

pps: and please do tell.. is there plastic under the rock??? ... looks like there might be between the trunk and the dead stump ..... if so... you might be suffocating it.. roots need air.. as much as water ... remove such in at least a 3 foot circle around the trunk ... thats 3 foot on each side.. so i suppose.. a 6 foot circle ....

Thank you for the quick reply⦠:)

When I say a lot of fert I mean more than I had done the pervious two times which was just very little.. I followed the feeding instructions for the citrus/avo fert.

As for the drought⦠we have been super dry but, just got huge rain the last two days

I may have it planted too deep but, I did plant it on a little mound as I knew they liked it to be well drained⦠Can I try and dig around it and pull it up higher???

Also, I have the weed mesh up around all my trees and the figs are not growing too well either⦠I didn't know I could suffocate the roots. :( Is it best to just pull the mesh off around the trunk three feet in radius???

Thanks so much for your time on this!!!
J

Avocado roots are sensitive to excess moisture, with root rot the common result.

See this
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/avocados.html

Here is a link that might be useful: avocado UC IPM

its easy in my book ...

if mother nature intended a plastic sheet over the soil.. she would have provided it..

yes.. get rid of it ...

it is affecting the NATURAL flow of water and moisture.. in and out of the soil ...

and in fact.. most weed seeds are airborne.. and within minutes of its placement.. ma nature is applying seed on top of it.. not to mention vermin.. birds.. etc ...

frankly.. many of us are of the position.. that its one of the biggest wastes of money in the garden world ... all propaganda... and of little actual use ...

if the soil.. without the matting.. remains damp.. then you plant the tree 'high' ... and that could be addressed in the tree forum... aw what the heck.. see link.. lol ... look for the section on dealing with clay soils ...

i see the root flare ... no rock within at least 6 to 12 inches of the trunk.. you can handle weeding that spot ...

but preferred.. again.. at the link.. would be a good mulch .. but that would still be held back from the trunk a few inches ...

i did not read jeans link ....

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks Ken and Jean!!!

I was worried about root rot and hopefully it hasn't startedâ¦

I'm going to be removing all my mesh from around the trees I planted and get some good mulch down too :)

Thank you again for your time :)
Jeremiah

What avocado want is a thick, fluffy mulch of their own fallen leaves. Their roots need some air, so the weed mesh isn't helping. They take plenty of water, but if their roots do not have sufficient oxygen that encourages the rot. Do not clean the fallen leaves out from under the tree, leave them there, uncompacted. (Do keep them clear of the immediate few inches right at the base of the trunk.) They are heavy feeders. Likely some of the problem is it being a baby tree in winter. If you can get it through the first couple of winters it will be stronger. It doesn't look horrible, so not time to give up.

hoovb, thanks for the tip on the leaves and pick me up :)