In another post of yours you showed a citrus plant with i believe was 2 large grapefruit? on it? Did they ever riped all they way? How was the taste?

Sorry about the Haas! lol

They are still turning, nice of you to remember. I noticed the plant had a bad scale infestation. I caught it when the leaves stared falling off. All of what I could see is gone only a few leaves left. The good thing is it starts to grow in March. Hoping it can hold on. The last one I harvested in 2015 was quite sweet, pink color to it, yellow skin. Much nicer then any store bought.

So sorry, that's a bummer!

Avocado is tropical, and has no natural dormancy. Once the roots run out of moisture, they will shrivel and the plant will be die, as would happen to a temperate plant during a real dormancy. For roots-only plants, without succulence and without a bulb/corm/tuber/rhizome structure to store moisture, once the roots dry out, that's the end of life. Complete defoliation would be another sign that an avocado is dangerously unhappy.

If you don't have sufficient light, it may not be a satisfying plant to cultivate.

If you're pressed for space/winter light, look for bulb/rhizome plants that can be stored truly dormant in a basement over winter, then taken outside during warm weather for a fun, tropical landscape or pots.

Yes in the true tropics there is no stopping. They go dormant in zone 10 and down. It just had too much water at once and a little too close to the window. it was doing just fine as dry as it was surprisingly. I have lots of cannas and used to deal with elephant ears. The bougainvilleas are starting to wake up down in the basement, plumeria too. Since the greenhouse is starting it's spring season a lot of plants will be going out in the next week and a half.

Avocados should not dry out.

What was the problem with the window? Too cold? Mine has spent most of the Winter in the 40F's, albeit in a greenhouse.

Josh

I should never have watered it like I did :( it was cool, at night that spot of the house 64F

It's already in the trash the roots were totally gone but thanks. It was too much water in the pot for one time. That's one less thing to worry about.

Matt,

honestly, if you were open to the idea of less water retentive soil mixes, you wouldn't even have to worry about something like this.

Just an idea, as I've said before...

You should be able to water a plant without fear of overwatering any time of year.

I will use that soil now for seedlings outside now. There's nothing wrong with the soil, light and fluffy . like I say it was the bottom 2 inches that did it in too much water at once.

Dave I only buy the best potting soils for my containers.

Matt,

light and fluffy doesn't make for a fast draining mix. I'm not trying to push you in any direction, but from this post, it's obviously a watering/soil issue.

If you're having issues with watering, you may want to look into mixing your own soils rather than buying bags.

Its not hard and you can put together a much better mix than anyone out there sells.

Even the best bagged potting soils seem to have their issues.

have you looked into the 5:1:1 or gritty mix on here?

With those mixes you can freely flush at every single watering andnever fear you're going to over water.

The more often you need to water a plant the better. Watering and then waiting a month for the soil to dry enough isn't doing the plant any favors.

you don't want it heavy lol This is the only plant I have lost. Yes I've heard of the 511 mix but I will never buy it. I use to make my own soils but I got too busy. I will water it differently next time. I agree if it takes a month to dry out thats no good. I call winter the dry season. Less sun, less heat much less water. still watering just to as often. You can't reverse overwatering but you can fix under watering. Aside from the Hass, all else seems to be doing very well.

You dont want what to heavy?

As far as the 5:1:1, you can buy it, but you can buy the parts to make it.

the soil

5:1:1 isn't heavy. Anyway, no sense in beating a dead horse here.

I looked it up

I'm not sure if you've seen the spider plant experiment?

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3087386/experiment-511-mix-vs-coconut-vs-universal-soil-vs-garden-soil

do you use it?

I would need something that holds quite a bit more water.

I never worry about overwatering plants since I stopped using "potting soil" and unsustainable peat. I am only worried about them getting too dry. Most of my house isn't heated, and can get down to about 45 in some rooms. I have a small greenhouse but only used heat about a dozen nights this winter, when the temp went below freezing. In house & GH, plants are kept moist and love it.

Matt,

that experiment doesn't tell much. Just shows a quick before and after pic. There are so many other factors.

It's even noted in the comments that his 5:1:1 doesn't look right and appears to be missing something. He didn't use bark fines, he used chopped up large pieces of bark. He also used the wrong type of peat.

Your link is definitely not a fair representation of the 5:1:1 mix.

Everything I grow in the 5:1:1 grows faster and more vigorous than anything in standard potting mix. Plus, as you know firsthand, you're not able to water your plants correct during the winter without fear of overwatering in a standard mix.