Browning Avocado Leaves

[VinnieD]

Browning Avocado Tree Leaves

Well I live in Washington state, and I went to Hawaii last September. I was on Maui and saw these amazingly HUGE avocados and I had to have one so I went and picked one up off of the ground, and that thing had to weigh two pounds, and was about 1.5 times the size of a softball!! needless to say I ate it plain and as guacamole! and I had this enormous seed left over, so I took it home with me and thought it would be cool to try and grow so I set it in a cup, no toothpicks needed since the seed was as big as a regular Hass avocado, and waited. Over time the roots developed and a sprout shot up and next thing i know 5 months later I have a 3 foot avocado tree growing in Washington in the middle of the winter. it is in my house of course, but it was thriving! until a leaf started to turn brown, and then another leaf. these two eventually were consumed by whatever it was and fell off. they looked like they just dried up, so i wasn't worried, but I noticed on another leaf that there is a half that is brown and the other half isn't, and now a newer leaf is turning brown at the tip. I was wondering if anyone knew what might be causing this, and how or if it can be fixed!
Thanks for your time!
-Vinnie
OH i almost forgot! i can take some pictures tomorrow if anyone wants to see them!

 

[VinnieD]

Well i read somewhere that if the soil is too salty the leaves could be turning this color, so i flushed the soil. After doing so i found that it could also be a humidity problem, so i am thinking about installing a humidifier next to it or in the room with it. would you suggest doing this or maybe should i stray away from this? any help would be great!
thanks
Vinnie

 

[caotropheus]

I do not have a reason to believe that you have a salinity problem in your pot media. If you buy any commercial potting media you should be O.K.

Avocado is a tropical species and cannot tolerate cold and lack of light. I suppose you are growing the plant indoors and lack of air humidity may be another factor that contributes for leaves to fall of. My suggestion goes like this, when exterior temperature is always above 15ºC (including during the night), keep the plant outside in a place with plenty of light but not direct sunshine during the hottest hours of the day. If the avocado receives direct sunshine for a couple of hours during the morning or the end of the afternoon, that's ok. Do not over irrigate. Let the top 2 or 3 cm of the pot soil dry out before you irrigate again. Indoors, keep the avocado in a place with plenty of light.

The avocado grew well at the beginning because it was growing on the seeds reserves. By the moment the plant has to survive on its own that's when trouble started.

 

[VinnieD]

wow awesome information! thanks for all of your help! it is just a little to cold to put it outside, but as soon as it warms up out it will go! thanks again!