Hi I have a Hass avocado tree that has lightly colored leaves and they're curled up like a taco. The soil ph is between 6-7. I do a deep watering when I check my moisture meter and it shows it's getting towards the low end of the scale. I have been feeding with 6-4-6 citrus fertilizer with some 21-0-0 ammonium sulfate and some ironite. This past couple weeks I've been starting to fertilize with iron and zinc chelate in case that was the issue since I read Iron may be hard to take in on high calcium soils such as there is around here in San Diego. I was thinking of getting some Epsom salts next to see if that could be the key, I'm down to guessing now what the solution could be. Thanks for your help!



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Personally.. I wouldn't guess... I'd take a leaf and send it to a lab for analyses,, that why you'll know what needs to be done

I have 2 of them and none likes the water to be on their leaves.

After I mist them with plain water or use some foliar feed they act like they were burned by the water

good luck to your trees

Applying this chemical and that chemical, with each guess in hopes of possibility correcting the problem, results in more problems for the plant than you started with. The tips on many of the leaves are burned, which normally points to problem with the water source that you are using. Have you ever had your water tested by a lab? A complete analysis of irrigation water cost around $60.00. If you know your water many problem can be avoided. I would guess your water has very high levels of carbonates, bicarbonates, and perhaps sodium. - Millet

We have hard water here. My drippers get clogged by calcium every once in a while. I'll stop spaying the leaves with the chelate. I began it a couple weeks ago and the leaves were taco'ing even before I started spraying them. I'll apply the chelates to the ground instead, supposidly it's more effective doing the ground application anyway. I did an at home soil test and my ph is between 6.5-7.0. The N P K values were 0. I'm not sure if that's possible but the test kit showed my soil has no nutrients at all. I'm wondering how accurate that can be, but it looks like my tree is starving.

The water authority usually provides a yearly water analysis. It does in my area of San Diego at least.

I believe that it's a combination of the hard water in So. Cal. and the tree is sun/heat stressed. I have the same issues with my younger avocados as well. Avocados are from tropical and subtropical rainforest like regions where the young trees grow underneath the protection and shade of other taller trees. Poway in comparison is very dry compared to their native environment.

It looks like you have some mulch/ leaf litter around the base of the tree which is important. I would recommend some shade cloth. Keep that baby watered and you may also want to add some powdered gypsum around the base of the tree. Get the stuff that looks like powdered sugar, not the crap they sell at Home Depot.

Last, stop worrying about fertilizer. The tree will do fine the way it is and you may end up killing it with too much fertilizer.

Keep an eye on it but don't trip out about the tree too much, they always struggle at first. Best of luck!

Okay, just saw this. Looks like you're way too dry (leave drop) and you've got salt burn on the tips. Typical of our soils out here in N. County. Although not as bad closer inland, we still have salts that will accumulate over the summer. Your avos will look fantastic coming out of our winter rains, as they leach out the salts. By this time in the summer, they're struggling. Flood your avocado well. Leach out the salts. Then apply fertilizer and water in well. Keep your avocado well watered during all our crazy Fall heat waves we're having. Avos like well-draining soils, so planting on a south facing slope is the ideal location. Or, any slope (check all our commercial groves, they are almost ALL on slopes, and some are pretty wickedly steep!)