Are you concerned about saving your avocado trees from death? Nobody wants to let go of their trees after dedicating hard work to them. Back when I started my first avocado gardening, I lost quite a few trees. But over the years, I have gained more practical knowledge related to this issue.
Now I am a successful avocado gardener, and I know how to treat my trees properly. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will get your answer about how to save a dying avocado tree.
First, you need to look for any symptoms that show your avocado trees are seriously damaged or diseased. Note down all those signs and make a blueprint to work on them. Apply gypsum and mulches, use fertilizer in the right proportion, and ensure proper drainage for your trees. Use fungicide as a last resort.
Continue to read the rest of the article to know more about how to save your avocado trees from death.
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How Do I Know if My Avocado Tree is Dying?
Continue to check daily if your trees show any signs and symptoms that indicate they are damaged. Generally, you can get an overview of your tree’s health just by looking at the leaves. Please go through the following symptoms carefully.
- The leaves of the avocado trees are falling off while getting brownish.
- The upper part of the canopy has small and pale green leaves with brown tips. Moreover, they tend to fall off easily.
- If new avocado tree shoots grow, they easily turn brown and get off from the tips. Thus, the bare branches are only left after this happens.
Try to remember these symptoms of avocado trees, it will help you a lot to detect any damaged or dying trees. If you find any of them in your trees, you need to take quick action to save them from dying.
How Do I Save My Avocado Trees from Dying?
1. Take notes and consult the professionals
As soon as you notice any symptoms on your trees, your first task is to take notes of all of them. This will help you a lot to plan a step-by-step solution.
After identifying the problems, decide if you think you handle this on your own. Otherwise, seek out the professionals of your local gardening center.
Moreover, if you manage to find any specialists, consult them. You can also talk with avocado farmers nearby. They will further aid you to find suitable solutions related to your issues.
2. Give Protection from Excess Sunburn
Check your avocado trees daily to find out if any of the avocado leaves and branches have turned black or brownish. If you notice any black spots, it may be the result of excess sunburn.
This will eventually damage the chlorophyll of the leaves, slow down the fruit production rate and gradually lead the tree to death.
To fix this issue, you need to provide shade to your trees depending on the brightness of the sunshine. You can use cloth and apply white latex paint on the branches to protect them from Sunburn.
To get detailed information about this issue, read the article titled “How Much Sun Does an Avocado Tree Need” on our website.
3. Apply gypsum to prevent fungal diseases
Check your avocado trees daily to find out if any of the avocado leaves and branches have turned black or brownish. If you notice any black spots, it may be the result of excess sunburn.
This will eventually damage the chlorophyll of the leaves, slow down the fruit production rate and gradually lead the tree to death.
To fix this issue, you need to provide shade to your trees depending on the brightness of the sunshine. You can use cloth and apply white latex paint on the branches to protect them from Sunburn.
4. Use wood mulch to promote growth
Spread wood mulch around the base of your avocado trees. Covering up your trees’ base like that will help them to get a boost in growth and help to recover from diseases. The mulches prevent any formation of bacteria or fungal infection.
It will also help to keep the soil moisture intact. Make sure that the root area near the base is covered up properly.
5. Never overwater the trees
If you accidentally overwater any of your trees, it can easily lead to tree root rot. Before starting to rot, it will develop fungal and bacterial infections near the base.
As you continue to overwater, the fungal disease will get encouraged more and more leading to avocado root rot.
To prevent this issue, always keep track of your irrigation timing. The fungal spores hate dryer conditions. Make a regular schedule so that you don’t overwater or underwater any of your avocado plants.
As a result, the avocado tree root structure will get the perfect soil moisture it needs.
6. Check for excess water minerals
If your irrigation water has excess minerals in it like boron and chlorine, it can promote the growth of bacteria and fungus. It can also occur if you live near a sea or water source that has saltwater.
Check for any sign of salt accumulation. Try to identify this as soon as possible before your plants start to die.
Try to use rainwater for irrigation if you don’t want to face such issues. If no rainwater is available, make sure that you irrigate fresh water at the base of your trees. Even after your efforts, there can be many reasons why the trees are not getting better.
In this case, take a sample of the soil and irrigation water, and go to your nearby gardening center for testing. The professionals will test those and even provide you with feasible solutions.
7. Ensure adequate drainage
Leaving your trees standing on excess water near the base will make the soil soggy. And if the soil gets more wet day by day, the roots will start to rot being soaked in water. This happens due to the poor drainage system.
To ensure proper drainage around the root structure, you can dig drainage channels around it. You can make the soil loose around the roots to promote adequate drainage. Try to plant your avocado trees on sloping land. Moreover, you can also use pipes for channeling.
For avocado houseplants, always keep them in a container that has enough drainage holes at the bottom.
If you can execute this properly, the drainage structure will become more effective and there will be no fungal infection in the roots.
8. Use fertilizers in the right proportion
You have already learned that avocado trees are very sensitive to certain issues. One of them is the proper use of fertilizers. Your avocado trees must get the correct mix of nutrients. If the right balance of nitrogen is not available in the soil, it can promote the growth of pathogens.
Moreover, it will damage the overall health day by day and slow down the growth process.
Therefore, you must provide avocado fertilizer in the correct proportion. If you fail to determine this by yourself, consult a fellow gardener.
You can also take a sample of your soil to the local garden center to test and determine which nutrients are missing.
In addition to maintaining the right proportion, make sure that the fertilizer quality is high. To get more information, read the article titled “When to Fertilize Avocado Tree” on this website.
9. Use fungicides as your last resort
Even after you have tried your best to revive your dying avocado tree, things may go wrong. In this case, if you want to apply multiple treatments at a single time, buy some good-quality fungicide.
But make sure to consult with a specialist to know about the correct application of fungicide.
If done properly, it will help the trees to recover and promote growth by eliminating harmful pathogens.
Final Words
Saving avocado trees from death is not an easy task, so work hard to accomplish this. Remember, preventing such issues earlier will keep your plants healthy and stop any fungal disease from spreading.
So, stay dedicated, and hopefully, your trees will recover soon to provide you with delicious fruits in all seasons, summer, winter, and spring.