I have a mexican avocado tree in a 20 gallon container. It's on my deck . It had 8 avocados on it earlier but a wind storm knocked them off , Since that time the leaves seems to be crinkling on the edges. The dirt miracle grow container soil with perlite, coconut coir and compost. I potted it last year. Please help . I have no idea what is wrong and do not want it to die.

Sometimes avocadoes shed old leaves this way, especially when in containers. Our Summer season has kicked in and I cannot water enough to keep my plants happy, do you feed it with any fertilizers? The top growth looks good, sorry the baby avocadoes were lost. Does it sit in sunlight? These trees need full sun even when their roots are in small pots ( 20 gallons, I know, but it wants to be a tree) I cannot help you with trimming the roots on it, not my experience, but it sometimes must be done for the health of the plant. I suppose it may be too hot now to do the root trim and soil refresh, but definitely feed it and water a bit more often.

Thank you . I am watering every day because it has been so dry here. Monsoon hasn't started yet. I have been feeding with a natural fish emulsion that is not suppose to burn. Since it's in a pot I have been feeding it weekly a very weak dose of the fertilizer. I figured it washes out of the pot since I have had to water daily I will get a bigger pot for it Thanks again.

Find some Avocado and Citrus specifc fertilizer and use it once a year in spring at half strength. That means no more fertilizer this year.

The older leaves are showing fertilizer burn and the younger leaves are growing too fast. Too much fertilizer will cause the tree to grow rapidly but the branches will be weaker and it may not bloom. Use the fertilizer at half strength because the tree is in a pot. Potted trees need less fertilizer than in ground trees.

Thank you. Good to know. I was mistaken then thinking potted trees needed more fertilizer because of watering washing out the fertilizer. How often do I water , how deeply, and how do I tell when. I really want to learn. I tested the soil and it was very neutral so I added a spoon of acidify for plants . This is after it showed the browning and crinkling leaves. I read online and did this. Hope it is right to do.

I doubt a 20 gallon pot needs daily water. The soil should be between moist and damp but not saturated. You can use a stick (something with raw wood like an old bamboo stick) to measure moisture. Shove it to the bottom of the pot, leave it for a minute and pull it out. You can see and feel how wet the soil is and at what level.

Great Idea, I will do that with a bamboo stick.

Well I moved the avocado from around the a/c unit because I thought maybe the draft ( wind) from it was not good . It is very hot here in southern coastal Florida right now. I did all that was recommended and it seems to be looking worse. Any more deficiency ideas . She seems to be struggling. I don't want to lose my baby

Your tree is showing some serious nutrient deficiencies. Is the root ball staying moist but not soggy? As you are in S. Florida, the pH of your water is high so is slowly turning the soil in the pot more alkaline. Avocados are very sensitive to high pH so the nutrients in the soil are not being utilized. Your tree is showing classic symptoms of iron deficiency. It needs some iron chelate.

I have sprayed twice with an iron spray you put in the leaves. Should I pour some in the soil. I also bought the acidifier to lower the ph in the soil. After I did this it seems to have taken a turn for the worse. The soil is a mix of miracle grow potting soil, coconut coir, a little perlite and a little Spahagnum moss. Any product That might help I will do.

When you used the foliar irin, did it improve? Plants really don't absorb a lot of nutrients through their leaves but if you use a foliar nutrient and the plant improves, that's what it lacks. If the iron improved the look of the leaves, add iron to the soil.

MG potting soil isn't dirt, not sure anything in your mix is retaining any nutrients. not even sure if it would have a ph...you need a mix that is better for a tree than what you would use for a vegetable or flower. Your leaves need not just iron chelate ( or a liquad iron) but they need magnesium as well (epsom salts). Hmmm, sphagnum moss has a ph of 7.0 (neutral) there is a peat moss with a ph of 4.0 (acid) - but I am not sure which one it is- there are 2 peat moss sources, and one is acid and one is alkaline-
Iron is a slow uptake, do you mix yours with water? Give it a bit more time to show. Epsom salts will be faster.

Thank you both. I will test the soul again to be sure the acidifier or ph lower stuff I bought still is working. I will add epsom
salt and since I sprayed the leaves twice with iron I will add a little bit to the soil and mix it in. I'll report back the results in two weeks.

Check the salinity of the water, too. The brown edges look like salt burn from sodium. Do you have a water softener? Most work by replacing calcium with sodium and can burn leaves.

My husband has a water filter on the water faucet outside that is suppose to make the water ok. We do live about 3/4 mile (as the crow flies) from the ocean though. I hate to repot or put it in the ground until it is out of it's stressful condition. I did see yesterday that there is new growth but some of the new is getting the burnt tip but it is still green. The sun has been intense and it is on a south facing wall of the house. I wanted to protect it from high winds. Maybe I should also move it to an east of west side of the house. I'm trying. I so want to save this tree so when we move in 2 years I will have.a bearing avocado tree to be planted.

East sun best in summer, south and west are hot if it isn't in the ground, I am prone to sinking my pots below the surface of the ground so the pot doesn't over heat...

What does the water filter do, exactly? Is it for filtering out sediment? Removing iron compounds? Does it use salt to change the water chemistry?

It's and activated charcoal filter that filters out sediment and chlorine.

Not sure chloramines can be filtered out, if it were chlorine the filter would help. City water changed their guidelines awhile back, chloramines are used to keep our water safe now, and plants don't like it.

But at least it's not sodium, a real killer. You could try catching as much rainwater as you can and use that to water with. It has no sodium or chlorine to injure roots.