A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Elderly, Sickly Avocado Plant

Several years ago I started an avocado plant from a pit. During warmer months I keep it on my porch where it gets lots of indirect sunlight, but during our cold winters I move it indoors and it doesn't get a lot of light.

It has done okay like this for several years, but this winter (it is now March) it has lost more leaves than usual and now the poor thing is just a two-foot stick with about three small leaves at the top.

I had read that they prefer being root-bound to some extent so I didn't transplant it from its first 3-inch pot until a few weeks ago, when I put it in a 4-inch pot. That's when the trouble started, I think.

Even though it isn't at all pretty, I never have the heart to throw away ANY plant that has any life in it at all. Is there anything I can do for this poor little guy? Thanks so much!

It sounds a lot like transplant shock. It should recover from that and be a pretty plant again. There are commercial things (vitamins) for plants to help them over that shock but they are not always necessary. Just keep on giving it the love you have and I think you will have a nice plant again as soon as you can give it the sunlight it loves again.
And welcome to the forum. I also cannot toss anything that shows the least sign of life. Well except weeds.

That was exactly the answer I needed--thank you so much!

And it's nice to know I'm not the only one who can't toss anything with life still in it. Although I confess that I too have to grit my teeth and do it anyway when it comes to weeds!

Thanks again!

Well some of my weeds include things like spider plants that plant themselves where I don't want them and I have no time to replant in a better spot. But toss, I have learned. A weed is any just a plant growing where you don't want it.

I grew an avocado tree as well. I didn't know it likes to be root bound. So last fall I transplanted it into a larger pot as soon as it had lots of leaves, thinking this was a tree that needed lots of room to grow the roots. Well when I tamped down the soil I think I pushed a little too hard and I hear a crunch. I think the pit broke off the plant although I did not dig it up to disturb it again. Soon after that the top branch lost all of the leaves and the lower branch has all of the leaves it did but they look kind of wilted.
Is this tree going to survive? Should I dig it up to see what broke, or it doesn't really matter now since it is too late? Also do I have to cut off that top branch without the leaves? It is only a stick and I don't know if it will have any leaves again. Or should I leave it alone for now? It is 1 year old 31 inches tall and the stick that doesn't have leaves is about 20 inches long. It looks so bad.

How long has your plant been in its new home? Shock should wear off within a few weeks. If it has been over a couple of months and no sign of life in your 'dead' branch, yes you will need to cut it off. I like a scratch test. I scratch away a little bit of the bark on the apparently dead area. If it is green or moist under there I leave it alone. If it is totally dry I try breaking it. If it snaps apart dryly, then it is certainly dead and I do cut down to living wood.

No need to scratch. It is all green, except where the leaves were at the end about 1 inch tip which is dry and black. I guess I will leave it alone for now. I potted into a larger pot before Christmas so it was a while ago. The other branch with the leaves looks alive but a bit wilted. I water it once a week and soak it well, I think it needs a lot of water. Is this enough?