On this forum, you'll often find a lot of emphasis on things of dubious value, like misting and using certain elixirs that in the overall scheme of things will have no measurable impact on your tree's current or future state of vitality. Most plant afflictions ultimately lie within the affects of a very few factors, those being your soil choice, which is inextricably linked to watering habits, light, nutrition, and how you've maintained the root system of your plant. The light and nutrition are pretty easy - you either have or do not have appropriate light. If you have it, that's wonderful; if you don't have it, you'll simply need to accept the limiting effects of inadequate light or supplement, which isn't easy on an 8' tree. Nutrition is also easy, but it leads us right back to your choice of soil (surprised at that?), I can tell you WHAT to fertilize with, but HOW you fertilize and how fertility levels combine with the level of other salts in the soil need more discussion. We can talk more if you're interested. Most importantly - if you can't provide cultural conditions that ensure happy roots, you have no chance of keeping the rest of the plant happy. This leads directly to soil choice and what you've done to maintain roots. This area of container culture, and I'm going to include over-watering with soil choice because of their close association, is rightly where almost all of the problems brought to this forum originate - including pest infestation and various diseases. It sounds probable that your plant is dealing with one of several fungal infections that affect roots. The roots of a plant that old would be climbing out of any size pot if the plant was healthy. If the bark peals away easily exposing what was once living cambium, you can be sure your plant has Southern Blight or any of several other fungal infections associated with this plant. Without being there to see the plant, it's difficult to assess whether the plant is savable or not. You must feel that it is, or you wouldn't be asking for help. The best time to undertake any kind of serious root work on your rubber tree would have been late Jun - late Jul. A picture would be very helpful, otherwise you'd need to unilaterally decide if you think an emergency repot is in order. Repots differ from potting up in that they include removing all (or almost all) the soil from the root mass, and in your case removing any dead/decaying/otherwise compromised root tissues. Trees in the condition yours are in just don't turn around because you decide to fertilize with something special or offer a plant tonic; and misting the foliage isn't going to do it either. It will take some fortitude and your willingness to take a risk, but in your case it sounds like that might the only option to keep the tree from staying its present course. I maintain MANY Ficus in containers, many of them very old specimens, and I maintain them in continual good health because of a good understanding of their needs and what they will/won't tolerate. Let me know if you want to establish a dialog and if you want additional/more specific help. Al

I would agree with the previous assessment. Young avocados cannot tolerate anything under 30 (or over 100)... but it sounds a lot like root rot which unfortunately is common in avocados, at least here in CA. Overwatering, or trying to grow them in clay or boggy soil, makes the plant susceptable to rot root (they need well-drained moist soil but never wet feet), which often shows up as branch dieback and general lack of vigor due to the damaged roots' inability to uptake nutrients and moisture. The symptoms are often misdiagnosed as lack of water, so most people make it worse by watering more. I would keep cutting it back and adjust the water. Avo trees are sensitive to salts, so water deeply in well-drained soil and let dry before watering again. We usually deep water twice a week on average. I've seen young trees come back after being cut off just a couple inches above the graft... so don't give up unless you can confirm root rot.

Hi Dan, welcome to the Valley of the Sun. If you haven't been here during the summer, you'll soon learn why it's called that :) I'd move that plant into a 1 gal container. Something like these (You can probably find them cheaper than that, I just linked the first one I found) I have some theories, but I'm not sure of why this helps so much. I find if you fit a plant into a container close to the size of it's roots, it does so much better. This means you have to re-pot most plants at least once a year, but it keeps them so much healthier. Once they are past the 7 gallon point, you can put them into whatever type of container and they do fine. Then, I'd fill it with heavier soil, citrus love heavy soil (that means the soil has less air space like clay soil does, but I don't recommend using clay in a container). It's pretty much the opposite of what it looks like that plant is in now. Slightly sandy soil is best. I find it's best to make my own mix of soil rather than try to find the perfect soil from a store. I would add very little perlite to the mix (if any at all). Also, the soil needs to be compressed down and not full of air pockets, roots like oxygen but not air pockets. I think this is the most important: get an automatic watering system if you really want to grow things through the summer in containers here. In the summer, they should be watered daily with just a little water (I use 1/2 gph emitters for 8-10 mins every morning for my 1 gal plants). If you miss a few days of watering (depending on the age/type of plant), the plants will most likely deteriorate to the point of no return. Lastly, I'd make sure it gets around 6 hours of direct sunlight each day, but if you can, try get it some shade between 11AM and 2PM after April since it's young and in a small container. It'll be best if it gets this type of sun for it's first 2-3 years of life. BTW, Everyone will tell you that you shouldn't waste your time growing a citrus from seed because it probably won't grow true to its parent, but I say meh to that. It's fun growing from seed and this is how all the varieties came to be. They were a seed once from either some genetic experiment or nature's crazy mutant child.

I even tried doing a bit of research for you to be able to tell you exactly what was wrong but leaves turning red in the summer seems like mostly an indication of a plant that is stressed and unhappy in some way. It could maybe be a nutrient deficiency but I don't think I'd fertilize it right now, at least without knowing for sure it is nutrient deficient. (You don't really want to fertilize something close to dormancy. The tree/plant gets competing signals of grow! and shut-down! It gets unhappy.). Maybe a gentle compost feeding, though? That couldn't hurt and might help. Also (and sorry to bring this up) but apples don't grow true from seeds. You might have any apple tree there. Not sure where you're in zone 8b, but it could be possible down the line that the apple might really struggle with the heat and humidity of the Deep South, or if you're in the PNW, it might not like the cool, rainy summers. All you can do now that I can think of is plant it in the ground, don't over or under water it, maybe get a soil test just to be sure it is good for your apple, and cross your fingers. ETA: If you are very invested in your apple tree (and it seems like you are) I might call my local extension office and ask them if I could bring the tree in to take a look at. They might be able to tell exactly what's wrong from doing a thorough inspection, as well as giving you specific advice, based on where you are, for what exactly they'd recommend for this tree, both now and in the future. (Apples typically require more care than "set it and forget it" as they get older to maintain optimum health.) Good luck!