Hi Your tree looks leggy & your roots look really bad. The main root looks like it is missing. I encourage you to continue trying, but it would make me nervous if it were my only tree. Grafting is usually recommended for avocadoes  seed production will result in no/poor fruit. I start from seed all the time myself, however. I have thrown about 40 avocadoes away recently &/or used them as mulch away recently because I just have too many. Avocadoes do need well drained soil, but can actually grow in clay. They are grown commercially in/near me & the local soil is clay. Sphagnum peat does work, but I would not try it at this point. When mine droop I lose all the leaves  if the tree recovers they will come back. To watch the trees progress watch the top tip of the tree. Sometimes it dies off, & leaves a shortened version of the tree. The antifungal is a good idea. There are different causes of root rot. Here are some links to the UC Davis site that might be helpful. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/selectnewpest.avocado.html Avocado Root Rot (one cause) http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r8100111.html I have not tried to bonsai an avocado, but if I were to & could purchase a tree I would start with a dwarf.

This recipe originally appeared in the New York Times. Seems too simple to be this delicious but it is a wonderful marriage of flavors. Red Wine Pinto Beans with Smoky Bacon Ingredients: 1/2# smoky bacon, diced 1 large onion, peeled and diced 2 celery stalks, diced 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 large sprigs rosemary 1# dried pinto beans, soaked overnight 1 T. coarse kosher salt 2 c. dry red wine Optional toppings: olive oil, coarsely grated Parmesan, black pepper or red pepper flakes In the bottom of a large pot over medium-high heat, brown bacon until golden, about 5 minutes. (I like to remove the crisp bacon and add it back at the end). Stir in onion, celery, carrots, garlic and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegies are tender, 5-7 minutes. Drain beans and add to pot along with 1 T. salt. Pour in enough water to just cover the beans (about 7-8 cups). Bring liquid to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently until beans are just tender, 45 mins - 1 hour. Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium heat, simmer wine until it is reduced to 2/3 cup, 20-30 mins. Remove rosemary branches from bean pot and discard them. Pour wine into beans and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10-20 mins. longer to meld flavors and thicken broth to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired; add more salt and black or red pepper to taste.

Amserelda: I'd like some hens and chicks, please, to add to my collection. I'm not picky -- anything will do! Serpent Moon and I appreciate the Crown of Thorns cuttings -- she has already requested it for us. Would you like a cutting of Euphorbia trigona? Skybird: We already have some sedums from you, from the fall swap. I'm not sure what Serpent Moon has requested, but I'm fine with you giving some of them to others who request them. ---------- The tomatoes I planted a few weeks ago are still sprouting. I take back whatever I said about the potentially low germination of the Costoluto Fiorentino tomato seeds. Even though I saved the seeds over a decade ago, they are still in good shape. I have 3-4 seedlings per pot, of the 3-4 seeds planted per pot. If you are careful, you might be able to separate out the seedlings and pot them up separately. I don't think any have their first set of true leaves yet. If anyone wants seeds for them, please let me know and I'll package up some for you. Ditto for the seeds from the cherry tomatoes I grew last year from Plant Swap plants -- Black Cherry, Sun Cherry, and Riesentraub. All seem to be germinating well this spring. Costoluto Fiorentino looks a lot like Costoluto Genovese, for those who are wondering. It's a medium to large sized tomato with lots of ribs, rather like an accordion. They're a booger to peel if you're making sauce. The flavor is quite reasonable, and they grew well in my Oregon garden (coolish dry summers, fairly short season). The original seed came from Sementi, a gift from a friend who had visited Italy. I'll go through the thread this evening to write down names of people who've requested specific things. I'll make coleus and geranium cuttings tomorrow, plus maybe a few Euphorbia trigona cuttings in case anyone wants a thorny but vigorous succulent as a houseplant. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!

Roses can habituate to summer drought, of course: ours go two months with no water without particular difficulty, as does the rest of the garden. This is with clay soil and lots of mulch and living ground cover (grass and weeds), warm to hot during the day, not so hot at night. I don't know if it would be worse to have such a drought in fall, and can't speak to the effects of smoke. Also we don't have much experience of winter cold, as temperatures below the high twenties are rare. Oddly enough, with all our woods and dry weather, I've never heard of fires locally. Of course, though roses survive drought well if they get water at other seasons, they stop blooming. Do you need to be worried about your roses? I'm not sure. We've had a dry fall ourselves, coming off a dry summer. It rains just enough to keep the ground moist, but amounts are below average and I'm wondering about the state of groundwater levels. The frequent fogs and humid weather, even if it doesn't actually rain that much, probably help prevent drought stress. In our Mediterranean fashion the annual grass is growing nicely. Still I keep waiting for real rain.