presuming they dont want to build their own Al's mix ... would they.. growing this TREE .. be better off with a cactus type bagged mix??? with its very high drainage???? .. or perhaps.. a 50/50 mix of their stuff and cactus mix???? the problem with high peat and trees is that it retain too much water ... and can get cold at night.. and cold wet soil leads to the suggested root problems ... and root problems usually end with root rots.. so jean was right both ways.. lol ... the bottom pic.. looks like the peat is completely dried out ... but that might be an optical illusion ... ergo ipso facto .. you need a better media ... BTW.. are they outside.. or indoors.. perhaps lack of proper light level isnt helping ... wait a minute ... you grew excessive water roots.. then potted it??? ... did you tent is at all.. until the water roots could adjust to the media???? .. if not.. add severe transplant shock to everything else .... one thing for sure.. the native range of avocado is not a peat bog.. though i couldnt find a map of such ... lol success is all about the growth tip ... if that continues to look good.. then who cares if it sheds all its leaves .. on some level you have to have faith in the tip.. and not worry about the old leaves ... otherwise.. you tend to try to love things to death ... ken ps: that little dish of media behind to the right looks dry.. always wet your media PRIOR to use .... peat is known to be near water repellant at times .. and you will never know.. if the middle of the pot has damp or dry media ...

Hi everybody, Thanks very much for all of the feedback - much appreciated. Here's the follow-up: I was agreeing with the fungus theory (and the overfertilized theory), and then I took two leaves from this plant to my local garden center where I got a chance to show them to our local plant expert (sells houseplants and does a regular column in the newspaper). He looked at the leaves carefully and said that not only does this plant have scale but it has *spider mites* and he believes this is the crux of the problem. He diagnosed the spider mites by a slightly metallic sheen the leaves had when held up to the light. Also, there was a fair amount of honeydew on the leaves, which I thought was a product of the scale. He sold me some Bayer's Rose and Plant Insect Spray which I have dutifully sprayed all over the plant. I confess I'm feeling pretty guilty about this since I generally prefer organic means to work through things like this but the plant is in such distress I caved in and bought the spray. I'm going to give it a week and see what happens. I also intend, once it's had a few days to recover from the spraying, to replace all of the potting soil and thus eliminate the overfertilization variable. Thanks again for all of your suggestions. If any of you thinks that this solution seems mistaken, please feel free to respond. cheers, papercarver

I have the same thing happening this Year.I am sure it is Blackspot.I have been using a fungicide and it seems to be helping,at least it is getting any worse,and the Bush is looking really healthy apart from the already infected Leaves.

balbc, it appears to be a ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata or Nolina recurvata); and it might be infested by mealy bugs or a (hard) scale. It is not a palm! link.: so treat it accordingly.