I did fertilize it a couple times several years ago, using a small bag of citrus and avocado fertilized. I suppose it could be buildup from that. I generally water it about once every three weeks, thoroughly soaking the soil until it runs freely out the bottom. But what I notice now is that this hard soil isn't absorbing anything so it's probably not penetrating and retaining much. I don't think our San Diego municipal water is particularly hard. Thanks for the response.

I have a soil ph meter. I wanted to make sure you knew testing pH involves more than simply inserting an inexpensive (I'm making an assumption here) pH meter in the soil and reading what it says. Collection saucer collected very little water comparaing to what I poured on top. If you're watering in small sips, such that irrigation water only occasionally makes it to the collection saucer, or, only a small amount of water makes it there each time you water, the practice invites a build-up of salts in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions. These need to be flushed from the soil regularly. Best would be every time you water, but at least every 3rd or 4th time you water. I think I found the biggest problem the pot had only one tiny hole at the bottom so water flushed very slowly. I dont know how I didnt notice it when I was planting it to that pot. I made more and bigger holes so now it passes thru much faster. No harm done with the extra holes, but whether you have 1 or 50 holes has no bearing on drainage, which isn't a measure of how fast the soil drains; rather, it's a measure of how thoroughly it drains. Plants don't care if it takes 60 seconds or 6 minutes for the pot to stop draining after a thorough watering. The key element is how much water, and particularly how much excess water is retained in the medium when the pot has stopped draining. You can also use a wick to your plant's advantage. Experiment: When your pot has stopped draining after a thorough watering, push a toothpick through a drain hole just far enough it will remain in place. Notice how much more water exits the pot by dripping off the end of the toothpick. Rayon mop strands as in the images work really well as wicks. Or, use the method I described in my post upthread. In this thread using "UC Davis Page on Avocado Diagnostics" pdf I thought that my avocado is lacking of zinc. So yesterday I watered it. I have this zinc plant oil. Couple of drops in to water and water it with it. Water went thru very very quickly comparing to what it was before I had only one tiny hole. I hope zinc wont do any bad. Hard to say what will come of it. It's very highly unlikely your plant is suffering a zinc deficiency. Generally speaking, dosing your plant with this or that because you think "it might like it" or "somebody said product X is great for plants" is far more likely to be limiting than beneficial. Many growers are convinced that "bloom booster" fertilizers actually do what they avouch when used on containerized plants. The truth of the matter is, they provide so much phosphorous it causes limitations on several fronts. Plants need only minute amounts of zinc (why it's a micronutrient instead of a macronutrient); and, an excess of any single nutrient has the same potential to limit as a deficiency. Yes I will repot it in couple of days. Should I take a larger pot? How large the pot can/should be is highly dependent on soil choice. See "Choosing Container Size below" And correct me if I am wrong, but do I understand correctly that media you are making you put it at the bottom of the pot and on top ordinary compost like soil as mine? Drainage layers are counterproductive because they cause water to perch (take up space) in the medium immediately above the drainage layer. Perched water is water that defies gravity and will not drain from the pot without workarounds or the grower changing to a medium that cannot/does not support it. Below, the shaded parts marked PWT represent a perched water table. Compare the middle pot with a drainage layer to the left image to see why "drainage layers" don't work. Also, the media I provided images of upthread is what I grow in. and pots are filled from bottom to about 1/2" from the top with one or the other. I've moved away from building the 30 or so mixed plantings for the gardens and decks, and no longer grow veggies in pots, both because my focus is primarily on bonsai, I now use almost exclusively what others here at GW/Houzz have named 'the gritty mix. Image of the root system of a plant in the gritty mix ^^^ - in the middle of a repotting session. Choosing an Appropriate Size Container How large a container ‘can’ or ‘should’ be, depends on the relationship between the mass of the plant material you are working with and your choice of soil. We often concern ourselves with "over-potting" (using a container that is too large), but "over-potting" is a term that arises from a lack of a basic understanding about the relationship we will look at, which logically determines appropriate container size. It's often parroted that you should only move up one container size when "potting-up". The reasoning is, that when potting up to a container more than one size larger, the soil will remain wet too long and cause root rot issues, but it is the size/mass of the plant material you are working with, and the physical properties of the soil you choose that determines both the upper & lower limits of appropriate container size - not a formulaic upward progression of container sizes. In many cases, after root pruning a plant, it may even be appropriate to step down a container size or two, but as you will see, that also depends on the physical properties of the soil you choose. It's not uncommon for me, after a repot/root-pruning to pot in containers as small as 1/5 the size as that which the plant had been growing in prior to the work. Plants grown in ‘slow’ (slow-draining/water-retentive) soils need to be grown in containers with smaller soil volumes so that the plant can use water quickly, allowing air to return to the soil before root issues beyond impaired root function/metabolism become a limiting factor. We know that the anaerobic (airless) conditions that accompany soggy soils quickly kill fine roots and impair root function/metabolism. We also know smaller soil volumes and the root constriction that accompany them cause plants to both extend branches and gain o/a mass much more slowly - a bane if rapid growth is the goal - a boon if growth restriction and a compact plant are what you have your sights set on. Conversely, rampant growth can be had by growing in very large containers and in very fast soils where frequent watering and fertilizing is required - so it's not that plants rebel at being potted into very large containers per se, but rather, they rebel at being potted into very large containers with a soil that is too slow and water-retentive. This is a key point. We know that there is an inverse relationship between soil particle size and the height of the perched water table (PWT) in containers. As particle size increases, the height of the PWT decreases, until at about a particle size of just under 1/8 inch, soils will no longer hold perched water. If there is no perched water, the soil is ALWAYS well aerated, even when the soil is at container capacity (fully saturated). So, if you aim for a soil (like the gritty mix) composed primarily of particles larger than 1/16", there is no upper limit to container size, other than what you can practically manage. The lower size limit will be determined by the soil volume's ability to allow room for roots to ’run’ and to furnish water enough to sustain the plant between irrigations. Bearing heavily on this ability is the ratio of fine roots to coarse roots. It takes a minimum amount of fine rootage to support the canopy under high water demand. If the container is full of large roots, there may not be room for a sufficient volume of the fine roots that do all the water/nutrient delivery work and the coarse roots, too. You can grow a very large plant in a very small container if the roots have been well managed and the lion's share of the rootage is fine. You can also grow very small plants, even seedlings, in very large containers if the soil is fast (free-draining and well-aerated) enough that the soil holds no, or very little perched water. I have just offered clear illustration why the oft repeated advice to ‘resist potting up more than one pot size at a time’, only applies when using heavy, water-retentive soils. Those using well-aerated soils are not bound by the same restrictions. As the ht and volume of the perched water table are reduced, the potential for negative effects associated with over-potting are diminished in a direct relationship with the reduction - up to the point at which the soil holds no (or an insignificant amount) of perched water and over-potting pretty much becomes a non-issue. Al

Hello Aaron, I'm very new to avocados- have just had one for about six months. I primarily grow plumeria and citrus, but have just one dwarf Fuerte avocado. Have a 16' x 16' indoor greenhouse which has 8 T5HO 4 foot lights. I also have some additional LED lights for the avocado and citrus trees. I live in a wet, cold and very grey year round climate, so everything stays indoors in the greenhouse. My avocado is 4 feet tall and in a 5 gallon container. It's in a 5:1:1 soil (5 parts Repti-bark, 1 part perlite and 1 part Miracle grow potting soil). I water approximately every 5 days about 8 cups water. Fertilizer is a half dose of Osmocote, and then 1/2 dose of Foliage Pro and Pro-Tekt every other week. I bought the tree from Four Winds. It looked terrific when I bought it but within a month leaves dropped and turned brown. Now it looks beautiful again- lots of green healthy leaves popping. I'm out of town at the moment but will post a pic when I get home. Best wishes. Nancy

I'm planning to get a 'Holiday' avocado tree (dwarf). This would be the first tree I've ever planted. Wondering if I can just dig a hole use the existing soil or should I be adding something? I've done research but haven't found a solid answer. I think my soil is pretty good. I have some thriving succulents and random drought tolerant plants, indicating that the drainage should be good. I'm located in northern CA if it matters. The same question applies for peaches or any other fruit tree actually. I'd like to plant a couple more dwarf trees if possible. I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!