Young avocado tree trunk partially turned dark brown

General Fruit Growing
1

I have a Fuerte in a 5 gal container, 1-2 years old (from purchase at Lowes). Late last year the trunk started turning dark brown at a lower spot and this spread up a foot or two. It didn’t seem to go any further, but when this happened to me a few years ago (same variety) and the dark brown/black kept spreading until the entire tree died.

This time I cut way down on watering and only watered with hydrogen peroxide added to the water. Three months later, the tree is flushing nicely and I’m not sure what to do with it. I don’t want to plant it in the ground if this is a serious problem, so I’d appreciate some opinions. I have some photos but I don’t see how to attach them to this message. In fact, I’m having trouble viewing/scrolling this message as I edit it. I’m using Palemoon browser (basically the same as Firefox). I can’t see the bottom line of this message as I type, the left side is blocked by the Save Edit and Cancel icons.

2

Here are links to photos of this problem.

3

Try asking on the tropicalfruitfourm. There is a grower on that site that owns a commercial avocado nursery.

I have seen something like that on one of my trees before and it also died. If it were mine I would probably try prunning off the whole damaged section and letting new shoots grow from below but I’d wait to see what Carlos on the tropical forum suggests.

4

Sunburn. Paint with 50% diluted latex paint. We have that happen to ours if we dont paint the trunk.

5

It could be sunburn, or could be phytophthora damage. I agree - post on the tropicalfrutforum and ask. Where do you live? I don’t see that you’ve completed the “About Me” section, which lets us know where you are, zone, etc. That makes a difference in knowing what’s going on, even in a pot.

6

I put my zone and location in my profile, but didn’t realize the “about me” was the only part visible to others. It should be there now. I’m in z9b, Topanga Canyon between Santa Monica and Malibu, at aprox 1100’ elevation. 800-1100 chill hours below 45F.

The avocado tree in question was partially in the shade, under a thin pine tree, and since it was late fall/winter when this occurred, it might not have been sunburn. But then, this is S. Calif. and it’s sunny most of the time. I hope that’s what it was, and not an infection of some kind.

I’ll post on the tropicalfruits forum as soon as I have time.