The avocado resembles a massive tree in its natural habitat and is not fond of living in a room environment. However, many lovers of indoor tropical trees discover that the avocado leaves dry out or develop unsightly spots, leaving them with a bare stem. I’ll go over all of the possible causes and solutions for this problem.
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4 Causes of Avocado Dry Leaves
This wilting and darkening of avocado leaves occurs for a variety of reasons. The primary ones are as follows:
Growing Conditions That Aren’t Ideal
This is by far the most common reason. A tropical plant requires a warm environment with plenty of light and humidity (60%). The leaves will curl and dry out due to the dry air.
Photosynthesis can’t happen if the plant doesn’t get enough light. This means the leaves will turn yellow and fall off. However, do not expose the leaves to direct sunlight, which can cause them to burn.
Improper care
The tree suffers greatly when the soil is either dried out or overwatered. Cold drafts and watering with cold water or tap water can cause leaves to wither and fall off trees. Keep the soil in the pot moist and loose to prevent crumbling.
The pot in which you plant an avocado should be of the right size for it to grow. It may not be extensive, but it must be deep enough to allow the root system to grow deep.
The leaves begin to dry out and fall off as soon as the root reaches the bottom of the container, where there is no more room for it to grow.
Avocado Diseases
Disease and insects rarely affect avocados when growing conditions are ideal. However, suppose the plant’s immunity is reduced when kept in unsuitable conditions. In that case, it is vulnerable to pests and diseases.
Fungal infections are the most common indoor diseases caused by not watering plants properly.
Powdery mildew appears as a whitish plaque on the leaves. And the lower leaves of the avocado in the pot are the first to dry out, turn yellow, and fall off.
And the new leaves emerge with all sorts of distortions at first. So, to prevent the disease from spreading to other plants, isolate the diseased plant as soon as possible.
Remove all the infected leaves and burn them. Spray soap and soda or manganese solution on the leaves and branches to get rid of them. Then repot the plant using fresh new potting mix.
The infestation of avocados with root rot and Phytophthora is a similarly dangerous problem. This disease is most often brought on by poor soil drainage and excessive watering.
This disease is easily spread through water, tools, and clothing. Both of these diseases primarily affect the leaves of avocados. Their color fades, and they are covered in spots of varying hue and arrangement as they rot and dry out.
Pest Causing Avocado Leaves To Dry Out
Spider mites and mealybugs can attack almost any plant at home when the air is dry. If an avocado has dry leaf tips and shows tiny spots on the leaves at first, check the back of the leaves with a magnifying glass for small black dots.
If your plant is infested, you will see the cobwebs on leaves and stems. If there are only a few pests, simply washing the leaves with warm water and potassium soap will do the trick.
If spider webs appear, avocados should be sprayed with neem oil at least 2-3 times with a 4-5 day interval between treatments.
Scale insects are familiar visitors to avocados. Plant stems and lower leaf veins are the primary habitats of these tiny pests.
The avocado leaves turn yellow and dry out due to them sucking the avocado’s green sap. You can get rid of pests by hand and apply mild soap and water mixture.
Preventive Actions
The most important thing you can do to keep avocados healthy is to put the plant in the best place to grow. To name a few:
- A 12-hour day of light and an abundance of sunlight
- Year-round temperatures that are comfortably warm;
- moderate watering with warm, purified water;
- adequate humidity in the air.
Don’t use a strong chemical spray on your avocado leaves right away if they are drying out. If you’re going to grow avocados, it’s a good idea to make sure you’ve got all the basics covered before you get started. After that, taking better care of the plant may be all that is needed.