Growing Avocado Trees from Pits, Days 100-191

[@AlexanderDenev1425]

I’ve watched most of your videos, apart from the poppies’ series and a few other, even when my avocados and mangos were flourishing or stayed healthy. It hurts me a bit that I didn’t do more to save the avocado and the mango. Most of the root rot or pest problems were very similar. There was a point in time where my avocado started wilting excessively in summer in the afternoon (in 2023) and I thought it was a thirsty plant like your ice cream bean cutting, since it was also growing while being thirsty, but realised it was root rot this whole time that attacked the tree, unlike your ice cream bean where it’s naturally thirsty. A mango seedling I used to have in July 2023 had fungus gnats and got attacked by spider mites in August 2023, at some point the soil got really dry, so I started watering more. Then I started wiping the leaves. But in September 2023 the whole seedling began collapsing, I uprooted it gently, but the soil felt super wet and smelled rotten and my heart sank when I realised that all the secondary roots had vanished and there was only an inch of the taproot left. I tried to save it from root rot, but obviously it died not long after. I had a less important avocado seedling that I transplanted it in the potting mix that I bought from the “expert”. I watered the seedling one time, one singular time and in 3 weeks, it got severe root rot. From a perfectly healthy seedling to a dead stump in less than 2 months, just like that. I got a healthier mango seed to sprout in December 2023. The pot was tiny, the seedling got light, there was constant ventilation, the temps were warm, I rarely watered it and out of nowhere - root rot. This time it wasn’t even accompanied by spider mites. The stem died in late January 2024 and I disposed of the mango in Feb. Mangos tend to die a lot faster from these problems compared to avocados. And mangos kind of “hide” their symptoms or the symptoms aren’t as obvious until it’s too late. An avocado would start wilting, yellowing and browning it’s leaves, dying back and it would still probably have 50-100 roots, though they’d be compromised. But even with root rot being slower on the avocado, in my experience at least, the time for searching or thinking about resources for saving the avocado flies by. Another avocado I had this year that showed symptoms of root rot was pulling through for a bit, I pruned it in June, sent out another shoot, the root rot started catching up, the tree tried to use its energy towards new growth, but the fungus was too strong and it immediately started dying back and the buds were not successful, the stem got all wrinkly and then brown spots appeared all over the stem. The roots quickly died. And the whole tree died. I still have a living cutting of that tree, but it’s about to die since it dropped its leaves. Overall, the soils that people sell in the chain stores or big box stores are 90% diseased. And a lot of the time the symptoms mislead and fooled me, but deep down, I knew it was root rot. I tried to tell myself that the stems were green or that there were still roots and ignore the signs, because it was stressful, but it made things worse. Even your videos of the papaya dying from trunk rot and snails, mango seedlings from 2018 succumbing to root rot, kadota fig dying, passion fruit dehydrating and the pineapples rotting should’ve been enough for me to get myself together and start right away with treatment for my main avocado or other plants.

[@AlexanderDenev1425]

I do have a few pits in water, most of them have a shoot with multiple leaves. But I haven’t been as caring ever since the main avocado I’ve been telling you about passed away. However, the issue is the soil. Because of the cold winters, I grow my seedlings indoors. But these potting mixes retain too much moisture. There’s also too much compost. I knew this soil would become a problem. I knew my beloved avocado was in trouble while it was in good health (around September 2023). There was also a lot of coco coir below the base and all the fibrous and feeder roots had dried up, which was when the avocado was still healthy. I knew that sand and decomposed granite were the solution, but I didn’t know where to look for them. The sand I’d initially got all the way back in 2021 appeared moldy. The nearest bag of decomposed granite was 100 kilometres away. At some point I just gave up on the idea of repotting and just left the avocado tree alone. I know you’ve used a lot of coco coir, but I don’t think this will work for me, I mentioned my avocados being in some coco coir, but it was mostly peat. And after seeing your papaya in 2023, I didn’t want coco or peat. Now that I think about it there was a lot of perlite as well. I believe perlite helped my avocado to stay alive for a bit longer, but wasn’t enough.

[@TheMelvinWei]

As long as the growing medium isn't fast-decaying like wood chips-based potting mix, which suffocates the roots by using up all the oxygen, the problem is always fungal rot, which lots of people counteract by watering less, which helps but never solves the problem long term. Ideally these fruit trees should be planted in the soil and develop relationships with mushrooms and the proper soil microbes, and for the taproot to go deep and establish a strong root system. But if you live in a region with frozen winters then pots are the only option.

[@AlexanderDenev1425]

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I have… or used to have multiple avocado seedlings from pits, the main OG avocado did the best in July of 2023, but started wilting, stopped growing entirely, realised it was root rot, gradually lost it leaves. I did trim the stem in January 2024. I saw countless buds on the top part of the stem, but the lower part didn’t get enough light. I knew these buds were colonised by that fungi and died off. The bottom of the stem got covered in brown spots, which was my nightmare. I took a cutting in late April. After countless digging around the taproot I probably caused additional stress. I watched the last bit of green fade away. The tree died in its pot around 24th May 2024. The cutting survived for a bit, sprouted a tiny shoot, formed calluses, but never produced new roots and also got afflicted by rot in September. I spent over 100 hours of my life trying to save the cutting, but the damage was already done and on 04.11.2024, the last bit of green turned to dim yellow, orange and completely disappeared, therefore, I strongly believe the series ended. But I can’t let go of the avocado tree, I love it, the parent tree is still in its pot, the stem is brittle, black, deprived of any life. Right below the base it seems the most intact, but it’s 99% dead as well. Despite its 8 month post-death I still water it. I don’t know what to do and if there’s anything to save it, it would mean the world to me. If you can, please reply

[@TheMelvinWei]

Thank you for sharing your experience. That happens to the vast majority of people in the world. I think your avocado tree is dead from what you told me. Your best bet would be to stop watering and spray very strong fungicides on what remains of the shoot system and into the soil around the base of the trunk.

[@TheMelvinWei]

It's easier to start over and germinate pits in hydrogen peroxide like I did to start this series mold-free. Otherwise if there's any healthy root tissue left you can cut away and propagate the living tissue in a plant tissue culture in a laboratory in sterile nutrients but that's really way too much trouble compared to starting over. Get some fresh avocado pits, wipe off the grease, wash and rinse briefly with a soapy sponge and water that's not hot, then dunk the whole cleaned pit in hydrogen peroxide.

[@PompomYourkey]

wow I have to congratulate you for your persistence, I used to watch your videos often years ago and I recently got recommended this, it brought back memories, its amazing how you are still updating us on these.

[@TheMelvinWei]

Thanks for sticking with my channel for all these years!

[@PeterEntwistle]

They are looking very healthy now, great job!

[@TheMelvinWei]

Thank you!

[@chinatownboy7482]

Uncle, you may have to turn to Gary Matsuoka at Laguna Hills Nursery. He's pretty much got it down to a science on how to grow avocado in pots. He has all of those videos about watering, pot size, pot style, growing medium, nutritional needs, etc.

[@TheMelvinWei]

I haven't watched his videos in a long time, it's time to revisit his channel. I saw your comment on someone else's video (not plant growing) somewhere in recent weeks, I forgot where.

[@馬伕]

Everyone grows avocado pits. Few succeed.

[@TheMelvinWei]

Very true. I noticed that a lot of viral time lapse plant growing videos end before the plants fail indoors under growing lights. They have a lot of the same disease symptoms I've seen on my plants in the past, such as my past avocado and mango series. Indoor plants are pest-free unless infested potting mix is used, so they are all failing due to fungal infections is my best guess. The fact that potted plants are typically not grown in real dirt and lack the natural microbiome that is present in soil and good symbiotic fungi is also a big contributing factor. My father has one avocado sapling growing well in a medium sized pot, smaller than mine, and it's still going strong after a few years, but he has to take it indoors for the winter every year. It will probably never fruit due to the small size of its pot and root system.

[@PatC.]

Your plants are beautiful. I hope someday you get fruits on them. Look up 'soapy water for aphids'. That works for me. It is important to focus on spraying the undersides of the leaves and get it into every crevice. A hand-held spray bottle doesn't reach the underside of the leaves well. Your back pack nozzle has a better angle for getting underneath. And don't spray when the sun is on the plant. It is better to do it as the sun goes down. After 10 minutes, you can hose the soapy water off.

[@TheMelvinWei]

Soap according to chemistry removes the wax off plant leaves. Do you notice any leaf degradation after spraying with soap and washing it off as the weeks go by?

[@AlexanderDenev1425]

I love the tree to much to give up. The problem is I haven’t seen any buds or calluses at the lignified base for nearly a year. The shoot system has long since dried up. And all the lateral roots have decomposed, only a tiny fraction of the taproot remains. I’m pretty certain the vascular tissues are all messed up. I’m surprised there’s no fungus gnats or their larvae. Earlier this year the stem was still green with buds, but none of them turned into successful shoots. The stem died somewhere in May. The tree has shown no signs of life ever since. The only portion that appears firm is the lignified base and a few centimetres below it. However, even the base feels slightly soft and I could see the taproot turning black the deeper I went. The taproot is cut off, so I can kind of visualise the structure of it in my head. Of course if I scratch the bark or the taproot, there won’t be green. If there’s any living cells deep within the taproot, they’ll be very few of them and in unfathomable stress. For watering, I use diluted solution ( water + 1/3-1/2 recommended fungicide amount + chamomile). I feel like the chamomile only accelerates decomposition. The fungicide is strong, but definitely not strong enough. I’m willing to do a lot to resurrect the tree, if it costs less than $25 or doesn’t require too much resources.

[@AlexanderDenev1425]

Yeah, this whole time I had a gut feeling it’s the soil pathogens. Even at the small horticultural shop or whatever it’s called that I went to buy some insecticides or pesticides in 2023 or early 2024, I was told the soil was diseased, mainly harmful fungi. I know it’s Pythium and Phytophthora. Especially Pythium, it persists for too long for the avocados to recover. Up until November I had a cutting of my original avocado in water, but the water level was too high and got infected by that fungus and died in November.Strangely enough, fungus gnats appear while my plants are still healthy and when they disappear (typically in August), the fungus starts infecting the whole plant. It’s kind of too late. I had time while the stem was green in March to save the tree, but was too hesitant

[@73percent17]

Hey, you have an update on the pomegranate?

[@Ganjaseed]

Here in Europe we have up to 1000 different kinds of aphids. For me personally they appear together with ant mutalism. The best non chemical way to fight them is by supporting their natural predators like ladybug larva.

[@TheMelvinWei]

The problem seems to be the aphid fly larvae, ladybugs etc. never eat the aphids fast enough.

[@lita7657]

How's Josh doing? He must be as tall as dad by now!

[@TheMelvinWei]

Hi Lita, Josh is about 2.5 feet tall above where I start the soil line.

[@lita7657]

@TheMelvinWei i need evidence in the form of a video 😉

[@TheMelvinWei]

@@lita7657 You can swing by anytime to check Josh out in person 😉.

[@lita7657]

@@TheMelvinWei I'm coming over, Josh! 😆

[@IYQ2-22]

Cinnamon sprinkled in the soil, and soapy water sprayed on the leaves. But search KZbin, because they are now thinking that aphids is actually telling you your plant is Deficient and minerals It’s worth searching

[@TheMelvinWei]

Really? I watched some KZbin videos suggesting too much nitrogen causes too much fast growth which attracts aphids. What does sprinkling cinnamon in the soil do?