Can Salt Burn an Avocado Tree?

1 Jun

Can Salt Burn an Avocado Tree?

Growing your own fruit provides you tasty, fresh treats while you get to exercise your green thumb. Avocado trees (Persea americana) grow best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. The trees manage an assortment of soil types, as long as the dirt is well-draining. 1 thing that they can’t tolerate is salt in the dirt.

Indications of Salt

The first sign the dirt around your avocado tree contains too much salt is tip burn on the leaves. The hints of some leaves start to turn yellow and curl slightly, then the yellow areas travel farther into the leaf and also the sides. Some leaves might burn in spots on the interior, making yellow or brown circles as well as the inner vein. This is sometimes referred to as sodium scorch.

Other Issues

Even though the most visible sign of high soil salinity is leaf tip burn, other things are happening within your avocado tree. The salt stunts root growth, maintaining the tree from obtaining the necessary nutrients to produce fruit. Extra salt in the soil can change the ground’s density, maintaining it from draining correctly. This can flood the avocado tree’s root system and eliminate it.

Why Burn Matters

The burnt leaves have reduced green surface region, which prevents the tree in performing enough photosynthesis. This reduces the nutrients available to the tree. In addition to decreasing the fruit yield, a lack of nutrients can stunt the tree’s growth. The burnt leaves eventually fall off, forcing the normally evergreen tree to expend energy generating fresh leaves before it can be healthy enough to make fruit.

Helping the Soil

Avoid using fertilizers with higher salt content, like manure. Based on what you’ve added into your home made compost, its salt content might be too high. If your soil is naturally saline or has developed a high salt content with time, then the only means to take out the salt is to leach it out. This requires frequent, deep watering, like watering twice weekly till the soil is damp at least 16 inches below the surface. Monitor the dirt carefully to guarantee the excess water is draining correctly since avocados can’t manage saturated dirt any greater than they can manage saline soil.

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