u/hoi4throwaway

For the last two years, my Chappell and Atwood have ended the season the same size for smaller than the year before. Leaves would drop early (presumably due to wind, but also possibly Houston heat and/or sun), and the branches would die back in the winter.

This year, I decided to build a complete wind break / sun shield by raising up a cheap plastic greenhouse off the ground. This blocks all wind, provides additional UV protection (in addition, these are partial/full shade beneath a large catalpa), and also provides sufficient air flow, with 2 ft clearance below the tarp.

While this has done wonders for both trees, my Chappell (first pic) is beginning to show leaf damage. Some of this is from small annoying caterpillars I've had to kill by hand, but other leaves are just wilting, seemingly from contact. Is Chappelle just a wuss? Is this a heat issue? Is there anything I can do to encourage this thing to keep it's leaves that I'm not already doing? Happy to provide any and all relevant details.

Side note (pics 2&3) while researching potential diseases that could cause this, I realized my Atwood almost certainly has Blue Stem Disease? It has had this for a couple years now and seems to be recovering. Is there a treatment for this?

In the past, my Chappelle and Atwood have picked up wind damage throughout the summer, leading to premature leaf drop. Those branch tips have often no come back the following year. I often see this kind of activity, where some kind of insect seems to be eating the dead wood, easily detectable by sawdust accumulating on the leaves below. Now I'm seeing a white feature near a part of my Chappelle that's still fine, so I thought I'd check: is this anything to be concerned about?

I have a young Susquehanna that's exiting dormancy vSeeery late, and seemingly only on one branch. My older Atwood and Chapelle have been leafing out at different rates for over a month. Is this a concern? Anything I can do to wake this Susquehanna up?

Hey all,

Two avocados in 50 gallon pots in Houston. These are on the side of the house and only get a couple hours of direct sunlight, with full shade after 2 pm. Both trees have been in these pots a few years. We lost the top half of the Hass last year to root rot from over watering with our irrigation system. This year I have only water intermittently with the hose, relying more on rain.

Everything went well for the first months of the year, but now I'm seeing signs of over-or-under watering. On the Hass (the first one) I see wilt after prolonged sun exposure. My guess is it's killing off a few small branches as there are dessicated leaves in spots. Underwatered?

The Joey is showing yellowing leaves, which is normal post flowering, but it's accelerating now, and I'm also seeing dessicated leaves and curling of the young ones.

Is this an underwatering issue? Or an overwatering issue? I don't want to risk root rot again, but I think I need to act on this now.

Thanks!