Avocado bark disease and stunted growth (forum)

Golfimbul starts with ...
I bought a Hass and an Edranol perhaps two years ago and they are planted a couple of metres apart. They were the same size (Hass on the left in picture). The watering, soil (potting mix), fertiliser are all identical. They are in wine barrels I removed the base from and are sitting on soil.

The Edranol has sad looking leaves and a discolouration of the sun exposed bark on branches and the trunk as pictured. Any thoughts on what this might be? Or even if it is likely the cause at all?

Thanks in advance for any advice!!
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
Picture: 2

Time: 22nd July 2023 9:36am

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About the Author Golfimbul
Townsville 4810 Queensland Australia
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brad16 says...
Yep, looks like sunburn. But on the bright side it also looks like there is a fair amount of new growth coming through.

My experience with nursery purchased avocados is that the sun just about always burns most of the foliage that grew in the nursery protected conditions. The growth that comes through afterwards in the position I put it is more suited to those conditions it is now growing in.

Your Hass looks it got a good start, possibly with a little help from the whatever is producing that bit of shade just to the left of it. All that foliage on the Hass is now shading its own stem and branches from the worst of the sun.

The Edranol looks like it struggled, but the new shoots are promising. My guess is that given time, those new shoots will provide sun hardened shade for itself and it should be happier in it current location. It may be tempting to put up a sheet of light shade cloth to protect it while it is bare, but the damage is already done and that may just prevent the new growth that is coming through from maturing into full sun hardy foliage for its position.

One thing to watch, is that sunburnt foliage is relatively easy for the tree to replace, but I have had some experience where sunburn on the stem and branches can cause problems with fungus/mould later on. That isn't necessarily the case, but I've found that the scars make it more of a likelihood. Just a suggestion for you to keep an eye on.

Time: 7th August 2023 12:19pm

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About the Author brad16
CANNONVALE,4802,QLD
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