Avocado Tree - Drooping/Dropping Leaves

[Heartsbane]

I've had this Hass Avocado tree in my greenhouse for about 1 year. I got it as a 5-6 foot sapling from fast-growing-trees.com. It has been in the same container since I originally transplanted it.

About a month ago, it started its first flowering cycle. The flowering buds have continued to develop over the past several weeks, but now I've got a LOT of leaves dropping off the tree and the remaining leaves are drooping and not looking too good (see attached photo).

Is this part of the natural flowering cycle of the tree or should I be concerned? Is it possible I'm overwatering or underwatering the tree. Any other problems that could be causing this? The soil is quite moist, so I doubt it would be underwatering but it could be overwatering I'm just not sure how to know for sure.

I water it using a misting nozzle on 1/4" drip irrigation tubing for 10 minutes each morning. I've read that the leaves like moisture/humidity but the roots prefer drier soil, so that's why I chose this method of watering. Last year I was using 3x 2-gal/hr drip nozzles placed in the container.

 

[Logan]

Hello and welcome to GF
It's probably over watering, should let it dry out a bit between watering. A lot of plants die because of over watering.

 

[cpp gardener]

It’s actually pretty normal for leaves to droop and fall when the plant blooms. Around here they sometimes are almost deciduous when they’re done blooming. Since it’s in a greenhouse the humidity is taken care of. When you water make sure that some comes out of the bottom of the pot. That way you know the whole rootball is thoroughly soaked. Then check the soil moisture in a couple of days and if it is dry about 2” down you can water again. If not, wait until it is. Avocados in containers are actually hard to overwater as long as there are drain holes. When I worked in nurseries we watered almost every day unless it was gray or raining.

 

[Heartsbane]

It’s actually pretty normal for leaves to droop and fall when the plant blooms.

Thanks for the reply, this makes me feel much better. I was worried the tree was in real distress and I could lose it. Based on your advice, I think I'll go back to a good watering of the rootball 1-2 times per week, rather than misting. The misting is keeping the first few inches of soil very moist, but I don't think it's getting all the way to the bottom as much.

 

[Annievdm]

How did your tree fare? I have the exact same situation and I’m very nervous for my tree!!