Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 04, 2010 2:01 pm hi all, hopeing i can get some advice. My cordylines which have been potted for approx 3 years seem to be drying out. I dont over water them and i give them seasol but im not sure what else i can do. I also have a dwarf palm which i have planted approx 4 months ago which also seems to be drying out. Any advise on how to get these plants healthy would be greatly appreciated. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 2Feb 04, 2010 2:05 pm Are they in direct sunlight? They look like they have been burned - do you give them shade on the hot days? 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 4Feb 04, 2010 2:45 pm I am definately no expert but will have a crack, see how I went when the guru comes on....... I am guessing the weather has been hot. If so, maybe the combination of sunburn on foilage, the fact that the pots are in direct sun, are sitting on pebbles which get extremely hot in direct sun, and are mulched with pebbles (think hot rocks day spa) means the roots are getting cooked and the plants are starving. Also, what is in the pots - maybe they need a feed of naked farmer (or whatever it is ), seasol & molasses. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 5Feb 04, 2010 10:40 pm They are cooked. To me it actually looks like they have dried and then been partly rewet. After a few years of being in those little pots you will need to repot and that is why you maybe watering them, but now the roots occupy more volume on the pot. They use the water faster and the soil has less capacity to hold that water. Very tough conditions there as Keen-o mentioned. reflective heat and all. When a pot dries out one water will not rewet the root ball. They become what is known as corked. The water goes across the top and down the sides of the pot. The middle stays dry. When the fine roots that absorb water dry they die off. This means the plants ability to reabsorb moisture is affected. Then add that the soil won't rewet and it will take a good 6 or 7 waterings after that with breaks in between to get the root ball rewet. It then takes a further 4 weeks for those roots to regenerate and function properly again The bloody Mc Cordies are well known for burning in the sun. The Pheonix Robbie is having a rough trot too. They really look their best in littler pots in shade. I'd look at repotting him. A combo of a quality potting mix, some coco peat (cheap as) and if the funds are available add some Naked Farmer all mixed evenly Make sure the pots have plenty of drainage so it at least needs a hole in the bottom of it. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 6Feb 05, 2010 8:35 am thanks for the responses. I dont have many options to put these plants in the shade. Is there anything else i can do to save these plants apart from repotting the to larger pots which i will need to do? Will these plants survive in the sun? Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 7Feb 05, 2010 9:27 am Unfortunately it seems there is only one solution - reduce the heat and sun these guys are getting. Could take some more photos of the surrounding area to help establish the full conditions the plants are exposed to? Do you have a undercover patio or something they can reside under until they recover? Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 8Feb 05, 2010 11:42 am Look there isn't really . Get them into the bigger pots, and that really is all if there isn't much flexibilty on location. These fellas are well known to burn. When they are grown in nurseries they have great soil, they have loads of water when needed throughout the day. They do well in the sun mostly because they are all together in their thousands so glare and reflective heat are not such an issue. Then when they get planted out (and flaxes do this too) they are all of a sudden exposed to some pretty tough conditions. In this case the pot size has got filled with root and this is the only available measure of control. An idea just occurred to me too. If you can grab him by the stem and very lightly pull up. It should be solid in the soil. If the centre of the plant lifts a bit to easy around the base of the stem but the rest doesn't, there maybe root disease or something in there having a chew. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 9Feb 05, 2010 12:40 pm thank you all for your help. I do have an alfresco area but didnt want to cram 6 plants under there. Ill take some pics and post them up. Fu Manchu you have been a great help. Ill definately do the lift test and let you know. I think i will need to move these guys to bigger pots. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 10Feb 05, 2010 2:27 pm Don't pull it up too hard though Just very lightly. If it comes away in your hands, well it would be pretty knackered to do that. Repotting should see an improvement Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 11Apr 11, 2010 11:58 am Hi All, Sorry its taken so long to post a reply but i have now relocated my cordylines out of the pots and into garden beds. I have trimmed them back and ill see how they go but they do seem to be a bit happier and can see new growth. As for the dwarf palms, i out of the three seems to be growing fine. I lifted the pots the other day and noticed all this white colored (like tiny eggs) underneath the pots and the soil seems to be like rotting which i assume is causing the palms to slowly die off. Are they diseased? Can i use something to help them and kill off whatever the white stuff is? Any help would be great. For some reason i cant load up pictures and attach Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 12Apr 11, 2010 5:44 pm You will need to start a flickr, image shack or photobucket account and link the photos to here. The egg looking things might be ant eggs? Fungi? Does the soil smell? If it is wet and gluggy and smelly, then repot and check the drainage. You might have to add some blue metal in the bottom to improve drainage. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 13Apr 11, 2010 6:18 pm hi, the soil doesnt really smell (only a bit). But it looks like the soil itself is rotting like its turning into fungas. Here is a pic of what was under the pot and around the base of the pot. I have since raised the pots and they now sit on bricks. http://s984.photobucket.com/albums/ae322/snistr/Home%20stuff/?action=view¤t=IMG_0882.jpg Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 14Apr 11, 2010 6:59 pm That is just fungi. No harm in this case. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 16Apr 11, 2010 8:09 pm Possibly coincidence. I'd say it would be that the position is more favourable for it than the others or there maybe an excess of nitrogen kicking it along. That will come from excess fertilisers and nutrient leaching. Looks like it is planted pretty deep there too which will not help what so ever It is stuffed, you could buy a new one for $30 or spend $50 trying to save it. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 17Apr 13, 2010 8:11 pm I had a few cordies that looked the same as your picks. They simply had grown out of their pots and fried over summer. I pulled them out and plonked them in a spot where I couldn't see them all the time and they are bouncing back fine. Plenty of new growth and they are away. As much a Fu hates them u can treat them horribly and they keep on keepin on. Re: Cordylines and dwarf palms need TLC 18Apr 13, 2010 8:18 pm Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 13830 Hello It is good to have a planned bathroom reno to suit your budget and design, living for 10 years I think you need a bathtub 4 10371 Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8416 |