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Suffering Plants
Tanty2
Posts: 231
Hi
Something has happened to my climbers - pics attached - image 1 is a Lonicera (no idea which one, label long since gone) which is clearly unhappy - recent flowers opened half dead then it gave up completely. Image 2 is a clematis President. Proprietory container mix got all good stuff in, watering schedule hasn't changed. I know the weather's been a bit pants, but this looks like more than the weather...
Any advice or ideas would be really appreciated.
Cheers
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Tanty, are both your plants in pots?
Both those plants look hungry and thirsty to me, and from what I can see of the container that one that has the clematis in is nothing like big enough. Most honeysuckle doesn't do well in containers at all.
Is it possible to plant them direct into the ground?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Both are in pots - wide enough and very deep, even tho it doesn't look like it from the pic. They are both given a proper drenching twice a week in dry weather and are fed regularly - the horrible state they're in has only happened in the last couple weeks.
Clematis need a cool root run so in dark coloured pots - which absorb heat from any sun - its roots will get overheated and the plant wouldn't thrive. Honeysuckle needs to be planted directly into the ground.
Both grow into huge plants and that's what they are trying to do.
As Dove and Lb have pointed out they need to be in the ground proper.
You may think the pot is big enough, the plants are telling you it's not.
They have exhausted all that the compost can offer and they would be best planted in the ground or worst case moved into very big pots or containers of some sort using a compost for long-term planting
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
The President is trying to grow into a plant at least 3m tall and the honeysuckle is a woodland plant which loves a cool root run in the shade and it's head growing up through hedges and trees into the sunshine.
If you want clematis for containers, have a look at the Boulevard Collection here
http://www.taylorsclematis.co.uk/Boulevard-Collection/
They won't try to grow so big, so are happier with a more restricted root run.
I would suggest a mix of John Innes No 3 Loam-based compost, with some added leafmould, in a ratio of 4:1
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Some presidents are definitely more attractive than others
Thanks all for the help and advice, much appreciated! I'll replant the Honeysuckle underneath one of the silver birches that gets shade half the day and it can scramble to it's heart's content. The clematis is another matter. Would it be happy climbing through a silver birch? Would the tree be happy?
Tanty you can grow both through trees but make sure you tree is mature as the weight of climbing plants can often bring them down in heavy winds if they are immature.
Last edited: 01 July 2017 15:42:43