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Dying Armandii

adamgayfordadamgayford Posts: 4
in Problem solving
Hi everyone, 

I'm hoping to scratch your collective brains...

I have some Clematis Armandii growing on the south face of our house. We bought them in April 2019 at around 6ft tall and they exploded in growth.

They were planted in pots and thrived all last year and flowered heavily in March 2020. 

Since they flowered they put on a little growth, nothing compared to last year though, and stopped new growth altogether around end of July 2020. 

The leaves started to go very yellow and many started turning brown and dying altogether. 

I repotted them to pots three times the size in Augut, added fresh compost, feed them every 2 weeks with liquid seaweed and have sprayed them with epsom salts (2 tbsp per 5 litres) at time of feeding.

I think they may have suffered from not enough water in the summer (my fault) and not enough food (again my fault).

Two of the plants are now a lovely deep green and there's lots of new growth on them, the other 2 seem to be loosing more and more leaves.

Is it now time to cut this right back to the ground and start again? 

They can't go in the ground, they have to stay in the pots I'm afraid. 



Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm afraid they aren't suited to pots. They want to be big, and won't thrive if they don't have room.
    It would be better to pick a different clematis if you can only use pots. Many are fine in big pots. 
    Constantly feeding isn't a good idea either, if a plant is struggling. Water is what they needed, but you won't be able to give them enough to sustain the top growth if they're in pots. The alternative is to build big raised beds for them. They'd need to be several feet long, and at least two to three feet in depth. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • adamgayfordadamgayford Posts: 4
    Thanks for the advice. Its what i feared  :/

    I'm going to replace with a Montana instead. Its not evergreen.. but neither is the Armandii at the moment.  :disappointed:

    The Armandi can go into the ground in the main garden.. any suggestions on how low / high to cut it?

    Thanks again
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I'm afraid Montana is even bigger and less suited to pots. It's really the smaller ones that you can keep in pots. The alpinas and macropetalas would be OK, or the smaller group 2 or group 3 types. There are a few small evergreen clematis that might work (eg the cartmanii types) but they aren't fully hardy so you'd need to check suitability for your location. Maybe have a look at the websites of some clematis specialists such as Taylors,  Evisons or Thorncroft. They tend to have lots of information.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    As @JennyJ says - montanas are no use there either. 
    There's loads of choice on the sites she's given you, so just pick something that suits.
    Many need very little care in terms of pruning too, and the sites will give you that info.
    If you have room for two decent containers, you can have a clem for spring and one for summer.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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