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Daphne's not doing well
Colin-Jackson
Posts: 31
I bought a pair of Eternal Fragrance Daphne's last year and potted them up in gritty alpine compost.
They survived the winter but one is looking very poorly. Most of the leaves are yellow with just a tiny flush of new growth.
The other is doing better but not exactly thriving. I have been trying not to over water them. Any ideas on how to perk them up?
Many thanks,
Colin
0
Posts
They grow into large shrubs and need decent soil to be healthy. Some grit added to a soil based compost is fine, but there has to be enough sustenance for the to grow on.
The pots look rather big for the size of the plants too, and the main stems are buried which won't help.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Will report them into some richer compost with more stem exposed and hope for the best.
Something like 60% John Innes (soil/loam-based No 2 or No 3), 30% multi-purpose compost (you could reuse your alpine compost for this) and about 10-15% horticultural grit to ensure good drainage.
I'd read how fussy they are but I took the plunge and bought a Tangutica in 2016 and planted it. I give it no special attention, rarely water it in the summer droughts even though it's baked in the sun and often have to chop chunks off as it grows quite fast.
It just carries on growing and flowering.
I only wish I'd not planted it at the end of my garden.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I have just repotted these into a John Innes based compost. What really surprised me was how tiny the rootballs were. They had been in these pots for almost a year but the rootball was only about 10cm across at most
Will water and feed them once a week while keeping my fingers crossed.
If so you may need to untangle the roots and spread them out a bit.
Once roots wrap together into a tight ball they find it difficult to untangle themselves, so you may need to give them a hand.
They won't need feeding weekly.
Once a month will be plenty - seaweed extract would be perfect for them
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Fair point about the feed, will tone it down to once a month.
All shrubs take a long time to establish, especially tiny ones like those. They need a few years to develop the root system before the top then catches up.
I wouldn't feed them, because the soil mix should be adequate for a while, but many people like to use seaweed or slow release general food. Water is key over the next few months though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...