Buddleja Lochinch Problem
VickyC3
Posts: 13
Hello all,
I apologise in advance as I am a complete novice at gardening. I planted a Buddleja Lochinch in my garden on 21st April this year, and followed the advice regarding compost and bone meal when planting. It's in an area which gets a fair amount of sun in the morning and the soil isn't too dry. I've watered it every afternoon since planting and at first it was slow to get much bigger. We had quite a bit of sun last week and it finally seems to have grown some, but when I studied it up close last night I noticed that there were several yellow leaves. I put this down to needing more water so I gave it a bit more, but then noticed some of the leaves in two or three areas have a strange pinched-like appearance to them, I'm not sure if they grew like this or changed shape but I can see one which almost looks as though it was normal and now it's just started to change (see top-left of picture). Also on the end of a couple of stems, the tiny leaves that are just appearing are brown and burned looking, as if they've been singed (centre of picture). Does anyone have any idea what might have caused this?
Posts
Hi Vicky
Stop watering!!!
Buddleia is very tough and can survive with it's roots in cracks in concrete - whilst watering it in when planting would've been just what it needed it probably only needed watering once since then at the most. Roots need oxygen as well as water and if the ground is saturated they can't 'breathe'.
Only water when the soil is bone dry at least an inch below the surface. Give it two or three weeks and if you're still worried about it show us a new photo. But remember it won't show much visible growth to start with, the roots need to grow first in order to support the plant.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hi Dovefromabove,
Oh dear I told you I was a novice haha!
Thanks so much for the advice, I will definitely hold off watering it for a while and see what happens! Do you think I should leave the funny shaped and burned looking leaves there, or remove them? I don't want to end up without any flowers though...
I was just about to give you the same advice as Dove Vicky! It's only just been planted - give it some time to get established - it will grow plenty in the coming months. You can take the dead leaves off if you want - but they'll drop by themselves probably. It'll flower a little this year and be great next year and you'll have loads of butterflies visiting. As Dove says - they're very tough
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks for the advice both! I'm definitely going to stop watering it for a while.
I was reading around a bit earlier and the symptoms also seem similar to the problems caused by spider mites. I had a look at the plant when I got home and I did notice a few spidery looking insects which I've included pics of below, and the odd thing that looked like spider web threads.
Does anyone know what they are?
The first one looks like an aphid.
The second one is a spider - one of the many types that live in gardens, but not a 'spider mite' - spider mites are so tiny that they're only just visible to the human eye.
I can't see any critters there that would concern me.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hi Dove, thanks for the advice! I guess I'm just paranoid
I have followed your advice and not watered the plant all weekend, however it's been raining constantly so I'm not sure it will have had chance to make any difference yet.
This morning the plant seems to have suddenly drooped completely. What with the yellow and misshapen leaves, and now this, do you think all my overwatering could have caused root rot?
It does look a bit sorry for itself - can you see all that greening on the soil around it? That indicates that the soil is damp and sour with not enough air in it.
I would lift that shrub and replant - first preparing another planting site by digging in a generous helping of organic matter - multi-purpose compost would be fine, and a generous helping of horticultural grit. The grit will help improve the drainage in that area. Dig that in over an area of about a square metre, and then plant your buddleja in the middle of it.
When you plant it water it in once, say a small prayer and then ignore it for at least a month - in a month's time, if the soil is dry an inch below the surface give it half a bucket of water and leave it another month, and repeat until the autumn.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I got a couple of buddleias last summer to get a bit of a barrier on a new fence. This is one of them -
That fence is 5'. They haven't been pruned yet as I want some height but the fronts will be done next spring. The other one is even bigger, and they were both in 6" pots, watered in when planted, maybe once more and not watered since then.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
By greening do you mean the mossy looking patches? (Just so I know what to look out for in future)
There is an area I could move the plant to which gets much more sun and seems drier, does this sound like a better location?
If root rot has occurred, can this affect plants nearby? Because we have moved into a new build we don't have many plants yet so the nearest things are a forsythia and a lilac, both of which are approx five feet away from the buddleia.
Finally, whereabouts can I get horticultural grit from?
Thanks!