ceanthus problem

[goosey]

I have two Ceanothus plants one is fine but the other is looking decidedly dodgey. It has plenty of flowers and buds but over the last few days lots of the leaves have turned yellow with green dots. As soon as I touch a leaf it falls off. Any ideas, is it too late to save it ?

I spelt it wrong on the thread title but couldn't edit it !

[smartie]

Interesting, as ceanothus are usually pretty resistant to disease and pests. If they are planted on very limey soils they sometimes get an iron deficiency called chlorosis that can turn the leaves yellow between the veins, in which case a feed with a fertiliser containing chelated iron might help. Otherwise I can't immediately think what it might be.

[goosey]

Originally Posted by smartie

Interesting, as ceanothus are usually pretty resistant to disease and pests. If they are planted on very limey soils they sometimes get an iron deficiency called chlorosis that can turn the leaves yellow between the veins, in which case a feed with a fertiliser containing chelated iron might help. Otherwise I can't immediately think what it might be.

I'm afraid I couldn't say what sort of soil it is. It's in a pot and I used all purpose potting compost. It's a shame as its such a colourful plant.

[Olly]

Sounds like it may be leaf spot, a bacterial problem that Ceanothus are susceptible to.

Make sure you remove all the affected leaves to stop it spreading and make sure the plant is kept relatively moisture free. It would be a good idea to do any watering in the morning to allow the plant to dry out during the day.

Hope this helps

Olly

[honeybee]

Last year the leaves on half of mine went yellow and fell off despite being evergreen, I just gave it a good feed and wot not and it's been magnificent this year.

[goosey]

Thanks Olly, I'll go and remove the leaves now.
You have given me some hope Honeybee, I hope it will be ok.

[Cotham Marble]

If it is pot grown the most likely problem is a watering one. Flower production can place a major stress on a plant and any deficiency in the supply of water will have a marked effect - alternatively if drainage is inadequate, root rot will cause the plant to respond dramatically.

I've no idea whether Ceanothus is prone to attack - but with any pot grown plant that suddenly shows sign of stress, there is increasingly reason to consider vine weevil attack. Unless the plant is on its last legs I wouldn't suggest hunting for the larvae in the root ball - but the adults are now active so keep an eye out.

CM

[goosey]

Originally Posted by Cotham Marble

If it is pot grown the most likely problem is a watering one. Flower production can place a major stress on a plant and any deficiency in the supply of water will have a marked effect - alternatively if drainage is inadequate, root rot will cause the plant to respond dramatically.

I've no idea whether Ceanothus is prone to attack - but with any pot grown plant that suddenly shows sign of stress, there is increasingly reason to consider vine weevil attack. Unless the plant is on its last legs I wouldn't suggest hunting for the larvae in the root ball - but the adults are now active so keep an eye out.

CM

Thanks CM.
Do you think if I repot when I've checked for larvae that it will stress it even more? The flowers are lovely just a lack of leaves so it looks a bit odd.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by goosey

Thanks CM.
Do you think if I repot when I've checked for larvae that it will stress it even more? The flowers are lovely just a lack of leaves so it looks a bit odd.

It may be worth having a look at the roots for diagnostic purposes - and depending what you find possibly repotting.

If all you can see is a mass of roots with hardly any soil visible, then you haven't got either a weevil problem or a drainage problem - just not enough compost to hold on to any moisture - given the time of year moving to a larger pot ASAP would make sense.

If there are only a few roots visible and the compost is not held together by the roots then check for:

a) signs that the finer roots seem to have been shorne away from the main roots - and the likely culprits VW larvae - Vine Weevil- description and control

If you do have Vine Weevil, wash the roots bare of all compost and repot in fresh material - keeping to the same size pot.

or

b) signs that the roots have suffered rot - you may notice a distinct 'bad smell'. If this is the problem, remove all the obvious signs of rot - cut back to good roots with secateurs or a sharp knife. Remove all the 'sour' compost - probably the bottom third. Add some free draining material in the bottom of the pot - crocks or gravel - then enough clean compost to replace what you have removed. Again don't go up a size in container until the plant has rebuilt its root system.

If none of the above apply - I would leave the plant as it is until it shows some signs of recovery. Having lost its leaves its demand for water will be reduced so make sure that while it does get a regular, very thorough watering, the compost is allowed to become fairly dry before the next soaking.

Also - as has already been suggested, do use some kind of iron supplement - Sequestrene or similar product. Although as you have two plants and only one has a problem this seems unlikely to be the cause of failure in one and not the other.

Fingers crossed

CM

[goosey]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I removed all the infected leaves as you know and started to water in the morning as needed.
On Saturday I checked the roots and there were no vine weevil grubs, and repotted with fresh compost. I didn't notice any bad smell at the time or rotting roots. I did this before CM's second post.
Today I checked on it - it does actually seem to look alot healthier, no more leave have started to yellow. So I am feeling rather positive about it, thanks .