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wiguy12

Plumeria cuttings rooted/gardenia in gritty mix/potted plants pic

wiguy12
11 years ago

Hello everyone! It is really good to be back on here, now that I have found a little time! I hope that posting in this forum with all of this is okay, the majority of it is all container plants, so I think it should be okay! First of all, I want to throw a very large shout out to Laura, who has very kindly sent me some plumeria cuttings, with the assistance of Al! Thank you to both of you! I am getting leaves on the cuttings now, which is super exciting! I will continue to post pictures of how they are doing, so long as I can submit them! They are beautiful! I also have some pictures of my Gardenia that I have questions for al or anyone who knows more about the gritty mix than I do! About two months ago, I found a lovely gardenia topiary on sale and thought I should take it home to once again try and grow it :) It looked terrible after about three weeks, and so I thought I should change the soil out. After a root wash I discovered that more than half of the roots were no longer white, but mostly brown. There were large white roots however, so I thought I would try the gritty mix for it. After having made a very large batch of the mix, I ran out of the granite chips ( my source was poultry gravel, I think my manna-pro) having already washed the roots of the Gardenia, i needed to act quickly, and found a bag of concrete gravel ( just the rocks, no concrete or anything in it) and used that in the gritty mix. It is about 50% proper gritty mix, and the rest is gritty mix made with repti-bark, turface and the gravel. They gardenia did not wilt at all after changing soil and I was happy with it until about a month ago... I used dyna-gro with the waterings and still it has been dropping leaves. Starting from the middle of the plant, working out they turn yellow, many with brown tips. I also tried adding an additional iron fertilizer at the recommended amount, but nothing seems to prevent this. What is strange is that the rest of the leaves that remain green look very healthy to me, and it even has a few new leaves coming out. I water it about three times a week if the weather is warm, this last week we had days over 100 like many people, and I watered it every other day then, because I suspect the larger pebbles are preventing the gardenia from holding onto nutrients and water.... I am posting pictures of the gritty mix, the gardenia, and some various other plants which I hope bring more enjoyment than the gardenia. I have some grapes in containers, Chardonnay, Riesling and some others that are in the middle of an experiment :) Having crossed them with American type grapes like La Crosse, I will see if I can get them to Germinate later on. Also are some pictures of the rest of my garden, and my favorite Japanese Maple, Osakazuki sunset, and a new arrival bloodgood. I do not suspect the bloodgood will make it through the harsh Wisconsin winter, but the Osakazuki has done fine for three years, so we will see!

Thanks in advance for your help!

wiguy12

Here is a link that might be useful: garden pictures

Comments (8)

  • wiguy12
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The gardenia pictures are on the second page of pictures at the end :)

  • blazeaglory
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My gardenias do the same thing as yours and always make nice big stinky flowers. At first I was concerned but Im not worried anymore. Im sure with time and wisdom the problem will be corrected but in the meantime things are fine. As long as the entire plant doesnt turn yellow you should be OK. The pictures of your gardenia looked pretty healthy to me. Im not a gardenia pro (yet) and I have the same problem as you but Im sure with time and a little help from GW it will get better.

  • Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Wiguy,

    Thank you for the nice email!!

    Im so happy that your cuttings did well for you.. seems like it was in Feb? When you posted about info on the GiryyMix and Al sent me info about you inquiring about Plumeria. So glad to help you!!

    Everything looks great!!! Way to go!!

    I wanted to post your pic of you Gardenia for you.

    The Plumeria look great. Get them outside and water them when they need it. Probably evry couple of days , since they are in Gritty Mix.

    Looking Good!

    Congratulations!!

    Laura

    Hopefully someone will help you on the Gardenias..

    {{gwi:42733}}

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The process of leaf replacement is continual and should be expected. the rest of your leaves look healthy, and I would not worry about it. Al

  • HortusinGA
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I agree with Calistoga

    Nothing unusual here. The plant is using it's nutrients in the older leaves. this is not that uncommon when repotting materials or transplanting. This is particularly true if the plant has been resighted from the nursery. It looks perfectly healthy to me and I suspect that this time next hear it will be but a distant memory.

    It is fun to take pictures of your containers from week to week. You can often see the process of growth when you look back versus your daily perception of their progression.

  • wiguy12
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you Laura, Calistoga and HortusinGA! This sounds like much better news than I was expecting. Do you think I should supplement with a foliar fertilizer? Or should I just continue with watering/fertilizing as usual?

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you are using Foliage Pro, I would not add the extra iron. It is possible to over fertilize. I would also be sure when I water that I see a good flush of water from the drain holes. I do not like to see brown tips and edges on some leaves. Foliar feeding would not be of benefit, generally and especially not for a plant already well fed. Al

  • drich30099
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Congrats on the plumeria success! my first and only plumeria cutting, about a 3ft. piece, has a flower!!! White with the yellow center, it is gorgeous! I think I'm going to start a collection, any sources I should look into? I see they can be pricey, not into that, just want to start with basics.
    I do have a question, my potted hanging baskets, mostly petunias, have bitten the dust. Happens every year, only 2 of them so far. I water every day, fertilize occasionally, why do some only make it 1/2 way thru the summer?