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socalgreenthumb

Dropping leaves and browning Pittosporum Marjorie Channon

socalgreenthumb
10 years ago

Hi There,
I recently bought (2) 5 gallon Pittosporum Marjorie Channon shrubs and planted them in little bit bigger plastic containers. The plants when I bought them were in an area of the nursery that received a lot of sun. I am in Los Angeles, CA. Where they are now, they receive about 6 hours of good AM sun and then are in the shade for the rest of the day on a second story balcony. The recent heat spell and raise in temps over the last weeks looks like it is killing them off, the leaves are dropping and browning and shriveling up. However the one that gets the most amount of sun is doing better, yet is starting to drop leaves and brown a bit as well. Soil is still damp so they dont need water and I am good at NOT over watering. I thought these were hardy plants kind of like a box-wood (which are next to the "pittos" and doing fine. I attached a picture of the one that gets less sun. Any thing I can do or not do to save them?

Comments (7)

  • socalgreenthumb
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Ken,

    Thanks for the reply, I will wait and see. I always test with a finger before watering and usually let them get pretty dried out.

    Thanks again,

    s

  • User
    10 years ago

    Socalgreenthumb,
    It looks like your shrubs are dried out.
    Did you use perilite in the potting mix? Does the
    water run through the pot pretty fast?
    Personally, I wouldn't grow these in pots. I think they
    are much happier in the ground. (at least for me they are, they get big very fast).
    Mabey research for a plant that will do better in a pot for your zone.
    Some shrubs and trees do fine in pots, and some are extremely hard to keep in pots. Like Rhodos, and gardenias.
    They will live in pots when they are little, but really, they are never really happy in a pot.
    Do you know what I mean?

  • Sara Malone Zone 9b
    10 years ago

    This is a very vigorous shrub that will get 10-12 feet in the ground and I agree with previous poster that it is not very well suited to container culture. The severe heat may have come at exactly the wrong time (i.e. immediately after re-potting) especially if you disturbed the root ball to any degree, which is always better done during the dormant season. They're tough but should go into the ground as soon as possible, if possible, but your reference to a second story balcony may mean that you don't have an 'in ground' garden.

    Good luck!

    Sara

  • Kuykendall1
    10 years ago

    I have the same issue with 55 Pit-Marj-Channons and discovered a green twist tie girdling the plants. Plenty of water and great drainage but were doomed. I can sent pics if anyone is interested.

  • Julia
    7 years ago

    I have a similar issue. Just planted Pittosporum Marjorie Channon in the ground in 50/50 mix 3 weeks ago and the leaves are now browning, drying out and dropping. Looks like they are dying. Wondering if I should've just left the roots in their original pot soil instead of loosing them up when planting. Maybe this new rich soil is too much shock for them?

    I am keeping an eye on the soil moisture to make sure I am not over-watering either. Any advice will be highly appreciated.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    7 years ago

    Kuykendall, there's not a week that goes by that I don't remind someone in one of the Gardenweb forums to remove the ties from their woody plants, including young trees. Crazy!

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