Podocarpus Leaves Turning Brown
I planted a doz 3' tall podocarpuses on 3' centers as a windbreak hedge 4 mos ago and they were doing well. I applied maybe an ounce of granular slow release lawn fertilizer around the base of them and I noticed that the leaves on about 1/2 the bushes are turning brown, but there is still some new green growth on the effected plants. I have since learned by reading that they prefer a more phosphorous based fertilizer. What can I do other than water 2-3X's/week?
Comentarios (20)
hace 16 añosI would be interested to find out myself. I have lost one plant to the same thing. I then replanted and lost that one as well. I had a grouping of 3 and this one was the only one affected. Now one of my remaining 2 is starting to do the same thing. It starts on one branch and spreads to the rest of the plant. Does this sound the same as what yours is doing?
- hace 16 años
I don't know if this applies to podocarpus bushes but we were told that our podocarpus tree was turning brown because we were watering around the trunk and within the drip line. According to this expert (i forget his name, but he is a gardening columnist for a newspaper), podocarpus are sensitive to too much water.
What had happened is this: We had planted a ground cover around the tree (I thought it would look pretty) and were watering it faithfully to establish the plants--but the tree started to turn brown! After emailing this columnist and learning that too much water could be hurting our podocarpus, we just let the ground cover die and waited to see what would happen. In the end, the tree recovered for the most part though we still have an area that has not come back.
A county extension expert would likely have more information about this....good luck.
andrea
roserx
Autor originalhace 16 añosThanks for your replies.
Yes, the browning starts in an isolated area of the plant and spreads.
I too have read that one should not water podocarpus > 2X's/week.
- hace 16 años
I have two podocarpus hedges. All were from cuttings from a neighbor.
The one by the carport is surrounded by boston fern and never gets watered except when it rains.
The hedge across the front of the house is mulched and only watered once a month if even that.
Never had any browning of any kind. I think the roots go really, really deep (I know that from trying to dig one up), so once they're established they get their water underground.
- hace 9 años
I have gone through years of this. The bushes get to be 5 - 6 feet tall and all of a sudden turn brown and die.. Mostly after several years of doing fine. They seem to be a very delicate and temperamental plant and I have warned others to avoid them. I'm slowly going to replace with ligustrum as the rest die. I've never had any problems with that.
- hace 9 años
Bought a house recently with some podocarpus at the end of the drive. I was concerned as they weren't near any sprinkler heads, but they looked healthy. On the other hand, the row of Italian Cypress had brown spots all over them. Each tree had a sprinkler head under it and were watered heavily twice a week. Was just told by a master gardener from the extension office to shut off that sprinkler zone, the only thing that needs to be watered regularly is grass. I now only use three of the nine zones programmed in my irrigation system. I think sprinkler companies convince customers that every inch of the yard needs to be watered so they have a larger job.
- hace 9 años
Sorry to appear to tangent...but someone was advocating planting privet.
Mike18carrera: Just that ligustrum (aka privet) is invasive as hell and invades and destroys woodlands by being spread by birds eating the berries.At my last house, my neighbors had a full property line hedge...I killed privets all over my property and I know I saw LOTS in the surrounding woods. When the house was sold, the new neighbors burned the fencerow...bless them!
It should be a crime to plant privet or japanese honeysuckle.
This post was edited by dbarron on Tue, Aug 26, 14 at 17:12
- hace 9 años
Glad to hear I'm not the only one mystified by podocarpi. I must have around 50 of them in and around my yard, and, like azaleas, every once in awhile one just dies. In my experience once the leaves begin to turn, it's terminal. Fortunately there is always a new one around somewhere to transplant, and they do make a great hedge!
Papa Jim
- hace 9 años
I planted 50-60 Podocarpus across the back of my yard after Wilma, over several weeks back in 2006. I had the same problem and kind of figured out that I was not watering them enough. So I would assure that you are giving them plenty of water until they are well established. Mine are well established now and they make a beautiful, drought-tolerant hedge that does not need trimmed as much as other hedges. I highly recommend it. When I did get a stalk that turned brown I just cut it off. I only had to replace one plant.
- hace 9 años
I have recently planted a row of podocarpus that have been doing very well until a few days ago. . . I noticed that all of the new growth is coming in white, and slightly curled. Does anyone know if this is due to overwatering?
PROhace 9 añosSounds like its some type of aphid. You would see black mildew as an early sign of overwatering.
0- hace 9 años
As regards supposed fertilizer needs, I would caution that much of this is pure guesswork, with a side of snake oil. Needs more phosphorous? Really...who has set minimum phosphorous levels for this or that plant? Who has checked their soil and even has a clue as to levels of this nutrient (just to stay on the phosphorous train)? All I'm saying is, places that sell fertilizers are often full of bogus claims and half-truths when it comes to such.
Usually, if an organic mulch material is being periodically spread on the soil surface, which helps in so many other ways as well, soil nutrients will be slowly coming available-just the way plants like them. I'm not anti-fertilizer. I use it all the time, but for specific goals and almost never on perennial and especially woody landscape plants. They are almost always best left free-range, so to speak.
One caveat I will readily admit....I'm no Florida gardening expert. You folks do deal with some different situations than any I've ever encountered. But there are certain truths and tendencies which span the entire range of gardening/landscaping.
+oM
0 - hace 7 años
We planded 24 podscsrpus along the back. At one time we had problems with my podacarpus having a full branch or two turning brown after triming. Untill they where well established, a week before timing we treated them with a multi purpose bug spray then a few days later a fungus spray. That seemed to do the trick.
- PROhace 7 años
We spray several thousand feet of podocarpus a week and the yards that do not have excessive amounts of mulch under the podocarpus thrive compared to do ones that do. Let the roots dry up on the surface between watering for a day or two. specially down here in south florida. when you do water use a drip line and give it water they shoot deep roots and it takes a while for the water to reach down to the root. I water my houses twice a week and run the drip line for 90 min. minimum.
- PROhace 6 añosmake sure the soil around the podocarpus is not always wet and when you do water a few times a week they get plenty of water. keep mulch away from the bottom of the podocarpus. try to keep the ph around 7 and they will make full use of the fertilizer.0
- PROhace 6 añoskeep in mind you don't want to over water them if they don't have good drainage. make sure the soil dry out before you water them. only thin they are sensitive to is root rot. They really like acidic soil.
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Michael Ringler