Wisteria leaf discoloured

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treeman
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Re: Wisteria leaf discoloured

Post by treeman »

Lots of mistakes made here.
1/ Wisteria need feeding as soon as they start to move in spring. And right through the season until they drop leaves. I the leaves are light green you are not feeding enough. If you wait and there is not enough nutrient in the soil, the leaves will discolour and it is quite difficult to get them back to green. It will be difficult to keep up enough nutrient with only liquid feeding. Use solid feed as your base and supplement with liquid.
2/ Iron deficiency begins in the new leaves. If you have light green to yellow to - if really bad - white in the new leaves it's quite likely you have an iron deficiency.
3/ Iron (Fe) deficiency comes about for 2 main reasons; a) Not enough Fe in the mix or b) wrong pH. (or of course both) Wisteria like acid soils therefore a pH 5.5 to 6 is appropriate.
4/ Many home made mixes are deficient in Fe. It is one reason to use Australian standard mixes because they have adequate Fe added. If these mixes are unsuitable then we obviously need to make our own but be aware that Fe must be present in one form or another. Adding Fe only from fertilizers will not be enough. Usually it is added as FeSo4 (Iron sulphate) to the bark and this is held tightly and lasts years without further addition necessary. So, use bark which has had Fe added (it's usually dark brown to black in colour and unamended bark is light brownish-red) to it or add some to the organic fraction of your mix. Then you need to make sure the pH is right for the species. - check and adjust.
5/ Having said all that, It may very well be that your wisteria was showing a severe Magnesium deficiency. This shows up in the OLDER leaves as it can be relocated. (Iron cannot)
6/ Without knowing the condition of the roots first, all of the above must be sidelined until you are sure the plant has functioning root tips or it will not be able to absorb anything.
7/ The mix you used for repotting is WAY to bony for water loving wisteria. It may be ok during the cooler months but the plant will likely suffer from thirst and starvation in that kind of mix during summer. In nature, wisterias often grow beside lakes and rivers with their roots in mud!
8/ You should NEVER attempt to layer a tree with weak roots and especially while it's trying to e-establish after repotting! The chances of failure are very high.
Mike
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Re: Wisteria leaf discoloured

Post by pureheart »

Thanks Mike... I was hoping you would reply to this thread!
I just want to clarify that I made a note previously of what you said about Wisteria loving water so in my mix I didn't use the usual percentages that I use for less water craving plants and I added extra pine bark and coir peat to make it more water absorbent...

Do you think that there is no change that my air layer will survive? By the way I didn't disturb the roots when moving it to the larger pot... Is there something I should or shouldn't do to increase my changes of survival?
Last edited by pureheart on March 13th, 2019, 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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treeman
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Re: Wisteria leaf discoloured

Post by treeman »

pureheart wrote:Thanks Mike... I was hoping you would reply to this thread!
I just want to clarify that I made a note previously of what you said about Wisteria loving water so in my mix I didn't use the usual percentages that I use for less water craving plants and I added extra pine bark and coir peat to make it more water absorbent...

Do you think that there is no change that my air layer will survive? By the way I didn't disturb the roots when moving it to the larger pot... Is there something I should or shouldn't do to increase my changes of survival?
It's anyone's guess. On your side are the facts that wisteria is one of the easier things to layer and that you didn't disturb the roots. But you have done it very late in the season (mid summer is best) and how good are the roots???
To help your chances you might find a warm and sunny and preferably humid spot and fully protected from wind. Mist it as often as possible and turn it around once a week so every side of the layer gets warmed. Other than that..... :fc:
Mike
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Re: Wisteria leaf discoloured

Post by pureheart »

Thank you! Will do, I'll place near a corner of my house (double brick) that will be warmer and protected by the wind! :fc: let's hope my lucky star will help me with this one! I will update the thread in spring!
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Re: Wisteria leaf discoloured

Post by pureheart »

I can sadly confirm that I killed the wisteria …I did find a borer on the trunk so I will blame it for the death… I savaged a healthy root and planted in a small pots if it buds then not everything is lost!


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