Serrata leaf discolouration

[MattM]

I noticed this on my Seratta yesterday. I have been away for a week and my neighbour watered my bonsai. The day before I went away I watered with Charlie carp solution at recommended dosage. It was the first time I have ever used it.
Why do you think the leaves are discoloured, I've never seen it before.

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[MJL]

Hey Matt, sometimes Powerfeed seems to do the same to my Chaenomeles - even with a diluted mix. I know you have used Charlie Carp mix and it’s a different species of plant but I reckon it’s related to the use of Charlie Carp. If it’s any consolation - my flowering quince generally bounce back well even if heaps of leaves are ‘burnt’.

My usual caveat applies - I’m no expert - just discussing my experience.

Mark


Bonsai teaches me patience.
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[Boics]

Looks relatively healthy to me.
Sometimes leaves die, from what I can see I'd not be too stressed.

I've used Charlie Carp before on my banksia no worries.

[MattM]

Thanks for your replies. I usually feed with seasol or the native "seasol " alternately. I'll see how it goes.

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[Rory]

I’ve lost many banksia from liquid fertilizer over the years.
First off, if it’s the main species it will fair better. Serrata is quite a hardy species, but that was silly to use liquid fertilizer at recommended dosage for trees for the first time. It can easily kill a banksia at full strength. But I don’t recall losing an integrifolia or serrata from liquid fertizlier before. But it’s a big gamble. Start really low like 20% strength and build up over time. If a Banksia is sick after strong liquid fertilizer being applied then it’s a good bet it’s going to die.

I’ve had Banksia die from the base up after receiving too high a dosage of liquid fertilizer. It seems to die off gradually from the base up. I don’t want to alarm you, but I’ve lost many from this in the past.
I actually don’t really use liquid fertilizer anymore with Banksias, especially dwarfs and hybrids. It’s not worth it. I stay with slow release pellets. It’s safer and more than enough for Banksia. I have found that even in poor or sandy soils without many nutrients, they grow really well with just slow release pellets.

Generally if I leave a liquid fertilizer (I’ve used powerfeed) on the leaves of most Banksia I get leaf burn the next day especially if it’s a sunny day. But to be honest I’ve never used a liquid fertilizer at full strength for the first time on a banksia without attempting to build up tolerance first.

If this was a hybrid or dwarf variety Banksia you’d probably give it its last rights.

Just continue to water as normal and wait and see.

Also make sure it doesn’t have root rot. If it’s been kept too wet for too long and the mix isn’t draining well enough it also usually dies from the base up. The fact that the bottom leaves look like that isn’t great. The top leaves look fine, but that doesn’t look like regular leaf death to me.
If it was fertizlier burn usually all the leaves are burnt, unless you watered it by hand around the base and got the fertilizer only on the bottom leaves.

[Raging Bull]

Hi Matt,
If you think it is caused by the liquid fertilizer perhaps it can be flushed out before doing more damage. For fertizer overdose I would try to run water over it several times a day and make sure it drains away fast each time.
On a more hopeful note, I have a banksia integrifolia prostata that I'm growing into a cascade, and that is fertilized with Powerfeed every 2-3 weeks along with the rest of my trees and it's thriving.
Cheers, Frank.