Collected Hawthorn struggling

[Paulneill]

This hawthorn was collected 6 months ago it has seemed to recover well. It recently pushed out a nice flush of growth just in the nik of time as the old foliage had slowly died back and dried up over summer. I noticed the last couple of days some brown spots appearing and yesterday 4 or 5 leaves had died . On closer inspection I found one tiny catapillers and 2 tiny black round insects. I gave it a dose of confidore tonight .

Has anyone any ideas what could be going on here it is potted up in a very free draining mix of diatomite / zeolight . And is in a wooden box sitting directly on the grass and getting about 4 hours of sun .

[Paulneill]

[Paulneill]

[Paulneill]

[shibui]

Looks health enough to me Paul. A few burnt edges and occasional dead leaf are not usually anything to worry about.
Hoping it has produced plenty of new roots but large stumps can often put out really healthy shoots and sometimes maintain them for a whole season just on stored energy in the trunk even though it has not produced any roots. I do not know of anything you can do if that is the case so just keep looking after it and cross your fingers that it has roots and will shoot next spring.

[Paulneill]

Yea but this foliage was brand new last week bright green and now it looks like it could be taking a turn
For the worst. Fingers crossed I guess , I think it maybe do or die time for this tree.

[dansai]

I would take it off the ground. All sorts of things can get into your potting mix like curl grubs which will eat the roots and worms which will turn an organic based (if that's what you have) mix into mush which would affect your trees ability to recover.

Other than that

[Boics]

From all reports a mix of diatomite and zeolite will not attract or support curl grubs.

I too think the growth looks pretty good and healthy.
Confidor will do the job on most bugs.
A fungal treatment will hopefully take care of the rest.

Good air, sun and climate will generally help fungal issues. Perhaps check this.

As Shubui said maybe it doesn't have enough live new toys to feed?
I've been tricked by stored energy before thinking things have survived only for trees to die due to no new feeder roots.

[bodhidharma]

Hawthorns also suffer badly with pear slugs and this year has been particularly bad. Hard to find sometimes but they do some damage.

[Paulneill]

Thanks for all suggestions guys.

Does anyone think there would be any benefit for folar feeding ?
I would also be interested on people's views towards how to go about fertilising collected maternal
I started feeding this tree a couple of months ago and it's probably had 3 or 4 since then some at half strength and some full strength.

[Ray M]

Thanks for all suggestions guys.

Does anyone think there would be any benefit for folar feeding ?
I would also be interested on people's views towards how to go about fertilising collected maternal
I started feeding this tree a couple of months ago and it's probably had 3 or 4 since then some at half strength and some full strength.

Hi Paul,
I agree with the guys about getting it off the ground. If it's in a box I presume you only have holes in the bottom. If so this may be preventing it draining well. Place it on 4 bricks under the corners. You didn't say what you were fertilizing the tree with.

Regards Ray

[Paulneill]

I know what u are saying ray. I am trying to let the roots escape out into the ground . I don't want to lift it now and damage any roots that maybe growing through. As for ferts I have used a few different ones .

Bonsai compact
Aquasol
Miracle grow
All chemical ferts

I have been using seasol often as well.

[shibui]

Just try lifting one end of the box. If there are no roots out the bottom it would be best to put it up on bricks until roots are well enough established to escape out the bottom. If there are already roots out the bottom you will not be able to lift the box - excellent indication it has recovered well and we need to look for other causes for the leaf damage. If there are only a few small roots out the bottom and they get broken by checking they will certainly grow back quick enough. On balance I agree with the others - better to check now and lift the box to allow free drainage if roots have not grown well.

Foliar feeding is good. Might just be the boost that can help it initiate roots if that is the issue.

[Ray M]

Hi Paul,
I totally agree with shibui, the overall health of the tree is your main concern at this point in time. The loss of a few roots is not important. If there are roots coming through this would tend to indicate that the tree is growing. If this is the case the roots will grow back very quickly. You mentioned that you put the box on grass. After you get the tree back to health and if you want to place it on the ground, I think it would be better to place the box on soil. Make sure there are sufficient drainage holes. For the present I would definitely lift the box and see what effect that has.

Foliage feeding should be okay. You may find this helpful. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16894&hilit=+foliage+feeding

When the tree recovers you could look at introducing some organic fertilizer, like Seamungus, into your regime.

Regards Ray

[Josh]

I have one I collected ages ago and it seems to do the same thing. It would put out growth then go like yours and die off. It is pushing buds hard but not doing anything with them. I repotted it and found the roots struggling as it was in a cheap mix. It had started putting out new roots but not much. I repotted into 70% diatomite 30% potting mix and put it in a better draining pot and it seems to be doing better. I think it spent a lot of energy trying hard so may take a while to really respond well but certainly better than than in the poorer mix.

Josh