AusBonsai

Hi all - Ive got a small purple-flowered mallee box (E. albopurpurea) which was growing just fine through the end of summer, autumn and as expected, slowed down for winter. Unfortunately, about halfway through winter the leaves appeared very dry and began to shrivel, and a few have fallen off.
Ive done no root work, its been slip-potted from a tube to small pot to the one its currently in now, and the soil has been watered occasionally, and it has dried fairly between each watering. I thought it might be root-rot, but pulling it out of the pot it was fairly dry, and no sign of rotting roots. It also appears pest free.
In a last ditch diagnostic attempt, I carefully bare-rooted it to get a closer look and it seems to be all fine underneath the soil so I put it all back together and gave it a small water.

Anyone seen this kind of leaf change/issue before?

Hi
I have experienced the same symptoms this winter. The soil is fee draining and not compacted. The only redeeming point is that it is starting to send out new growth at the tips so hopefully will grow out of its malaise. I can't add anything further at this stage.

Sounds like it’s dried out. If you have just repotted it I’d give it a good water, not a small one. Trees still need water available in winter and can dry out on a warm windy day so if you are only watering occasionally and letting the mix dry between watering the mix can become very dry and hard to wet. You should be aiming for natives to keep the mix with some moisture all the time amd when you water, water well so it soaks the whole football.

Doncha just LOVE autocorrect?!

There seem to be healthy buds in the leaf axils so it should go OK.

Gavin

GavinG wrote: ↑August 10th, 2021, 12:48 pm There seem to be healthy buds in the leaf axils so it should go OK.

I hope so! Even though it's only a year old, like all plants I'd love for it to kick on through another season or three before it meets its end.
I've kept it steadily watered to keep the soil from drying out, and I'm hoping the warmer weather starts to bring it back to life (some of my deciduous trees have already had some bud break!).

So, I was out doing some repotting of my deciduous, and I noticed something positive! If I had to guess, I was (inadvertently) letting it dry a little too much between waterings.. I guess I figured it wouldn't have dried out as much as it did throughout the winter.