Signs of Life

[banksia]

Well, it appears that a couple of my deciduous trees have decided it's time to awaken. The first, an English Oak I've had for a little over 7 yrs (grown from seed/acorn)..... and the other, a Pomegranate, I've had for 5yrs.
The Pom. was in very poor health and I immediately put it in a grow box to regain it's vigour. After 2yrs. I repotted it into a mica pot and it went great guns.
Last year come Springtime, it developed a really nasty case of leaf-curl of some sort. All growth was distorted/affected and consequently a poor flowering/fruiting season followed.
This year I've repotted, and pruned a little and treated with lime sulphur. Now the first buds are now bursting. Is it alright to keep treating this....as previously at this stage the leaves appeared affected....and this year they don't.

Cheers!
Anthony

[dregs24]

great looking trees, congatulations

[Amanda]

Delightful. Congratulations

[kcpoole]

If they are not showing signs of being sick then I would not

Nice Buds

My Oaks are starting to show life now too
Ken

[kvan64]

Hi Anthony. Very nice new growth's colour. My English Oak is shooting out too but the colour is no where near as nice.

[banksia]

Thanks for the comments people. Ken. I'll stop the treatment for the meantime...let's hope it dosen't rear it's ugly head again. If it does I'll just have to try something different and hope for the best.
kvan64. I always have had this deep maroon coloured new growth...and it hangs around for some time. This year it's a little more intense than usual. Our winter this year was particularly dry with temps consistently between 3-8 degrees in the evenings. I think this is the reason for the deep, vivid colour I'm seeing now. However, I think your stock is alot nicer and offers more than my standard informal upright.

Cheers!
Anthony

[kvan64]

Thanks for saying highly about my tree. Apart for being big (used to be over 3m tall), it has a lot to improve (maybe some carving). I love the deep colour of your trees' new growth and would swap mine with your informal upright tree anytime

[Bretts]

Hey Banksia
That is a really nice Pom. I as some others experienced leaf curl distortion last year on various species. Even Street trees in my area where affected. Amur maple is first out as usual this year and all is looking good so far fingers crossed.
I also treated with lime sulfur during Winter at about 20-1 on the deciduous. I have seen this in my yard in previous years but it never caused the trouble it did last year. It will be interesting to see how the yard trees go this year as they have received no special treatment yet. Last year was reported as very bad for fungus and bugs in general with the seasonal changes.
We found a product called bravo worked well but it is not easy to get and is pretty toxic. I planned to give the better trees a preventative dose as they leafed out but am also considering the copper fungicides like Kocide Blue Extra.
I can't find much info about using these on broadleaf trees but it has been ok on privets so far.
Not sure Lime sulfur is a good idea to keep using now it is back in leaf but maybe it is ok at a weak solution.
I think if we where experts we would continue some preventative treatment after last year but I am no expert so I will leave that chioce upto you
Good luck!

Oh Yates Anti rot might be worth a try it is very safe and systemic. Don't think this can do any harm so might be the go for just a little insurance! I have been told you can not over do it with this stuff. Cheap too. Apparently you could bath in the stuff to no ill affect. Glad you reminded me

[banksia]

Thanks for the nice words Bretts. Sorry to hear you had similar problems with some of your trees...let's hope this year is different. I'll post a thread on the Pom. in the coming weeks, as I have a few things to ask regarding the way it's going.
On a side note (which I think everyone should know and might've overlooked). The other week I was treating some deadwood on some Bougies with "Earls Wood Hardener" and noticed at the very bottom of the label a warning....."Do not use on surfaces previously treated with Sulphur or Borates". Anyone know the reason for this?? and have I done any irrepairable damage by doing so??

Cheers!
Anthony

[banksia]

Well, it's been nearly a month now since I posted the last photos and I'm afraid it seems to be a case of deja vu. The Poms oldest new growth (if that makes sense) appears to have a slight twist to it. I'm not too keen on anything toxic, but have decided it maybe the only way to go. Does anyone have any experience/advice with this particular problem??.
Oh yeah!...I seem to have a slight problem with leaf size on my Oak aswell any thoughts?

Cheers!
Anthony

[Jamie]

loving that pomegranate matey! that is very nice

[kcpoole]

Jeez! what the heck are you feeding those oaks?

Never seen a leaf that big on one before

[Amanda]

Very nice. Mine have all burst this past week, my Chinese L.A crazily. Must take photos...

[Andrew E]

Hi Banksia,
I had the same issue with my English oak, super big leaves! I ended up using a fertiliser lower in Nitogen and cut back my watering a bit. Still enough water to maintain the health and vigour of the tree but not too much. A liquidamber of mine gets the same treatment so as to keep the leaves small. Make sure the tree is getting enough sunlight as this can also cause large leaves. The tree will produce the larger leaves to catch as much of the sunlight as possible. If you do put it in a sunnier position alter your watering to accomodate.
Hope this helps
Andrew

[banksia]

Thanks for the suggestion Andrew. At the moment (and all the time of had it - 8 yrs), I've feed it fortnightly with Powerfeed. In the past it's had considerably smaller leaves, but every now and then I get this!. I've recently moved into a new house so position and aspect has changed somewhat, but if anything, the amount of sunlight it receives has increased.

Cheers!
Anthony