brown leaves – Xtremehorticulture

Browning on Apple Tree Is Drought

Q. see (photo) my apple tree it is not in good condition, why? Can you tell me what I can do to help my tree? A. Thanks for the picture it helped. That is leaf scorch and leaf scorch is caused by not enough water making it from the roots to the leaves during hot dry weather usually. A lack of water getting to the leaves can be caused by soil problems such as too much salt in the soil, a lack of water in the soil, root damage, damage to the trunk so it transports less water or damage to limbs which does the same thing. When leaf scorch appears all through the tree canopy then we can pinpoint the trunk, roots or soil. In your particular case I think it is just a lack of water around the roots. The tree appears healthy otherwise. Take a hose and soak the area under the tree canopy with about 30 gallons of water. Repeat this again twice during the week. The leaves which are already damaged will not recover. But any new leaves produced after you begin this new irrigation should come out without scorching. If this is the case, you need to add more drip emitters around the tree or increase the number of minutes you water. Increasing the number of drip emitters is a better solution if everything else is getting the right amount of water.

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Cut Back Amaryllis When Leaves Turn Brown

Leave a Comment / brown leaves, first Frost, When do you cut back Amaryllis / xtremehorticulture

Q. What do I do with my 4 foot high amaryllis plants? How much should I cut them back? What is Amaryllis? A.Amaryllis is a perennial flowering plant that comes from an underground bulb, much like a tulip. At 4 feet tall,yours is a large one. The size may vary with a variety and light exposure. If they are not getting enough light the leaves will be very succulent. With adequate light believes should be leathery and more durable. Amaryllis is a fun plant to grow in the desert provided you amend the soil with compost and cover the soil surrounding it with an organic mulch such as wood chips that decompose and continue to improve the soil.Make sure you keep it away from late afternoon sun. You have your amaryllis in good exposure it sounds like with it in the East side with some filtered light during part of the day. Amaryllis does well with half-day sunlight. As you’ve already expressed I’m sure that you amended your soil with compost the time of planting and mulched the bulbs. Sometimes the flowers need staking because they can get a little top-heavy. They will die back at the first frost. At this time feel free to cut them back to the ground. Cover the bulbs with 4 to 6 inches of wood mulch through the coldest part of the winter. When all danger of frost has passed go ahead and uncover them and let them warm up. I would fertilize lightly once a month. You can buy Amaryllis in many of the stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s while they are in bloom. Enjoy them in your home while they are blooming and then transfer them outside and plant them in the ground or in a container. And planting them in the correct soil are both important with this plant. If you plant them in shade you might be disappointed when they don’t bloom the way they are supposed to. They need light but they should receive light during the cooler parts of the day and protected from sunlight when it is very hot. This means the Eastern or northern exposures are best as long as they avoid the late afternoon sun. Planting under trees that provide filtered light, but not dense shade, will also work. Soil improvement is extremely important. When you are planting make sure you add at least 50% compost to a desert soil. Soil amendments decides compost should include all meal or a high phosphorus fertilizer at the time of planting and mixed with the compost/soil mixture. You might need to stake the flower stalk at the time of planting if you fear wind damage. Use a thin bamboo stake and green nursery tape. As with any flowering plants in the garden, fertilize this plant with a good fertilizer for flowering like you might use for roses or gardenias. Fertilize them once a month lightly during their growing season. Amaryllis can also be used as a cut flower inside the home. More information on Amaryllis from the National Arboretum You will have to adapt this information to our climate.

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Privet Dieback Due to Irrigation

Leave a Comment / branch dead, brown leaves, Japanese privet, leaf drop, privet, Texas privet, twigs dead / xtremehorticulture

Q. We have had these trees in our backyard for 15 years. All of a sudden, one has a bare spot. What might this be? I enclosed a picture. Not readers but demonstrates dieback in privet due to infrequent or shallow irrigations A. From your picture the plant looks like Japanese or Texas privet. Privets are notorious for looking pretty bad, leaf drop and twig dieback when they are not kept moist. They usually do nicely in lawns or when surrounded by other plants with a similar water requirement. Typically they do not do well in rock mulch and if the soil becomes too dry. So I usually recommend that the rock mulch environment is enhanced with wood mulch or that other plants are included around the base of the plant that require more frequent watering.

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Bamboo Can Be Cut Back to Repair Winter Damage

Leave a Comment / brown leaves, cold damage, freezing damage, iron, repair bamboo, yellowing / xtremehorticulture

Q. I have bamboo that was damaged last winter as you can see from my pictures. New growth is emerging from them but they are still yellow and brown. Should I fertilize them or give them iron? A. If the plant is still brown from winter damage and the growth is yellow, the only way to really make them look good again is to cut them down and let them regrow from the base. This kind of damage is never going to recover from unsightliness without some regrowth. I assume this is a running bamboo like golden bamboo. They should come back if they are cut back to the ground but this is not the ideal time to do it. Prune cautiously this time of year. It would be okay to cut back the largest ones now but leave younger ones until you saw some good solid growth again from the base. Once you see healthy growth, go ahead and cut more back. Otherwise wait until next spring which would be ideal. Fertilizer and iron will be helpful as it is growing back.

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Plant Podocarpus With Leaf Scorch May Be Too Much Water

4 Comments / brown leaves, fern pine, sunburn, sunscald / xtremehorticulture

Q. I planted six Podocarpus (Fern Pine) in March, three by the north wall and three by the south wall. Now the three on the north wall have leaves that are turning brown. The three on the south wall are fine. I just didn’t realize that the trees would get this much sunscald. Any suggestions on what I can do, besides give them macronutrients and hope for the sun to change course? Readers podocarpus with leaf scorch Podocarpus showing very little podocarpus A. Judging from the picture you sent showing the leaves turning brown, I really do not think it’s going to be a continuing problem for you on the north wall once this is corrected. The south wall will be more of a challenge. I do not think this is sunscald but it is either a lack of water, watering too often or a lack of soil improvement at the time of planting. Since the problem you are having seems to be on the north side and not the south side, I might guess that you are keeping the soil too wet on the north side or they are not getting water. The north side and the south side are radically different micro-environments. It is much hotter on the south side than the north side. This means plants on the north side should be watered less often than plants on the south side. Notice that I said less often. The plants on both sides should receive the same amount of water but the difference should be in how often they are watered. To accommodate this difference in frequency of irrigation, plants on the north side should be on a different valve or circuit than plants on the south side. In the first picture it looks like you have rock for surface mulch. That will be a mistake for these plants in the future. It will be okay for a year or two but you should consider changing this out to wood mulch instead of rock. If you are going to have problems with this plant, it will be on the south side. These plants will tolerate a little bit of drought and infrequent watering so treat them like landscape trees and shrubs with deep but infrequent waterings. In other words, do not water them daily. At these temperatures, as long as you have good drainage, twice a week with about 10 gallons for each plant should be adequate on the south side if they are on drip emitters. On the north side, once a week would be adequate. If they are on drip emitters, they should have an emitter on each side of the plant. Put the emitters towards the front of the plant as far from the foundation as possible. There is a lot of calcium sulfate or gypsum in our soils. Adding water to soils high in calcium sulfate can increase corrosion on concrete. After mid-October you can cut your watering to once a week or longer but the same amount of water. In mid-December you can water these about every 10 days. These are evergreen plants so the damage will not disappear until new growth covers the damage to the leaves.

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