advertisement


Gardening

Anyway I’m bracing myself for it’s imminent death, and wondering what to replace it with - probably another, but any other suggestions wouldn’t go amiss. Preferably something which will look wonderful in my lifetime.
Click to expand...

It may be that it has lost vigour after 20 years, and needs to be divided like many perennials. Can you chop it back, and put a divided healthy root section in a pot?

There are many options to replace it - we have a dwarf Wisteria (Amethyst Falls) which doesn't spread uncontrollably, and might work well in the location you show in your photos. Or possibly one of the newer varieties of lonicera?
 
Tantris said:
It may be that it has lost vigour after 20 years, and needs to be divided like many perennials.
Click to expand...

Vitis?????

The perenial plants are notorious for outlasting multi generations of humans - same family as grape vines, which last almost for ever.
 
But notoriety doesn't mean that plants don't behave differently in different circumstances. There are many plants that are routinely described as invasive, that are well-behaved in certain locations. And vice-versa. That's one of the interesting things about gardening! I had a romneya that remained small and well-contained for several years, for example.
 
Good luck dividing Vitis - normally they form a single trunk, although that may sucker and/or produce water shoots. They are climbing shrubs/trees, NOT perenials in a gardening sense.
 
Vinny said:
That uniform die-back - it is an ex-plant, I'd bet good money on it. If not specifically phytophthora, there are many and various fungi that could be to blame - you could hunt online for ever looking for one that is claimed to produce the very specific symptoms that your plant has.

Take the time to work out what's going to replace it.
Click to expand...

Groan.

I shall plant another Vitis coignetiae I think. The leaves used to turn the roof of that passageway into an igloo! The buds are gorgeous and the Autumn colour once every five years is psychedelic.
 
mandryka said:
The leaves used to turn the roof of that passageway into an igloo! The buds are gorgeous and the Autumn colour once every five years is psychedelic.
Click to expand...

The major plus, and the major minus (for many), of Vitis and the near realtives :)

If it does bite the dust, as I fully expect it to do, even if it takes 2-3-4 more years to do it, I would suspect some fungal disorder. In which case, another Vitis (any species), planted anywhere near, would be a BAD idea.
Could you get the same effect (eventually) by planting a "good" distance away and training it? That would be no guarantee, but would at least stand a chance.
 
Mike Hughes said:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...dc-study-urine-samples?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Click to expand...

If you read the article, the glyphosate is associated with round-up-ready crops (crops that can be sprayed with glyphosate weedkiller as they have been genetically engineered to be resistant). Round-up-ready crops are illegal in the UK and EU, as is the import of the same as human food.
The US permits FAR worse chemicals (so far as EU/UK legislation is concerned) as actual food ingredients.

Alwys be very aware, even wary, of details in this sort of report - not least as correlation is no proof of causation.

We all have detectable amounts of plutonium in our bodies too.
 
mandryka said:
Groan.

I shall plant another Vitis coignetiae I think. The leaves used to turn the roof of that passageway into an igloo! The buds are gorgeous and the Autumn colour once every five years is psychedelic.
Click to expand...
So is the fortnight of foliar feeding up already?
Or you have discovered the problem? Sry i didn't read all the thread
 
Rockmeister said:
So is the fortnight of foliar feeding up already?
Or you have discovered the problem? Sry i didn't read all the thread
Click to expand...

Well, thanks for asking. It has been fed and watered, prayers have been said and candles have been lit.

It is looking more or less like you would expect it to look in October. That’s to say, although there is some sickly yellowing, it seems less pervasive now, and there are more of the golds and reds that you often get with this plant in autumn. There is no leaf fall, no crispy leaves, and no sign that it flowered at all (i.e. no raisins) The leaves are not as big as they usually are and it is definitely not as vigorous as it was. There was a lot of dieback over winter and it has not replaced any of it as far as I can see.
 
I suspect that it is too far gone, and I have no idea what is available in terms of treatments, but a systemic fungicide might be worth a try.

The other obvious thing that had passed me by, would be vine weevil - have a REALLY good scratch around to a few inches down, around the base. The best treatment for vine weevil grubs would be nematodes, but even if they were to blame, would it recover/regrow enough roots??????????
 
I'll check for vine weevil tomorrow @Vinny.

Here's a good image of a very badly effected leaf, in case anyone has any ideas. Could it be downy mildew? There's an image here

What can be done for late season downy mildew on grapes? - Grapes (msu.edu)

leaf.jpg
 
Not mildew - maybe an effect from a photo' posted online, but that looks like what would normally be called bronzing.
 
The discoloration is a reasonable fit for magnesium defficiency. If it is, presumably down to some quirk of the weather this year??????
Treatment would be to spray with epsom salt solution, plus a splash of washing-up liquid - around 400-450g in 10 litres, repeated every couple of weeks for 4 weeks.
 
No sign of weevil grubs?

The epsom salt solution is pretty concentrated and I can imagine you easily getting through a gallon for one dose using a sprayer. As ever with garden chemicals, unless you can find a local sorce, you'll pay about as much, or more, for p&p as for the product.

Maybe later in the year, if the Mg does not perk it up, carefully expose some wood towards the base of the stem - nothing TOO drastic - and have a sniff and thorough look - fungus infection very often shows under the bark and also often smells mushroomy.

Here's hoping for the Mg.
 
Vinny said:
No sign of weevil grubs?

The epsom salt solution is pretty concentrated and I can imagine you easily getting through a gallon for one dose using a sprayer. As ever with garden chemicals, unless you can find a local sorce, you'll pay about as much, or more, for p&p as for the product.

Maybe later in the year, if the Mg does not perk it up, carefully expose some wood towards the base of the stem - nothing TOO drastic - and have a sniff and thorough look - fungus infection very often shows under the bark and also often smells mushroomy.

Here's hoping for the Mg.
Click to expand...

Not a weevil grub in sight!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top