Root, thank you for the pics. A picture of the full tree would have been preferable. The trunk won't tell us much TBH. The foliage (mass, density, colour, shape) will be speaking lots about the healthiness of your tree.
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| Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tree? http://weetrees.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18507 |
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| Author: | root [ 01 May 2019, 07:35 ] |
| Post subject: | Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tree? |
Hello, As the subject suggests I believe I may have a problem with my tree however I'm only a beginner andI am unsure. I've done a bit fo google searching but don't think i;ve found anything relevant. I've attached a few images of the tree's truck where you can see it is starting to go a different colour. is this something to worry about? The tree lives on a window sill which gets plenty of light and I water it every day by submerging half the plant pot and by spraying the foliage. Thanks, Nick |
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| Author: | daryl [ 01 May 2019, 09:12 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
That all looks a bit too wet to me and the soil surface looks as if it has some mould. Why are you dunking it everyday? You only need to water when it needs it, not to a schedule. If the soil surface looks dry, push a bit of soil aside with your finger and feel if it is damp. Only water again when it is dry. You will kill it if you keep overwatering, the roots will rot and that wil be the end of the tree. Can you post a picture of the whole tree? It will help people to give more advice. |
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| Author: | Sizzla [ 01 May 2019, 10:09 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
Even in cat litter soil I only water my indoor pots a couple of times a week, once a day in organic soil must be far to much. This is a common error, don't be disheartened, use it as an excuse to buy more trees! If you've got outdoor space, you will find european native plants to be very rewarding to bonsai and resilient to work. Welcome to the forum |
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| Author: | Loufada [ 01 May 2019, 12:56 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
As Daryl said, a sure way to kill a tree is to overwater it. If yours is still looking fine (share a picture), then you've contacted us just in time. From this picture, I'd say that it's lime scale that I see. Typical of hard water areas. Your organic soil acts like a filter. If you can, use rain water or filtered water. And only water when it' dry. When you tree is healthy, you'll need to think about changing that soil |
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| Author: | darreng [ 01 May 2019, 15:01 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
Just to add that the species has a reputation for being challenging in this country. I don't say that to put you off trying, more as reassurance that if further issues arise, it's simply a sign to buy some more trees of different species - and not a sign that you have a black thumb! |
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| Author: | root [ 02 May 2019, 07:48 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
Thanks for the response and great advice everyone. The only reason I have been watering it everyday was to keep the soil from going dry and I was dunking it because I thought it was less likely to compact the soil, does this not matter? I'll take your advice and check the soil each day to determine if it needs watering. I thought it might be root rot so since that picture was taken on the 27/04 I have been watering it only by spraying the leaves. I purposely choose a slightly harder tree to look after so once I've got a bit more knowledgeable and confident's looking after them I shall expand the collection :D Hopefully I've caught it in time as it seems a little healthier already around the trunk. These pictures were taken yesterday. |
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| Author: | Loufada [ 02 May 2019, 15:25 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
Root, thank you for the pics. A picture of the full tree would have been preferable. The trunk won't tell us much TBH. The foliage (mass, density, colour, shape) will be speaking lots about the healthiness of your tree.
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| Author: | bluesky [ 02 May 2019, 15:41 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
Looks fine to me. The darker bark is just where it stays damp for a time. My carmona sits in a free draining soil and so the water is constantly changed and oxygen-rich. I don't let the soil dry out, and generally water it about once a day. Mine is also on a warm sunny windowsill.. I'll put it outside around the end of this month. You need to make sure it doesn't get cold at night. The yellowing leaf is not an issue, Carmona is an evergreen, but as a broad-leaf it means that the older leaves will eventually drop off. The first time I repotted mine, 100% of the leaves turned yellow and dropped off within a couple of weeks. But then it bounced back a month or so later and started budding new leaves. My advice is to slip-pot it into a slightly bigger pot with free draining soil underneath and round the edges. When you slip pot, you don't do a root pruning, but you can tease away some of the clogged up, compacted soil that might be retaining oxygen-starved water which could rot the roots. Use rain water if possible or filtered as Loufada said, instead of dunking. Basically if you have free draining soil, and the tree is always warmish (though not just over a radiator!) Then its okay to keep the soil surface damp because you're continually replenishing the oxygen supply to the roots. Watering with a can is good because as the water filters down through the soil it pulls down some oxygen with it. Search this site for advice on slip potting and soil. I use 50/50 akadama/organic sieved to granuals of about 4-5mm. You can get premixed and sieved soil from any of the online sellers, try the advertiser sites here for example, or Kaizen. |
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| Author: | bluesky [ 02 May 2019, 16:04 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
Another thing. Pinch off all the flowers on a regular basis, like every couple of weeks. They're not particularly pretty flowers but they attract a whole host of insects, mine has had scale, aphids and whitefly before I discovered the flowers were to blame. Also, arguably, the flowers take some energy from the tree and you want that to go to leaf and root growth. Careful pinching the flowers, because each pair of flower stems are stronger than the new leaf stems so you can end up also with a small leaf or two between the fingers. Might be simpler just to snip the flower stems with fine, sharp scissors. 
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| Author: | root [ 02 May 2019, 18:34 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Is there something wrong with my Carmona Macrophylla tre |
Loufada - Sorry, I did try adding a third image but for some reason, it although it went through the whole process and looked as if it completed successfully no file was added. I've added some of the whole tree now. Hopefully as you said it will give you a better idea of its current health. I've noticed a few black spots on leaves recently too. When I first got the tree it was infested with aphids and had a lot of leaves with black spots. This seemed to pass after a month of getting rid of the aphids. Loufada/Bluesky - You mentioned changing the soil when the tree is healthy. I see Bluesky has mentioned using 50/50 akadama/organic and to replant to a slightly bigger pot. Would the state its in currently be a good time? I'll start using rain water when I can. I've got a rough idea of slip potting however a video would probably give me a better idea so I'll be having a look online later on. |
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