Gardenia turning yellow

My Gardenia's new shoots are turning yellow. Is this caused by low magnesium or low iron? I've applied some iron sulphate with water so we'll see what happens.



Mike

The good news is that my Bouganvillea is doing well :)

Hi Mike give it a nice mulch of aged milled cow poo ...gardenias need a nice acid soil and cow poo has very gentle acidic reaction ...it improves the soil too.The boge just needs sun ...sun and more sun ...don't be kind to it or you just get lotsa leaves.
chrissy
PS I forgot to say watch the local dogs peeing on it ...that can turn them yellow overnight. (the gardenias )

Hi Mike, It sounds as though chrissy's on the ball with your plants and you too have done the right thing. I've heard a tablespoon of epsom salts in a 9 litre watering can will give the right ammount of magnesium for Gardenias. You know what I do? I pick the yellow leaves off! LOL.
Is your Bouganvillea a large or dwarf variety? If its a large one, treat it mean to keep it under control. if its a dwarf, just dont fertilise it, as Chriisy says, because it will grow water shoots that wont flower.
On another topic, my Sister lives in nelson. I went there once and travelled around in a house bus. I love the murals everywhere!
happy gardening and make sure you post any problems you have so we can stretch our brain muscles and show off our knowledge! LOL
Sue

I actually have two Bouganvilleas. I'm not sure whether they are dwarf or not - must check that. I'll have a look around for some of that cow poo you described.

Do any of you have citrus trees? Any advice re those would be good.

So which part of Sydney are you in chrissy?



Mike

Mmmm, I only have a Kaffir lime and a lemon tree. I ignore them and they are o.k.
I think I'm just lucky and was born with a green thumb. Are you jealous? LOL
I do get leaf miner and scale, but prune off affected leaves as soon as I can. I hate to use chemicals and believe observation is the best prevention.
Borer is a big problem too I believe. I've heard you poke a wire in the hole and stab the bug and I think metho is somehow involved.
Keep the grass away from the trunk (competition for water).
If the leaves begin to yellow, apply iron or hammer some nails into the soil around the tree. (I'm not sure if that really works)
If you have sheild bugs (stink bugs) knock them into a bucket of hot soapy water, using a stick, making sure you protect your eyes cause they squirt some kind of liquid that will burn! (and stink)
If your question is about pruning, a vase shape for all fruit trees is the preffered shape. Prune all touching, crossing, dead and twiggy growth, leaving strong outward growing branches.
Oh, gotto go have tea.
Keep em coming! (questions I mean)
Sue

I have
Kaffir lime
Tahitian Lime
Red Grapefruit
Maltese Blood orange
Buddah's Hand Citron
Two kinds of Manderines ...Honey Murcot and Ellandale (and seedling 10ft tall with fruit on)
Lemons x 2
Stone fruit:
Plums x 2
Pink lady Apple
Quince
Apricot
Elberta Peach and three unamed peaches
Necterine
Misc Fruit
Shatoot Mulberry
Persimmons
Pomagranite
Banannas (sugar)
Italian Table grapes
Fragala (strawberry grapes) from Italy
Panama Passionfruit and two Tropical types
Cape Gooseberries
Figs: Black Genoa,Adriatic,Brown Turkey.
Avacados
I think that is about it ...

So as you can see we enjoy growing our fruit and veg.
The citrus are pretty much like the gardenias ...hungry little blighters,I feed three times a year Spring/ Autumn/Late winter.
I spray with White oil and soap mix to keep the critters at bay.
Great trees ...citrus smell beautiful have lovely leaves and yummy fruit ...I hate the stink bugs but nothing is perfect and I wage war with theme every year.

You obviously have a rather large property chrissy. We have planted Figs and just recently, Avocados - so we will soon see how they perform. Which variety of Avocado is required to polinate Hass?


Mike

you got us there mike! Well, me anyway! That one will have to be looked up, and me, I just don't have the time today! Google it and see I reckon.
Yeah, Chrissy's got acres of good farming land! Lucky duck!
I've got a couple, but haven't yet finished my planting, and am trying to keep it all under control. I am a bit of a neat freak in the garden, so I can't afford (time wise) to overdo anything that may need pest control and pruning too much.
I do have a few fruit trees though, and some are just beginning to produce, such as the Banana (I can't wait for them to ripen)
I had 3 Fejoas on my tree this year, but they all fell off before ripening.
I had a Sharwill grafted Avocado and it just turned up its toes within weeks ($30 down the drain)
I have 2 mulberries which I treat mean to keep them small, and am rewarded with at least a cup of fruit a day, (in spring/summer) which is plenty, and easy for me to harvest every morning, and the birds haven't found them yet!
I also have a fig! Aren't they the best? I am getting one fruit every 2-3 days I spose, and the birds haven't found that one yet either.
What else have I got? mmmmmm, oh a Mango. It looks like a bonsai cause DH ran it over in the semi a few years ago, but last year we got 5 fruit and this year 7, so I highly recommend that treatment!
I think thats it..... and the best part is there is never any fruit going to waste, as its just enough, but never too much for me and DH to eat, so no rotting fruit, no fruitflies and the birds don't get a look in. However I do have to compete with two nutty Staffy dogs who like strawberries and peaches (oh yeah, dwarf peach) So I never get to eat either of those.
If you don't get an answer on your question, I'll look it up in a quiet moment.
Sue

Yes the Avocados are very fickle. Just the slightest mis treatment and they really pack a sad. It was a nervous first few weeks when we planted our Hass but it seems to be doing ok. Probably wasn't the best idea to plant it just before winter! We have alot of work to do to bring our soil quality up to scratch. Being on a hill, the soil isn't the best. The Proteas and succulents etc obviously will love it but the Gardenias for example, are already showing signs of unhappiness. Lots of weeding and feeding for us!

We have planted Figs and Fejoas also plus a dwarf Cherry and Apple. Would love to have a Mango but not enough room or warmth here.


Mike

I was surprised you can grow Avocados, but I remeber when my Sis lived in Motueka and had a large Avocado tree, dripping with fruit, in her back yard! We picked about a dozen, and over the space of 2 weeks, had one almost every day, and they were perfect!
I hate it when I spend good money on a plant and it keels over. It makes me wonder if it was dodgy before I got it? I will get another one, but wonder if I shouldn't just let one come up from seed? I know they're supposed to take 7 years to fruit, and that they wont have disease resistant rootstock, but maybe I'll give it a go anyway. I might be lucky!
What aspect have you got, (north facing? winds, frosts, temps, soil type e.t.c)
My next fruit tree is a custard Apple and maybe a Guava for making jams and attracting the parrots.