Abiu - help!

My little abiu plants are not doing very well! They were groing so slowly I gave them a very light seaweed foliar feeding in the evening - and look what happened! There are no sign of any sort of insect, so is it the feeding? They haven't dried out either, but they are in full sun - is that what is wrong?

I think they will probably recover with some new leaves, but should I put them into the ground and take my chances with the slugs? I am doing something wrong because they should be a lot bigger and healthier looking by now, surely. They were planted sometime at the end of March.

Maybe you can tell that I am panicking ^_^. These two plants are too precious for me to loose! Need help from the garden gurus!

Aloha

Jen

Abiu (Pouteria caimito) are rainforest plants, and Kihei has desert type weather this time of year.
I think you are right about the sunlight. Put them in a more shaded area, where they get good lighting, but are protected from the sun in the hottest time of day. When they start to look good again, transplant them to two gallon pots and get them at least a couple feet high before putting them in the ground, which should be done during a cooler time of year.
A good thing to do is place a shadecloth enclosure around your abiu trees when you put them in the ground; you will notice many folks doing this with plants in your area.
This will protect them from too much sunlight and drying wind, when they are young.
Mature trees should do ok in Kihei if they are given ample irrigation.

Mahalo Dave. They are now under a big old plumeria tree so hopefully they will get some new leaves and start to look better.

For one definitely looks like some thrips damage to me in the physically distorted newest leaves. The white in the cells is something I can't put my finger on, but my DH might know- however he is off to a conference for several days. Seems to me going from memory it may be Manganese deficiency.

I don't think those plants need to be trasplanted at all. In fact, maybe not for a long time (Looks like good soil and very moist.) I think in Haiwaii you get a lot of rain and need to use granular fertilizer very often or otherwise all gets leached from the soil- esp. depending on your paricular soil chemistry.

I'll tell you another story. I received Chorisia speciosa seeds from two sources. One set of seeds had completely unkown international history and came up chlorotic and stayed chlorotic for several coyledons. My neigbor's seeds, however, made beautiful dark green seedlings that grew faster and made big fat calipers quick. Seeds can be virus laden and deficiency laden........

Or, maybe you are just not feeding your seedlings? In general, tropical and vegetable seedlings like liquid fertilizer in light doses on a regular basis by the second cotyledon.

I think your plants will live. Me, I'm still waiting for the seeds to mature...........we call it yellow mangostene.

F4F, thanks for the info, I couldn't find any insect on the plants, but maybe they have come and gone! They were looking very good until I hit them with diluted seaweed, coincidence?

Interesting about your seeds, my two seeds were from fruit that Carol sent me, which were delicious, by the way. They have a caramel after taste...yummy!

Acually, here in Kihei were are desert like, anual rainfall of about 11 inches, in a good year! They only look moist because I am watering them! Should I give the babies a light dose of MG while they look so stressed?

Manganese deficiency? Will look that one up while I am at work today. Thanks for your kokua (help).

Aloha

It is also possible that is that species way of showing soluble salt burn, and that would tie into the seaweed application. Do you have way of measuring soluble salts?

If the seaweed was something like Maxicrop, and was applied according to directions, it is very hard to burn the plant. Maxicrop soluble seaweed's analysis is N - 1%, P - 0%, K - 4%. The dry powder is recommended to apply at 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. The liquid version is recommended at 1 tablespoon per gallon of water.
I apply the stuff to all of my young plants and seedlings (including Abiu) at a rate stronger than recommended and get nothing but good results.
The hot drying winds of Kihei, Maui are harsh enough to dessicate cactus this time of year. It is hard on many plants just to be exposed to them regardless of the soil being sufficiently irrigated or not. Tropical fruit trees, such as Abiu, which love rain, easily suffer from the harsh weather, especially when they are young.

Yep, it was Maxicrop, and it was not too strong...Dave, how do you use Maxicrop - foliar spray or soil drench?
Thanks for all the advice!

Hey Jen, I dump the stuff all over the plant. Saturate the soil and soak the leaves. I use it most every time I water plants. It helps young plants to develop, as it provides a potassium supplement and micros. Potassium deficiencies are one of the biggest plant problems in windward Hawai'i because of the rain.
It does not replace proper fertilizer scheduling for your garden, but it is a great boost for the nursery.

Good to know!
F4F, no I wouldn't have a clue how to measure soluble salts, but Dave dumps Maxicrop on them with no ill effect so possibly it wasn't the feeding but the heat - I feel like a murderess! Hopefully they will start to look better now they are in the shade. Any opinions as to if I should give them a weak solution of MG at this point, or should I wait until they have grown some new leaves?

Ok, well in that case I would feed them again, maybe even with just a regular fertilizer in conjunction if that product is more of a micronutrient feed- get some nitrogen to those guys! I keep a lot of young plants and seedlings in shade or semi shade until they are strong- even the ones that are destined to live in the full sun eventually.

Thanks everyone!

Jen...I think just water the dear thing and feed it 'from time to time'. When plants are stressed is not the time to stuff them full of food....

C