Why do my plants die - Feb 19, 2016
Dear Gardening Friends,
I've been to Adelaide this week for a nursery conference. What a beautiful place. They haven't knocked all the old building down in this city so it has real character.
As I walked along the streets looking at the gardens I noticed that they have beautiful shade trees on both sides of the road. These deciduous trees shade the houses and cars in summer and then the leaves fall off to allow the winter sun to shine in. I also noticed that there was almost no roadside rubbish or graffiti in these tree lined streets.
During the conference Josh Byrne from ABCs Gardening Australia talked about Urban Tree Cover. Environmental Scientists have done arial studies of cities around Australia and measured the tree canopy. Sydney and Melbourne have the least amount of tree cover. Adelaide has 20% more tree cover than Sydney and 25% more than Melbourne so that's why it looks greener and is more liveable. It's actually been voted the 5th most liveable city in the world. I think both councils in Macarthur could plant more trees to make our city more liveable too.
You haven't heard how we went in the garden centre competition so unfortunately we didn't win. But I had a nice time meeting other nursery owners and there staff.
The overall feeling from the conference is that The Nursery Industry is in a crisis with Bunnings now dictating the industry. They don't send staff to TAFE to study horticulture so the education industry is collapsing too. People with Horticultural knowledge will be even harder to find in the future.
One of our customers complained about a plant dying this week ( see photo) and it reminded me of another story. A lady bought a grafted gum from us once and it dropped most of its leaves in the first month and she wasn't very happy. I said I would come out and look at her plant.
She lived a long way away but she travelled a long way to buy it from us so I followed her home.
When I arrived I noticed she had a beautiful green lawn and her pot plants up the driveway and on her patio were all thriving.
We went out the back and her lawn was bright green again and there was this dead looking grafted gum planted in the lawn.
I asked her if she fertilised the plant?
If you fertilise when you plant, the fertiliser burns the roots, the plant can't take up water so the leaves turn brown and the plant usually dies.
I asked her if she had been watering the plant daily?
If you don't water daily the plants feeder roots die and the plant can't take up water and the leaves turn brown and the plant usually dies.
I dug into the soil surrounding the plant and it was nice and moist. She had mulch around the top so this helps retain the moisture and helps prevent up to 80% of the water from evaporating.
I was scratching my head. She had done everything right but the plant was still dying. I then asked to borrow a shovel and I lifted the plant out of the ground. The root ball was dry as a bone. It had completely dried out. The water she had been putting on the plant was being repelled!
Modern potting mixes are made from pine bark or recycled green waste. They don't add enough river sand because sand is expensive. Once this organic matter dries out it is almost impossible to get it wet again.
Solution?
Dunk your plants in a bucket of water just before planting. (Add some Wettasoil if you have it) Hold the rootball under the water until all the bubbles stop.
Mix planting compost into your soil. This contains a wetting agent that helps to prevent the potting mix from drying out. Water daily around the root ball only (at least 10 litres) Mulch around the base and keep the grass at least one metre away. It takes at least a month before your plant grows feeder roots into the surrounding soil. Once this happens the plant will have a better chance of survival.
I hope this helps you have more success.
Come and see us if you need more help in the garden. Yes we are more expensive than the chains but we will help you have success so we will be cheaper in the long run.
Happy Gardening
Tim