Fatsia japonica
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Fatsia japonica
- From: t*@eddy.u-net.com (Tim Longville)
- Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 18:10:35 GMT
I know this isn't strictly speaking a Medit-Plants question but
desperation calls....
The question is:
What ails thee, rubber-plant in the ground, not alone but certainly
palely loitering?
Seriously, does anyone know what mysterious illness it is which
sometimes afflicts these creatures? I've now had the same symptoms in
separate years with two separate plants. Both were vigorous sizeable
specimens, say 8 feet high and wide. One day they were in rude health,
the next day the stems went flaccid (lovely word!), the leaves ditto -
and the latter shortly thereafter turn yellow, then (if they stay on
long enough) black, then drop off. First time, I finally cut the whole
plant to the ground in the hope that it would regenerate from
sucker-growth. It has - and apparently healthily - but so dreadfully
slowly I might have been better off digging it up and replacing it
with something more sizeable and with more immediate impact. I'm too
old to afford a decade for it to regrow!
In both cases this happened in the late spring. First time it happened
after the for us unusually cold winter of 95/6 and I thought it might
have been near-fatally weakened by that. But this time the winter has
been mild. What's more, there's no sign of insect or aphid damage or
presence that I've been able to detect. Both plants are in a
semi-shaded sheltered situation, reasonably moist. The border in which
they grow is quite narrow and the soil is neither deep nor rich. Might
they simply have exhausted it?? Even if they have, would that lead to
such drastic symptoms rather than just to, say, reduced rates of
growth?
Any suggestions gratefully received. Otherwise, I can see the bowsaw
coming out again forr Rubber Plant No 2.
Tim Longville
