FW: This is not a weed question

Hi Folks, a friend of mine in Queensland has sent me a doozy of a question 
and while I've suggested maybe a trace element imbalance (either toxicity
or lack of) or maybe a fungal problem.... I'm not really sure.

Anyway she's given lots of details and someone may have the answer
for her.

On Melia azedaracht they can be a little two feral in Perth popping up 
all over the garden.  My mother used to kneel down and weed them all out as
soon as she
saw them, which was a lot of work there were thousands to weed each year.

Now she just waits till they are about 50-60 centimeters tall and pulls them
out
Much easier she reckons "no bending!"

The other small problem she has with her  tree that not many people may
appreciate
is that the fruit are highly favoured by rats.  This has lead to my mothers
house being 
infested on numerous occasions by rats who harvest the fruits and feast in
her roof space.
Rat  parties can be very noisy at 2 in the morning.  You can see the rats
collecting the fruits
from the branches on moonlit nights.  Any strange little piles of Melia
seeds minus the 
husks that you find stashed somewhere are courtesy of ole Rattus.

cheers, Rod
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Rod Randall
Weed Risk Assessment
Weed Science Group, Agriculture Western Australia
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> I received the following enquiry from relatives who live in the Kurrajong
> district, NSW.
> 
> "The problem we are having with the soil is as follows:
> 
> The soil was supplied in bulk as a 'garden mix' some nine months ago, and
> was used to fill a  landscaped garden bed.  According to the suppliers, it
> contained, amongst other things, rice husks and processed sewerage sludge.
> It also contains a reasonable measure of sand.  We planted a number shrubs
> in the soil including camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons and lavender,
> along
> with some herbs and sundry native species.  The plants were well-mulched
> (shredded tree prunings) and well watered.  We had good rainfall over
> spring
> and summer, and the soil is well drained.  After many months, we find that
> only a few of the plants seem to be doing at all well (lavender), and that
> most of the other plants look sickly. No new growth is evident from the
> last
> good season (while the rest of the garden in native soil has thrived). The
> camellias and azaleas are yellowing, and some natives are not healthy.
> Recently our son conducted a school science experiment by planting
> cauliflower seedlings in a number of soil samples including the garden
> mix.
> Those seedlings in normal or supplemented (enriched) normal soil are
> growing
> very well after several weeks, attaining some 12-15cm in height. Those in
> the garden mix have grown little, if at all. They are 4-5cm in height, are
> discoloured and distorted. The addition of fertiliser to one of the
> samples
> has made no difference.  We are very concerned that the garden mix is
> either
> toxic, or deficient in vital nutrients. The suppliers have suggested that
> the soil may have a pH problem and that we should use iron sulphate to
> correct it; but we think the near death of the cauliflowers suggests there
> is some other problem."
> 
> Since the paragraph above was written, the lavender has also started to
> "droop".
> 
> Soil testing revealed the following results:  
>  
> pH in water = 6.2;  pH in CaCl2 = 5.0;  Ec = .09
> Na = .13meq%, 3% of ECEC;  K = .44meq%, 10.10% of ECEC
> Ca = 2.38 meq%, 54.7% of ECEC; Mg = 1.4meq%, 32.2% of ECEC
> Ca/Mg = 1.7
> 
> Phosphate - P = 92.2 mg/kg; Ammonium - N = 2.2 mg/kg; Nitrate - N =<2.5
> mg/kg; Sulphate - S = <5 mg/kg
> Iron = 90.5 nm/kg; Zinc = 5 mg/kg; Copper = 1.5 mg/kg, Manganese 7.7
> mg/kg.
> 
> While some imbalances were evident, the soil lab was not convinced that
> the
> problems were solely nutritional, and suggested that heavy metals or
> pesticide residues might be the problem.  The latter comment made me
> wonder
> whether any enviroweeders had experienced similar problems?
> 
> Barbara Waterhouse
> 
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Barbara Waterhouse
> NAQS Botanist
> AQIS
> C/- Centre for Tropical Agriculture
> PO Box 1054 (28 Peters Street)
> MAREEBA QLD 4880
> AUSTRALIA
> 
> Tel.	(07) 40928546; (Int.) +61 7 40 928546
> Fax	(07) 40923593; (Int) +61 7 40923593
> 
> E-mail	barbara.waterhouse@aqis.gov.au
> 
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
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