Hi Kenty,
Thanks for your response. You may very well be right - it sounds plausible
.... I'm just going to have to look in a book. If I get anywhere, I'll start
a new thread rather than choke this one.
Regards,
Spider
kenty ;-) wrote in message
...
The only reason i can think of why not to have to large a pot is because
the
plant cant take up all the moisture from the compost causing the roots to
rot.Some plants like to be restricted especially those from hotter
climates.

--
Thanks Keith
"Spider" wrote in message
...
Hi Mike,
I have two Hamamelis, both growing in heavy london clay. There are
pockets
of acid and pockets of more alkaline soil in my garden, the latter
because
this land has twice been a building site. Because I am still finding
mortar
in the soil, I give my Hamamelis an acid feed from time to time, just to
make sure it can take up required minerals from the soil.

When originally planting, I mixed my own compost rather than buy a
peat-based ericaceous compost. I use about two-thirds composted bark
with
one-third John Innes No.2 soil-based compost, then added a granular acid
feed before mixing and working the final recipe into the planting hole.
My
Hamamelis seem to thrive in this: good summer leaf colour followed by
brilliant autumn leaf colour.

Because of last summers' drought, is it possible that your plants sat in
dry
soil for any period - a holiday, for example? Plants can only take up
soluble food, so starvation would be a possibility if water was wanting.
Conversely, if they were sat in water because you tried to avoid dry
roots,
the plants would also suffer: they appreciate good drainage as well as
moisture.

Finally, before you repot using ericaceous compost, why not try adding
an
acid feed instead? Hamamelis seem to be fairly tolerant and may cope
very
well with this little improvement. A feed would certainly be less
traumatic
than repotting while your plants are still weak.

Another thought now occurs to me: you say your plants are small and that
they are in large pots. Is it possible that the pots are too large? I
know
plants don't like being potted up in too large a pot (can't recall why
though! Anyone else know?), so could this be the problem?

Spider

Mike Crossland wrote in message
...
I have two small seed grown Wych-Hazels (Hamamelis virginiana) growing
in
large pots in a rich loam compost. It was pointed out to me last year
that
the leaves on both plants were too yellow, and that the leaves should
in
fact have been a much darker green. It seems that Hamamelis grow best
in
an
ericaceous compost, that way they will have the proper darker shade of
green
leaves. I have searched on the internet for verification of this,
without
success.
Before I re-pot, any help through the group please, from hamamelis
growers
would be most welcome.
Thank you,

Mike Crossland
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