"Rod" wrote in message
ups.com...
On 21 Apr, 11:41, "Liz" wrote:

snip stuff about sickly Viburnum

Hi Rod


I haven't knowingly seen P. ramorum but that's not a happy plant so
it's as well you're getting
the DEFRA inspector to look. They won't be able to tell you straight
away but they have a quick test
that will show up if there's any Phytopthora species present and if
it's a positive test they will send it
to their lab for a positive identification.

It is definitely not a happy plant but I have hopes that it may survive - the older
growth doesn't seem to badly affected so it may have a chance.
Defra went to the nursery which suppled the V. tinus and actually did an "instant"
test on samples from the nursery and on my samples I sent to the nursery. The test
kit is a bit like a pregnancy test. Seemingly a line appears on the tester strip if
it is P. ramorum. Thankfully this test came back negative but defra have taken the
samples away for further analysis and will get back to us with results and any
treatment. I suspect they will suggest a fungicide. I may then have to decide
whether to use it or not as I'm trying to be as organic as possible and try not to
use any chemicals in the garden, especially the vegtable garden.
The nursery have been very good about this and will accomodate any decision I make.

There is one suggestion I
can make having read your description
of the post planting care. I do wonder if you've been a bit too 'kind'
to it?
Were the FYM and fertiliser well mixed with the soil?

The FYM and B,F&B were very well mixed with the topsoil and a "protective" layer of
ordinary topsoil placed on top of the mix to a depth of a few inches to stop the
roots coming in direct contact with any FYM to begin with. The planting hole was
quite large to account for the poorish soil/gravel/sand we have here.
It got two feeds of weak organic seaweed liquid separated by aboutt 2 weeks Apart
from that, nothng moreexcept watering as we've had no rain for over a month.

The FYM and fertiliser were sufficient to last at least until the
plant was growing away, so all you
needed to do was water during the dry weather.
Liquid feeding an already sickly looking plant is almost certain to do
further damage to roots that are
damaged or dying.

I will not feed it any more then.

Rest and a quiet life is what a sickly plant needs most if you aren't
sure what the problem is.

Ok, I'll leave the poor thing alone, apart from any necessary watering and walking
past and making encouraging noises :-))

Viburnums are funny things, they are susceptible to just dying without
any obvious reason so
I hope yours is one of those.

I wasn't aware they were so touchy - I always thought they were pretty tough.

Many thanks
Liz



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