Oh Holy One,
in the absence of any more enlightened reply, I've a few pointers. Btw, are
these "proteas" exotic, eg nursery trade "natives" from S. Africa, or real
native proteaceous plants, eg. Banksias, Hakeas, etc? The following tips
are general for proteaceous plants anyway:
1. Firstly, knock a few plants out and inspect the root ball. Is it
overcrowded or badly kinked or round and round the ball; the mix dried out
or full of ants or worms or curl grubs; can you see fine fanned whitish
structures on the roots (the proteoid roots from whence the family name
derives); is it just a big gluggy pasty lump? All of these point to a poor
potting mix or infrequent watering or poor potting practice. Suggest
removing any pests and repotting in a more open mix (cheap commercial
potting mix is fine - I usually use stuff that is about $2 for 25L). Most
proteaceous plants refer well drained soil, despite the fact yours appear to
be derived from a clayey area.
2. Proteaceous plants commonly suffer iron deficiency chlorosis (lack of
green in the leaves). You can get iron chelate from any nursery/hardware and
apply according to directions. If the leaves green up in a week, that was
the problem.
3. A lot of people underfeed their proteaceous plants for fear of dreaded
phosphorous toxicity - your pix don't appear to show P toxicity. To check
yours for underfeeding, apply a high N (maybe 15-25%N), low P (less than
3%P) soluble fertiliser (often sold as 'suitable for natives') according to
directions. If the leaves green up in a week, that was the problem.
As mark Twain once said,"I'd love to tell you more, but I've already told
you more than I know."
Good luck, Jim
"Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish" wrote in message
...
I have quite a few proteas which are in poor shape. They are grown
from seed sourced locally (in the illawarra) from clay/loam soil and
sandstone soil. Not all plants are affected, but many are. The
symptoms are yellow and stunted growth. They are in a medium of
clay/loam soil mixed with 20% coir and 10% sand and perlite mix. A
picture is at:
http://www.speedlink.com.au/users/kd21/sick-plants.jpg
Any suggestions as to what's wrong, or remidies greatly appreciated.
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