Rod wrote:
On Jun 9, 10:36 am, "Ian B" wrote:
Symbio Symbio wrote:
Hi Ian,

Before i give you an answer could i pry a little further?

What are you feeding them at the moment and how frequently?

Also what is the soil like? Clay, Sand etc?

Last one .. How long have they been planted there?

I'm not sure how old they were as they were here when I got here 3
years ago. The soil is a rather dismal sort of dirty sand. I feed
them with Bayer Toprose, as per the instructions but a bit more
frequently.

Ian

All sorts of reasons for this a fairly common one but usually at a
more advanced state of growth is that the growing tip gets nipped out
by a feeding tortrix moth caterpillar. You need to look very carefully
for the culprit because they often run backwards and drop to the
ground at the least disturbance. However definitive evidence is that
the tiny dead bit comes off in your hand and the green bit on the end
of the remaining shoot looks as if it's been cut neatly and slightly
hollow - you'll probably need your reading specs to see this. The
drought probably isn't helping either - the caterpillars can't find
enough to eat, when growth is more abundant the moths have more places
to lay and the problem isn't much noticed.

Thanks Rod, I don't know what I could do to stop that short of a 24 hour
vigil

Not sure what state of growth would count as "more advanced". This seems to
be happening when they're really just starting to grow.


Ian