On Nov 17, 4:45*pm, "AL_n" wrote:
Sacha wrote :

Can't improve on that! I'd put it back into its last pot, in fresh
compost, as Jake suggests, and water sparingly now that winter is
here.
*If you do have to water, it's better to do so in the morning, rather
than having pots stand about wet, all through the night. But
definitely, do ensure good drainage. *Yours is an example of why
plants get potted on gradually, something often asked on here. *Too
much wet compost 'drowns' them.

Thanks to you both. This is educational for me as I'm no gardening expert..
I took your advice and repotted back to the previous pot. I used some
compost mixed 50/50 with some sand and gravel which was surplus from a
concretete-making project.

When I removed the shrups from the large planters, the roots didn't seem at
all waterlogged. They looked like my idea of optimally moist. I couldn't
squeese any water out of the compost using my fingers. Anyway, there was a
period of a couple of weeks when they could have been waterlogged. After I
copiously watered them, it did rain off and on, for about a week. I wonder
if that was the cause.

I did not have any gravel or stones in the bottom of the pot. Perhaps I
should have included them to improve drainage.

The older (smaller) pots have castellations on the bottom, to prevent the
'standing in water' issue that you mentioned. I hope this does the trick.
I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Thanks again,

Al

But did the roots look to be in good condition? If the opinions of
Sacha & Jake are correct - and I think they very probably are, then
picking about the roots with your fingers you'd find that a lot of the
roots were soft and rotten.
My main experience with Griselinia is growing as a seaside hedge in
rather harsh sharply drained conditions so I'd agree with the others
that possible waterlogging is the most likely cause of your problems.
But now a couple of comments not directly related to your case.
The last repotting you did was on the late side for using such a
nutrient rich compost as JI3, I wouldn't repot containers much after
the end of August anyway, the plants need to grow into the compost
before it gets cold and wet.
Sadly there is now no such thing as John Innes compost unless you make
your own according to the JI Institute specification which was very
strict about the definition and treatment of the loam in the compost
mix. *Loam and soil are not the same thing* and JI is supposed to be a
loam based compost.
Current commercial 'JI composts' use any old soil that's available,
usually some exeedingly fine sandy/silty stuff with practically no
organic component and no crumb structure. That makes the compost very
dense and clarty - it's airless and stay too wet.
The loam in JI compost should be made by stacking and composting
inverted turves grown on a fairly heavy soil with plenty of humus and
structure about it, this is then sterilised and shredded (but not too
finely) to use in the compost and the result is a fairly open well
drained medium.

Rod