One of my red leaved cordylines has snuffed it and on inspection
the bark at the base has rotted away and woodlice have moved in.
Another of these cordyline is suffering a similar fate, although
the bark has only rotted half way round. Are the woodlice the
culprits, or just taking advantage? If not the woodlice, what is
the cause? Thanks in anticipation.

"Steve" wrote
One of my red leaved cordylines has snuffed it and on inspection
the bark at the base has rotted away and woodlice have moved in.
Another of these cordyline is suffering a similar fate, although
the bark has only rotted half way round. Are the woodlice the
culprits, or just taking advantage? If not the woodlice, what is
the cause? Thanks in anticipation.

At a guess, it's frost damage. The woodlice then move into a nice home with
meals available.
The red cordylines are more tender than the green variety which itself is a
lot hardier when large.

Noticed a self sown seedling growing which is the first one despite ours
flowering for years.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

On 08 May 2005 15:21:54 GMT, Steve wrote:

One of my red leaved cordylines has snuffed it and on inspection
the bark at the base has rotted away and woodlice have moved in.
Another of these cordyline is suffering a similar fate, although
the bark has only rotted half way round. Are the woodlice the
culprits, or just taking advantage? If not the woodlice, what is
the cause? Thanks in anticipation.

If it was frosted as Bob suggests, there's a good chance it will shoot
from the base and give you several new stems, so don't be in too much
hurry to dig it up.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Bob Hobden" wrote in
:


"Steve" wrote
One of my red leaved cordylines has snuffed it and on
inspection the bark at the base has rotted away and woodlice
have moved in. Another of these cordyline is suffering a
similar fate, although the bark has only rotted half way
round. Are the woodlice the culprits, or just taking
advantage? If not the woodlice, what is the cause? Thanks
in anticipation.

At a guess, it's frost damage. The woodlice then move into a
nice home with meals available.

It's possible, but it would surprise me it was frost - I live in
London, and my Musa Basjoo came through winter relatively
unscathed, also a Surfinia from last summer is just starting to
flower.

The red cordylines are more tender than the green variety
which itself is a lot hardier when large.

Noticed a self sown seedling growing which is the first one
despite ours flowering for years.

Chris Hogg wrote in
:

On 08 May 2005 15:21:54 GMT, Steve wrote:

One of my red leaved cordylines has snuffed it and on
inspection the bark at the base has rotted away and woodlice
have moved in. Another of these cordyline is suffering a
similar fate, although the bark has only rotted half way
round. Are the woodlice the culprits, or just taking
advantage? If not the woodlice, what is the cause? Thanks in
anticipation.

If it was frosted as Bob suggests, there's a good chance it
will shoot from the base and give you several new stems, so
don't be in too much hurry to dig it up.

I won't dig it up, but going by the state of the base I doubt the
root is alive.

Janet Baraclough wrote in
:

The message
from Chris Hogg contains these words:

On 08 May 2005 15:21:54 GMT, Steve wrote:

One of my red leaved cordylines has snuffed it and on
inspection the bark at the base has rotted away and woodlice
have moved in. Another of these cordyline is suffering a
similar fate, although the bark has only rotted half way
round. Are the woodlice the culprits, or just taking
advantage? If not the woodlice, what is the cause? Thanks
in anticipation.

If it was frosted as Bob suggests, there's a good chance it
will shoot from the base and give you several new stems, so
don't be in too much hurry to dig it up.

I haven't seen a red one do that.

The ex-cordyline sent a shoot up last summer - gone now with the
main trunk :-(

In fact, I've yet to see
one that's
more than a few feet high, though green ones often reach 20+
feet here. I'm not sure if that's because the red ones are a
fairly recent introduction or because they just aren't tough
enough to survive long. Mine is called Torbay Red, anyone
know if it reaches "adult size" down there?

Not a red one, but I've seen a bronze one not far from where I
live - 15 to 20 feet. It's flowered a few times now.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
One of my red leaved cordylines has snuffed it and on inspection
the bark at the base has rotted away and woodlice have moved in.
Another of these cordyline is suffering a similar fate, although
the bark has only rotted half way round. Are the woodlice the
culprits, or just taking advantage? If not the woodlice, what is
the cause? Thanks in anticipation.

I was researching cordyline the other day (different story) and cane across
several articles (oz/nz origin) about a disease/condition cause unknown
which affects these plants fatally - may not be related but heres the link

http://www.nzes.org.nz/nzje/free_iss...col20_1_53.pdf

Nik