Bay tree and yellow leaves
 

Evening all, Adrian here.

I'm not much of a gardner, scuba is my main passion, but relaxing in the garden is also important to me. Living in South Devon makes both easy. :D

Now I have a problem (else I would probably not be here :) ). We have a 10yo Bay tree in a pot. The bush is about 2 feet tall, the pot about 18" diameter and height. The pot is in sunlight until mid-afternoon. The bay was repotted this spring.

The problem is large numbers of yellow leaves, not just spots, the whole leaf. This as all over the bush. They eventually fall off. This has happened for the past couple of years, but seems to be worse this year. The plant is well watered, but I don't think over watered. So I am stumped for a cause. I have thought about mineral deficiencies, but can find no help on the interweb. So I am turning to you for further suggestions.

Any ideas?

Adrian

ukdiver wrote:

Now I have a problem (else I would probably not be here :) ). We have a
10yo Bay tree in a pot. The bush is about 2 feet tall, the pot about 18"
diameter and height. The pot is in sunlight until mid-afternoon. The bay
was repotted this spring.

The problem is large numbers of yellow leaves, not just spots, the
whole leaf. This as all over the bush. They eventually fall off. This
has happened for the past couple of years, but seems to be worse this
year. The plant is well watered, but I don't think over watered. So I
am stumped for a cause. I have thought about mineral deficiencies, but
can find no help on the interweb. So I am turning to you for further
suggestions.

This happened to my bay-in-a-pot (about the size of yours) a while back.
I thought it might be magnesium deficiency. I took it out of its pot,
removed about half the compost and trimmed the roots somewhat, and
repotted it with fresh compost mixed with Epsom salts. This caused the
plant to rally for a while, and then it started to deteriorate again.
So I reckoned it was probably getting too big for its pot. It got
planted out in the garden, and it began to recover.

I don't know what happened next, because I moved house. Now we have
bought a new bay-in-a-pot, about ten inches tall, and this will probably
get planted straight out.

So try Epsom salts and see where it gets you.

Rhiannon

Almost ANY plant with yellowing leaves that drop off need FEEDING!
A huge plant like a Bay Tree cannot exist in a pot with old soil without replacing the nutrients that it's already absorbed.

Songbird

ukdiver wrote in message
...

Evening all, Adrian here.

I'm not much of a gardner, scuba is my main passion, but relaxing in
the garden is also important to me. Living in South Devon makes both
easy. :D

Now I have a problem (else I would probably not be here :) ). We have a
10yo Bay tree in a pot. The bush is about 2 feet tall, the pot about 18"
diameter and height. The pot is in sunlight until mid-afternoon. The bay
was repotted this spring.

The problem is large numbers of yellow leaves, not just spots, the
whole leaf. This as all over the bush. They eventually fall off. This
has happened for the past couple of years, but seems to be worse this
year. The plant is well watered, but I don't think over watered. So I
am stumped for a cause. I have thought about mineral deficiencies, but
can find no help on the interweb. So I am turning to you for further
suggestions.

Any ideas?

Adrian


--

Hi Adrian,

Apart from the falling yellow leaves, is the rest of the tree healthy? My
Bay tree (once a potted plant, now planted in the garden) is extremely
healthy. It is flourishing. None-the-less, it drops many yellow leaves,
particularly this year. Although it is evergreen, it still needs to shed
its old leaves to renew itself. I'm sure this is what is happening to my
tree, plus a few extra leaves due to the drought. Your Bay tree, in its
pot, will be even more stressed in this very hot weather. As has been
suggested, you may need to feed it. The food supply in the new compost you
repotted it with will have been used up by now. Be careful not to overfeed
at this point in the season, as this will produce lots of soft, sappy growth
which will be damaged in the first frosts. Give a weak feed with a general
fertiliser, or a high potash feed.

Also, do make sure you're watering it enough - those evergreen leaves make a
very effective umbrella. Whilst you're tending it, look out for scale
insect, which is a pest of Bay trees. Do not use an insecticide on your
tree if you intend to use the leaves in cooking. With such a small tree it
should be easy to wipe off any scale insects that are visible.

Another thought is that the rootball is being 'baked' inside the pot due to
the high temperatures just now. See if you can insulate it; even standing
more heat-tolerant plants around the pot will offer it some shade.

Hope this helps.
Spider

Thanks all.

It does get regular watering and a feed every now and then. I will feed more often, and try the shade thing.

Adrian