Have I poisoned my honeysuckle and clematis with 'kindness'?

Discussion in 'Compost, Fertilisers & Recycling' started by Mitramonday, May 4, 2021.

  1. Mitramonday

    Mitramonday Gardener

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    Hi all - The other week, I planted a honeysuckle (to train round a tree stump in my border) plus two clematis in large pots. I mixed in some blood, fish and bone meal but didn't measure it. Now all 3 plants are looking rather sick (to me)...are these signs of scorching the roots, or otherwise poisoning them with too much fertiliser :sad:? If so, is there ANYthing I can do to save them? Would it be too late to replace some of the fertilised compost with fresh (omitting the fish blood & bone)?
    Photo 1. shows the honeysuckle with some discolouration of the leaves (some of them, in real time, seem to have a pinky/purplish hue to them)
    Photo 2, 3 & 5 show the clematis with the same type of discolouration
    Photo 4 shows damage from some critter or other...so far, only one leaf that I can see?
    I also tried the inserted milk bottle for irrigation purposes in the clematis pots...not sure whether this might have drowned the roots (although this wouldn't explain the same discolouration on the honeysuckle leaves)?
    ANY advice would be very gratefully received:dbgrtmb:! IMG_5879.JPG
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  2. NigelJ

    NigelJ Total Gardener

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    @Mitramonday How much blood, fish and bone did you add?
    Had you bought the plants recently or a while ago and then hardened them off before planting?
    Given the cold weather and especially winds we have had recently I'm thinking this might be part of the reason for the discolouration. A number of my plants are displaying unusual colours for this reason.
     
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    • Mitramonday

      Mitramonday Gardener

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      Thanks for responding @NigelJ! And I'm feeling pretty silly right now...I bought the plants in March from my local supermarket and, because they weren't tiny seedlings (and they were in an outside, albeit covered, 'cage') I didn't even think about hardening them off :redface:). I didn't get to plant them out until the other week (waiting for my new fence to be installed) so they were in a (cool) bedroom...
      As far as the blood, fish & bone...at a guess, I would say I mixed in a (small) handful with the compost from the planting hole.
      Bearing in mind I don't have a greenhouse - the only 'sheltered' place I have is a cellar that has no light - is there anything I can do to help these plants?:dunno:
       
    • NigelJ

      NigelJ Total Gardener

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      @Mitramonday I don't think you used too much blood, fish and bone.
      I think the problems are due to the cold weather. Probably best thing to do is leave them and hope the weather warms up soon. Keep an eye on watering as you don't want them drying out, but you need to avoid overwatering as they are only growing slowly at the moment.
      As for hardening off in the future I would stand the new plants outside during the daytime with some agricultural fleece round or over them for the first few days and then bring them inside at night.
      It's a fairly reasonable to assume that all supermarket plants need some hardening off before planting as they have been grown in protected conditions and grown quickly.
      Even with established nurseries if the plants have come out of a polytunnel or similar I always harden them off for a few days before planting.
       
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      • Mitramonday

        Mitramonday Gardener

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        Many thanks again @NigelJ ! I will keep my fingers crossed and remember in the future to harden off any plants I buy! Even if these 3 plants don't survive, I shall take it as not a failure, but a teaching ;)!
         
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