Newly planted Box hedging turning yellow

As per title, I recently planted some small potted box - and over the course of the 2 weeks since they were planted the leaves at the top have started to turn yellow. This has happened on about 18 of the 20 planted.

Hopefully they will turn back to green as they settle down and take root, but as I followed all of the planting instructions to the letter I am starting to worry that something is wrong, or I might be over or under watering them (they have had a sprinkling every other day when it hasn't rained).

Any guidance on care (or reassurance that I am worrying about nothing) would be welcomed.

Thanks,
Colin.

 

Any chance they had a hard life before you got them? Delayed in post getting to you? sat in a non-specialist nursery being neglected before sale?

Did you prepare the soil well, or have you (to give a facetious example) just dug small holes in the lawn and plonked them in?

In terms of over/under watering I would suggest sticking a finger down the side of the rootball (the soil originally in the pot) and trying to feel how wet, or dry, the rootball is. If you are worried about them digging one up to check would be advisable (I'd prefer not to disturb it, but better we put one under stress checking it, than lose the lot :( )

If you have been watering slightly away from the soil that was in the original pot then that rootball may have dried out - i.e. the rootball may not have been able to "draw" water from the surrounding soil - this is a physical thing as the type of soil in your garden, and the type in the original pot, are different and that fact can be a barrier to water passing easily between the two.

Alternatively you have watered close to the plant and the rootball is sodden because the excess water is not escaping to the surrounding soil (same physical principle).

Either way, they should not need watering every other day at this time of year. "Little and often" is not a good watering practice, and "less frequently, but give a good drench each time" would be better. This time of year I would doubt you need more than once a week - weather not hot enough to make the plants drink fast enough to use more water, and your soil probably has reasonable moisture at present, provided its not very sandy / free draining.

I agree with you that the fact that they are all going yellow, rather than one or two, points the finger to a common problem, possibly your husbandry if we cannot blame something to what happened to them before they came to you.

(Would help if you pop your Town/County in the LOCATION field of your Profile, so that advice can take that into account )

 

http://www.maximumyield.com/article_sh_db.php?articleID=654&submit=Go

snip:
Nitrogen, iron and magnesium deficiencies are common in plants and each presents symptoms that involve different leaves yellowing. Plants that are deficient in nitrogen have their oldest leaves on the bottom of the plant turn yellow, magnesium-deficient plants have the leaves in the middle of the plant turn yellow and young yellowing leaves at the top of plants are a sign of iron deficiency. Each of these deficiencies is caused either by the use of poor quality nutrients, fluctuating pH levels or high EC readings, causing nutrient lockout.

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try some Maxicrop Plus Sequestered Iron (costs approx £8) .... use it as a foliar spray aswell as a soil drench (has seaweed aswell as Iron)

http://www.inest.co.uk/products/Maxicrop_PPSI61L_Plus_Sequestered_Iron_1L.asp

there are other more expensive products aswell

would also be good to test the ph of your soil (there are some cheap test kits on ebay) ... if the ph is way off scale, that could also be the problem ... you only need to check it once to get an idea of what range ph your soil is

then, add a good mulch of well rotted farmyard manure, and only water twice a week until they establish, then only water once a week (a good drench) thereafter (during the growing season) ...

a good foliar spray of seaweed extract or fish emulsion once a month will also benefit

 

I agree with the foliar feed with Seaweed, good "tonic" in such situations.

However, I don't think yellowing of the leaves caused by micro-nutrient deficiencies would arise within 2 weeks of planting, nor pH issues etc. (unless the pH is right off the scale!)

 

2 weeks of overwatering may also not be the problem (unless the plants were drowned) ....

the problem could also be that these were grown in a hot house and have not been hardened off properly before being sold .... so, a good dose of seaweed with iron will not harm

excessive ph scales on either side of neutral have very fast effects and this is often discussed on hydroponic forums .... the consequences show within days ... however, I doubt this is the case here, but it's always good to know what soil/ph your garden has and only has to be tested once .... a cheap kit costs under a fiver

 

I've grown on Hydroponics, and agree the changes using that medium are dramatic and quick. (I've seen a Tomato crop strip then phosphate concentration down to zero in a few hours once the fruit start to form! which is not a lot of use if all you have is a dosing pump working on the salt concentration only [we had a full laboratory with fancy automated test equipment])

But I don't think it would be equally dramatic in physical soil - if the soil was that high/low a pH there would be nothing growing in the soil nearby!

I think, like you, more likely something before they were planted (or even before they were bought perhaps). Either way foliar feed is a good remedy - and a bit of "fingers crossed"

Only other thought that occurred to me (also discussed on another thread recently about Leylandii that were looking sick) was if the roots are sitting on a generous helping of, say, Bonemeal when they were planted

 

Hi,

Many thanks for all the replies - there's certainly a lot to think about...

I thought I had prepared the soil well... the whole border was turned over and mixed with fertilizer, and the box planted in a dampened trench. I did put some slow release plant food in there, although I wouldn't say it was too generous a helping (certainly wasn't more than was recommended on the tin).

I have had a close look at the soil and it is moist to the depth of a finger, but not soaking. But the moisture does seem evenly spread. I'll hold off on watering for the time being though...

I have no idea what the ph of the soil is - so will get a testing kit...

The soil does seem quite good, although the hedge has been planted in place of a large conifer and another couple of bushes that were pulled up about 2 weeks before they were planted.

The Box themselves came from a local garden centre (Walsall / Sutton Coldfield area) which has a very good reputation, however the plants only came into stock a couple of days before I bought them - I believe they had been shipped in from either Belgium or Holland.

Thanks again,
Colin.

 

Sounds "spot-on" to me

Likely to be a bit starved of nutrients then, but IMO that won't show up in two weeks ... as *Dim* proposed, Seaweed foliar feed would be a good tonic for that scenario, and applications [once or twice a year] of fertilizer (both are fine), like you have already done, will remedy that over time.

I think it is unlikely that they were housed indoors prior to you getting them (they are a very hardy plant), but if they were they could suffer "cold shock" being planted out [without "hardening off"]. I suggest you mention the problem you have to the garden centre. If they have other similar reports they can look to their supplier for redress for you. Take a photo, including a close up, with you perhaps?

If they are specialist, rather than just being a "shed", they will hopefully have knowledgeable people available, and will be familiar with local soil type / weather etc. and give useful advice.

 

just googled and found this:
http://www.boxtrees.com/hedging.html

says it grows in any soil .... the conifer that was removed would have dropped leaves and the soil nearby may be slightly acidic .... which according to the link should not be a problem

and it also says this:
If a box plant is short of nutrients, it will only grow very slowly. The leaves will tend to become coppery brown, or will develop cream or yellow tips and margins. Once good growing conditions are restored, the leaves will become uniform green again within a few weeks

it's not been overwatered .... so that leaves 2 possible scenarios (that I can think of)

first being the fertilizer that was applied? ... what type of fertilizer was applied in the planting hole?

and secondly, the possible scenario of where the plants were not properly hardened off before selling to the garden centre

I know with some palms from Holland, they arrive in the UK 'stretched' .... i.e. they are grown close to each other and under cover, so they grow taller faster as they search for light ...

these are affected by 'box blight' but I don't think this is the cause, as the leaves get brown spots

but I'm just guessing here (I've never ever planted any of these) ... but still say try the seaweed with iron

If you want to spend a bit more, there is a product called revive that is made by a company called advanced nutrients .... I bought a bottle recently (costs £20) .... supposed to be very good, and a bottle goes a long way .... but i am a sucker for gadgets and will try anything at least once....

you can buy this from most hydroponics stores, or off ebay ... I read lots about this on hydroponic forums where people have used the product and have been happy

http://www.advancednutrients.com/hydroponics/products/revive/revive_product_information.php

I've used it on a Chamaerops Humilis palm that got whacked with the -18 degrees C cold we had for 2 days .... the palm has not got worse, so it's still too early to pass judgement on this product

 

Many thanks for your detailed replies - your help really is appreciated.

The guy I spoke to at the garden centre was the manager and he seemed very knowledgeable on box (although it wouldn't be difficult to fool me!) - as he said he has these in his own garden. So I think the suggestion of taking some photos and going back to see him is a very good idea. I'll have to go up anyway to get some of the seaweed feed.

The fertilizer I used was farmyard manure, although what exactly this contains I wouldn't like to imagine

From the responses I've had here, and further reading on the web, I'm beginning to think it's a combination of the ground having had all the nutrients stripped out by the conifer, and they way they have been grown / stored before I purchased them. Both of which hopefully should be helped with some seaweed feed and a bit of time.

I'll report back once I've visited the garden centre again.

Thanks again,

Colin.

 

Sounds good to me - at least they will be receptive. Key issue will be if they have had other complaints.

If it is fresh that could be an issue ("too strong"), well rotted would be fine.

There is a slight possibility that it could be contaminated with herbicide (specifically Aminopyralid). If you have any left, from the original batch, I recommend growing some beans in it, in a pot (plastic vending cup with drainage holes in the bottom will do if you don't have any pots) as the bean plants will clearly show the symptoms within a couple of weeks.

 

I would look into their positioning also. I have a very similier problem to yours when i bought 50 young Box plants. When i got them back,and planted, some leaves were going yellow and some were dying off. After various advice, i went back to the supplier. It turns out that he grew them on in a shaded wooded area. Not complete shade but dappled. My plants had been planted into direct sun, the shock of the planting plus the sun really put them back. Browninsh leaves and some even yellow. I found the ones in the more shadier side did much better. None died though. I still have them now and all growing.
My advice is that if they are in strong sun, make sure they are watered thouroughly during summer, i folia fed mine with sea weed as well.

Hope it helps.

G

 

Good advice Mr Grinch - if that might be the problem they could be shaded with some old net curtains etc for a few weeks until they have acclimatised to the stronger light than they were used to

 

Thanks for letting me know - that looks like it could be the cause (or at least a contributor)... I went back to the garden centre at the weekend, and the remainder of the consignment that mine came from looked in very good condition - and they were in the shade (mine are in direct sunlight for the first half of the day).

At least you have given me some comfort that they will not all die off... I just need to look after them better for the next few months...

Thanks again,
Col.

 

Plenty of water Col in dry times and water at night where it will have time to perculate to the root.
Good luck.
G