Not A Happy Camp(sis)er!

Can anyone help me before my plant disappears completely?! A month ago I bought a beautiful, bright yellow campsis with a lot of growth on, which I cared for in the greenhouse for 2 weeks until I decided where to put it. During that time a lot of the leaves and some of the stems dropped off at the slightest touch. I thought it was some bug, so I sprayed it with greenfly spray and it picked up and recovered well. I have now put it outside in a large container and trained it up an outbuilding facing south-west. The same problem has recurred and most of the leaves and stems have just gone. It seems to start from the bottom but is very quick. All that's left are the top stems and even some of their leaves are going. Some of the leaves have shrivelled, others have just dropped off whole. I can't see any bugs - some leaves have v. small darker patches but nothing obvious. Are these temperamental plants? Do they need a lot of water - or only a little? Could it be the recent heat (although it survived the temp. in the g.house!)? Help please!

 

They love heat, but, maybe your plant was forced.

How did you come by it?

Its not really a container plant, it needs to grow in the ground and it will get BIG.

A picture would be good.

 

Thank you Pete for your reply. Would just being in a container cause so much damage so quickly? My plant was bought from a large garden centre and was quite rootbound when I liberated it. It has only been in its container ( a large one) for a week and its former pot was very small so it has lots of room to grow at the moment. However, I will put it in the ground if a container will restrict it.

 

No, I dont think its the container as such, that has caused the problem.
Was it under glass at the garden centre, did they have lots of them all looking very green and very fresh?

What you have there is a climber that is easily capable of 40 ft.

 

When I bought it in June, it was outside with others, about 5 ft tall, looking very strong & healthy & with a lot of growth on it. I picked it because it looked the best specimen there, although it had outgrown its 8" pot. The 2 main stems are woody. I have just looked it at again today and only the topmost shoots are there, looking a bit limp, although they do now have tiny flower buds on!!

 

Further to previous post, I'm not sure how to post a photo ( have a msg on window saying I may not post attachments) but if I figure it out I'll get one to you.

 

Lindy, the problem was caused by putting it in the greenhouse. It should recover now it`s back outside. They can be grown in containers, but as Pete says, they do prefer being in the ground. If you do keep it in the container, take care with the watering and feed it regularly.

 

Yes, could it have suffered a bit from drying out, five ft in an 8 in pot.

So you have a few flower buds coming, thats good.
Does it have a name?
And dont say fred:D

 

Hi, guys! The label says Campsis radicans - "Flava" - and the saga goes on! We have had rain off & on for the last few days, so the (well-drained)container hasn't had a chance to dry out but the flower buds too have now begun to shrivel. The few remaining leaves have blackened and curled in on themselves. There are some leaf-stalks left; no sign of new leaf buds appearing yet, but maybe it's a little soon. I think I'm going to call it a day on this story. I'll put it in the ground and if it recovers I'll let you know. If not, well ..... Thanks, guys, for your advice. Hope to 'talk' to you again sometime. Regards, Lindy.