Potted lonicera nitida, best way to save it

Hi

I have a potted lonicera nitida which I took as a small cutting when my parents sold my childhood home back in 2019. Its grown from a small twig into a decent plant but I think i made a mistake this winter in trying to protect it from the elements. I kept it in the green house from October until last week when I noticed how rough it was looking. This isn't the first time its gone into the greenhouse over winter and come out looking bad but i think this is the worst I've seen it. Last year i was able to rescue it by cutting it right back, I think I done it in April and by June it was full of green leaves and new growth. As its looking so bad this year, I'm worried it wont make it to April so thinking about helping out now - I just don't want to kill it with kindness. Should I re-pot, cut back or just leave it until April and cut back then? I've got it a new, slightly bigger pot, I've also got some new compost and perlite.



I've added some photos that show the plant last year, before its cut back, after its cut back and then its re-growth, final photo is how it looks now.

 

Has it dried right out, its the kind of plant that is impossible to kill.

 

I'm not sure, what's the best way to check?

 

Well just stick a finger in the compost and if it feels wet then its wet, if it feels dry, then it needs a good soak for an hour.

 

Apologies, I mis-read your first message and thought you asked if it had 'died right out'. Its got a little moisture in the pot but not much. I did give it some rain water about a month ago, quite a bit so i thought that would have kept it going but i don't know much about these things.

 

I'd water it, even if its raining, and then leave it outside unless the weather turns arctic, unlikely at this time of the year but possible I suppose.

You can then give it a trim over when it starts to make new growth.

My guess is it gets too dry in the greenhouse if you are not watering it at all through winter, it would do better left outside really.

 

Great, thanks for your advice

 

You could also try the “ scratch “ test. Scratch a couple of stems with your finger nail, if under the outer layer is green then you are in business, if not I’m afraid the plant is dead. However, looking at the latest photo I would guess it has somewhere along the line got too dry and had dropped some leaves to conserve moisture.
I would agree with Pete, despite living in a fairly cold and wet part of the UK I had an extremely substantial sort of hedge of Lonicera Nitida in my garden when we moved in. It took a considerable effort to dig it out and remove, it personally not being a favourite of mine. Perhaps a case of being “ cruel to be kind”. I hope the plant recovers for you.

 

I would never put it in a greenhouse. It's an outside plant. It'd also probably need to be repotted into a larger one.

 

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all your thoughts. Ideally I'd like to keep it potted just so it doesn't become too dominant. Would re-potting it now cause it too much stress?

 

You can certainly keep them potted, but they need to be in soil not compost. They also need more attention if in pots rather than in a border and they would be more likely to dry out if you don't have them outdoors which they won't like. I'd never keep them in a greenhouse though. I only keep cuttings in a greenhouse, and only if it's late in the season
when I take them as it just lets them get their feet down properly and gives them a chance to root and grow well by the following year.

 

Thanks for the great tips, I'll keep it out of the green house from now on. I've got a bag of top soil, would you suggest re-potting into a bigger put with the top soil or would a top soil, compost, perlite mix help? Ive certainly got everything ready to help it but don't want to risk causing it any more damage through cutting/re-potting if the best thing for now is to just give it water and let it get recover.

 

I wouldn't bother with Perlite. That's for things that need really sharp drainage like Salvias and that type of plant. The soil with some compost mixed in will be best. Make sure there's draiange holes that don't get blocked up.
Terracotta dries out more quickly too, so I woulnd't use that. A glazed pot or a plastic one would be better. I'd also keep it in a shadier spot in summer to prevent it getting too dry.

 

I've grown them in pots and I've grown them in the ground, and, honestly, they are much happier in the ground. You can keep them smallish as they don't mind being pruned. If you want to keep one in a pot, I would start a new one from a cutting every few yrs. That way you can always have a youngster on the go.