Shedding Sacred Bamboo 'Fire Power'

Hello,

I'm a newbie looking for advice. I bought two Nandina Domestica 'Fire Power' last November and they've been fine all winter. A few weeks ago one started to go on the brown side so we sprayed them with Bordeaux mix (I live in the Cognac production area of France and that's the default garden cure-all here) but things went from bad to worse as the bad leaves spread to the other plant. I'm thinking as this is an evergreen this isn't normal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Melanie



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hi Melanie: when you say "bordeaux mix" you don't mean "wine", do you?...that was a joke.
Could it be anything to do with powdery mildew (white powdery stuff on the leaves) or mites?

 

Hi there,

I should have mentioned I'm in France (about 2 hours drive from Bordeaux as it happens) and we've used "bouillie bordelaise" on the bamboo. We thought the copper sulphate (or it's safe substitute as it no longer contains actual copper sulphate) would get rid of things like mould and mildew but it's been getting worse for a good few weeks now. I took the photos just after my husband had sprayed the plants so that's why they may look like they have mildew. The leaves are turning brown and crispy rather than going white. I'm just at a loss and they're part of a big bed and I'm worried whatever they have is going to spread to the rest of the plants. I bought these two plants thinking they would be hardy but it appears not. [emoji17]

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Hi Melanie, I've found Nandina to be a tricky plant. Out of the four I've got, two appear to have a virus disease, one did something very similar to yours but is now coming back from the nearly dead, and only one has thrived. That one's sheltered, in rich soil and has always been well-watered. The one that is resurrecting seemed to suffer from cold winds and drought at the roots, so perhaps that is the answer? As far as I can tell from your photos, they don't appear to have virus. That's easy to spot as the leaves become narrow and twisted.

 

Ah, shelter you say? We're on a hill and whilst I have lovely views the wind can come through and a fair lick and both those bushes are on the corner of the bed with no protection. What I find strange is I put them in the ground in early November and they withstood the winter fine enough and only now they seem to be dying. Perhaps I'll water them and see how they make it through the end of spring and into the blasting heat of summer. I've a fully exposed South-West facing garden and as you know the French summers can be very long and unforgiving, I almost lost two large potted Japanese maples last year as there is just nowhere to hide from the sun. I inherited a large, very ornate formal garden so keeping everything in order is almost a full time job and I'm learning on the job too.

Thanks for the advice, it's good to know someone else has had problems with Nandina too. Here was my thinking they'd be hardy as they're a bamboo! [emoji4]

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Thanks for the info, I think they'll have to be moved at its very exposed and blustery there. I'm in an acidic soil area so hopefully they'll be happy elsewhere in the garden.

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Tell me about gardening on a hill with no shade or shelter!
I think Nandina is actually a Berberis relative, the 'bamboo' bit is another example of misleading common names
Good luck with them anyway...a bit of coddling should pull them through

 

Thanks, fingers crossed they'll be fine. They've just received a huge amount to water all at once from the storms rumbling through. They are much more sheltered though so should be happier. :-)

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