Software
Houzz Logo Print
wild_forager

Tanenashi Persimmon

19 years ago

I have a Tanenashi Japanese Persimmon that I planted in a large container this year. It has grown maybe a foot or so, but it does not look vibrant and healthy. Eveyr single leaf that begins to emerge has a brown tip, which eventually encompasses the entire end point of the leaf and causes it to curl and dry up. The leaves still function but this can't be good for the plant. I've looked for persimmon psylla, but haven't seen any of the little buggers. Could this be a fungus? It gets around 8 hours of sun a day. The one branch that is more shaded than the others actually has significantly less curl on it's leaves than the others. For a while it had no curl at all. Could it be some sort of heat stress? I water every other day. Another option I considered was fertilizer burn, but I only use a ltitle bit of slow release pellets. Could it be the type of fertilizer?

Comments (5)

  • 19 years ago

    Containerised plants can suffer from watering stress (either too much or too little) much easier than ground planted plants.

    Psylla causes leaves to curl at their sides (at least when I've seen it) and white dust is frequently present.

    I'm leaning toward water stress, and with the frequency of your watering it could likely be too often (plants should be watered when they need it, not on a schedule per se). How big is your pot? Why didn't you plant it into the ground?

    ~Chills

  • 19 years ago

    My pot is a 25 gallon. It's about two feet across. The reason I don't plant it in the ground is becuase I just moved into a new tonwhouse and they have no green yard. It's literally all patio. I admit I kind of like the fenced in patio look, and so I'm attempting to do things in containers.
    What is a good way to tell when watering is needed? Should the soil on top be dry first? And then, how much should I water it?

  • 19 years ago

    I would say heat stress which is worse in potted plants since the roots are a lot hotter due to the lack of earth cooling. Remember when you dig down a few feet it is 55F year round. You could try putting some aluminum foil around the pot to reduce the soil temperature.

    Scott

  • 19 years ago

    I mulch the tops of my large pots (and my biggest are only 5 gal) with 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 inches. To tell if the pot needs to be watered I push the mulch aside and push a finger in to the second knuckle, if the soil sticks or feels moist I don't water.

    I probably only water the big pots (bamboo and figs) once every two weeks (and with the rain I haven't watered since early August).

    ~Chills

  • 19 years ago

    So maybe it's combination of overwatering and overheating. It's in a white pot and it doesn't get more than 8 hours of sun so it's probbaly less likely to be heat stress. I recall the first time the leaves seriously curled. It happened after a huge thunderstorm and all the leaves in the plant curled horribly overnight. I haven't watered in a few days and already I see the new leaves sprouting are not brown on the tips.

0