Hi Jay,

I also got marang and breadnut and both show iron deficiency (both are in river clay, good drainage), and also have a pedalai which is in pure shagnum peat moss with some perlite and it´s very green (they all are potted). I gave away a breadnut to a friend and she planted it, now it´s in the same river clay with no signs of iron deficiency at all, as a matter of fact its leaves have a deep green color!!!!! So I´m not sure what the deal is with this plant. By the way, she put a whole bunch of dried leaves into the planting hole prior to the planting.

I also got "Iron and Soil acidifier" from GrEEn LiGht to try it on the marang and the breadnut and see what happens (thanks for sharing your experience, will try to do it right).

Hi Jay,

I repotted all of my citrus to CHC a few months ago. They developed a spectrum of deficiencies (mag, nitrogen) but I stabilized most of them with osmocote PLUS and light applications of Miracle Grow and Miracid. The lychee in container was browning and dropping leaves like crazy and not responding to a variety of treatments, so I stuck it in the center ground bed in the GH (loam/peat) with light topdressing of Osmocote PLUS, and this seems to have stabilized this tree as well... I've been adding the iron to the water for the citrus, guava, and bananas about every 6-8 weeks this winter, but I add more in the summer.

I'm not doing anything fancy for Mango 'Carrie' or the guavas... just the osmocote and good drainage...they're growing like weeds... anticipate placing some of them in ground beds this spring. I haven't made any foliar applications except for Neem and soap for pests. SB

Stress, my Sweetheart lychee is pretty bad with that as well. This tree was a loser since I the day it shipped. Some leaves are full-sized and green, others are aborted looking leaves and yellowish, others still are very small, yellowish, and never develop into full-sized leaves. I too was getting the leaf-tip burn real bad with this one. Like I said, it's been a burden since I obtained it. I wanted to try this new foliar to see if it snapped it out of this. Whitman states in his book the benefits of foliar applications. We'll see. Try some on your lychee and see if you get any positive results.

As for that Organicide? Aside from the smell, it's made the plastic I have down on the floor sticky as all get out! Feels like I'm walking on glue. I hope the same sensation is at least on the leaves!!!! Then those spidermites are stuck! I'm so glad this is the last year for this room!

This is my Brewster lychee! Once stablished they are very tough fruit trees.

{{gwi:1304122}}

LOL Jay, fish market. I haven't experimented with that many stuff. I've had good successes with Osmocote. Also used fish emulsion with good results. Had bad luck with miracle grow potting soil. But that's about most of the products.

Well...so much for the Organicide and spidermites. I still see some on the underside of the leaves. That was just one application so we'll see. While the top-side of the leaves are nice and oily/sticky. The underside seems to have not accepted any of the spray at all. Hopefully it will smother any eggs on the top or stems. We were due for another warmup here for a day or two. I was hoping to be able to take it outside to spray once more. At most we're looking at about 50 degrees today. Might be a bit of a shock for the plant. Looks like I have to open the market up for business again! These darn things are indestructible.