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Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Posted by Anne_Tum ACT Aust (My Page) on Wed, Feb 4, 04 at 6:17
| I picked up a quite large sick Xanthorrhea (150cm) (not sure what species) that was surplus to its previous owner's requirements. It has only about 20 green leaves at the top. The previous owners said they had given it some salt but had given up trying to nurse it back to health.
Does anyone have any tips for reviving it? For example, should we chop back the green fronds and wait for them to reshoot, or would it perhaps respond better to a solid burn? I understand they do not respond very well to feeding. I plan to plant it out in some sandy soil (the potting mix it came with seems a bit rich and damp, which I understand is not ideal). When I plant it, would it be best if it had full sun all day while it is recovering, or will strong afternoon sun only be adequate, or should it be shaded for a while?
Any tips would be appreciated.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Salt, oh, I don't like the chances of that surviving. Xanthorrheas co-exist with a soil bacteria, without it they die. I bought a couple about twelve months ago and after 6 or 8 months one was dieing so I wrapped it in newspaper and set it alight. Within 3 weeks it sent up new growth and while it still looks ok it isn't thriving. I don't know if there's anyway to check if the appropriate bacteria is in the soil but if I were you I'd just try a good burn, burn all the growth off, get it out of the soggy soil and hope for the best. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hi Anne, I'm with funnelweb on the salt issue, Yuck.
My grass trees live in very compacted clay (dry most of the time waterlogged at others) with little nutrient as the Sheoaks surrounding them drain the soil of both water and food. There are some that get the full days sun and others that get about 4 hours in the morning. There is no health or size difference in them. I have burnt them in the past for experiment sake and had good results but I think what I would do is get rid of the potting mix, surround the plant with some heavy duty clay water well once & watch the plant over the next few months. If the existing fronds start to deteriorate I would then try to frighten it back into life with a burn, good luck with it, They can be a beaut feature in a garden when healthy.
Rhonda. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Thanks for your help Rhonda and Mr/Ms Funnelweb, it is most appreciated. Salt was added by a someone at a garden centre of all people! I couldn't see the possible reason but then again, I don't know much about this kind of plant. I have put it in the ground in a clay soil with a fair bit of sand added. The remaining (possibly) living fronds are fairly numerous but they are light green and have a dry grey dead tinge to the very ends. The roots that I could see all looked quite woody (I'm not sure what healthy ones look like). I am very tempted to burn it as I think you would agree that it sounds quite sick, perhaps irredeemably. If you (or anyone else) have any last thougths about the prudence, or otherwise, of burning it please let me know. The plant has 72 hours... Thanks again for your help. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Ann, if you've ever visited 'the bush' where xanthoreas grow about 3 weeks after a raging bushfire has gone through you'll find the xanthorrheas are the first to regenerate - they love an occasional bush fire, I give mine a fire about every 8 years or so simulating it's natural environment. Also, they hate root disturbance and when they begin to die the dieing process can take up to 2 years. I don't want to sound pessimistic but xanthorrheas, compared to most of the plants you see in gardens, are not easy to cultivate. But good luck, I hope it survives for you.
Funnelweb (Mr.) Garden web alias. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| The fronds are lightish green, so I wouldn't worry about that. They also have brown tips and the outer most, older ones die back that way, so they have longer brown tips. The roots look black and woody, so i wouldn't worry about that either. These plants grow very, very slowly, so don't expect too much too fast. I would not cut any fronds off and if I was worried about the healthyness of it, I wouldn't burn it. They grow in sandy aswell as clay soil, so I wouldn't be too concerned with that. They must have well drained and not too much feed. Never let completely dry out or too soggy. I would give it full sun to stimulate the growth. They hate root disturbance. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Now the mysterious count_d has controverted the calls to 'let it burn'... Who am I supposed to believe? What is the one true way? Who cares about a poor sick once magnificent grass tree that was on its way to the dump? The mind boggles, the truth is rarely plain etc. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| In general, plants respond well to nature's cruelty very well as long as the plant is healthy. Trees respond well to pruning as long as they're healthy, if they are not, they can die. The same follows for a Xanthorrhea. I actually grow Xanthorrhea very well and have had never had a death. The mysterious count_d is always right. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Don't know about the mysterious count being always right, all I know is what my own personal observation reveals: Grass trees love, and probably occasionally need, a bush fire. As I mentioned above, go for a drive in the bush, especially after a raging bush fire has gone through and see for yourself. One of mine (a bush transplant, bought from a licensed dealer/ collector), was virtually dead so in desperation I wrapped newspaper around it and gave it a burn. It responded nicely, though it still isn't as good as others in the garden. And they certainly do hate root disturbance so don't ever try to rip one out of the bush, chances are it'll die. If you consider buying one, try to find one grown from seed. I reckon they look nicer. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Thanks for keeping the dream of burning it alive. We tried growing from seed and, after a good start, managed to get them to die. Without wanting to sound sanctimonious at all... ripping one out of the bush would be irresponsible and illegal I'm sure. This one, while old and large, was saved from the dump, so my karma doesn't feel too bad about it. My observations agree with yours on the value of periodic burning. I was recently down on a headland at Jervis Bay that had burnt a couple of years ago and the grass trees looked very happy with it all. Similarly in Margaret River. Not like this one right now. But...to sum up the queston that remains unresolved: after unavoidable root disturbance of a large old grass tree (which everyone agrees they hate) that is looking very unhappy, with the most recent shoots not exactly green, is it better to let it settle in for a substantial period of time, or is that more likely to just lead to a protracted gradual death, when a burn represents a better prospect of reviving the plant to a healthy state? Possibly an unanswerable question. Shall I flip a coin? |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| As I see it, there are three problems here to try and resolve Anne's problem. i) Anne doesn't give enough information. Exactly what colour are the new fronds? ii) Everyone (including Anne) likes the idea that Xanthorrhea's like to be burnt at any opportunity, but don't consider the fact that Anne's has been ripped out of it's natural environment, 90% of it's roots missing and now under extreme stress. iii) Grow one from seed? The plants take 200-300 years to reach 1m. Best of luck. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| If ninety percent of its roots are missing, in my opinion, it has no chance. Not only do they hate disturbance in that department there's every chance the bacteria that it needs to co-exist with (symbiosis) are not there. And if that is missing, again, it will almost certainly continue dieing. My advice Anne, definately give it a burn, this will encourage the plant to draw nutrients from it's own store, that's how they respond after fire has destroyed all their greenery, and maybe help give its roots time to settle. What have you got to loose? the plant's is going to die anyway. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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- Posted by austgary Gippsland, Victoria (My Page) on
Sun, Mar 14, 04 at 15:35
Hello Anne,
This is the first time I have even posted anything on this site and I hope that my fresh insight will help you.
I tend to agree with the thoughts of " mysterious count".
I can see that this person has a very good knowledge and understanding of plants. He/She also thinks rationally and you would be wise to follow this persons ideas in developing your strategy for you Grass Trees survival(It is not looking good is it Anne?).
If you are interested in chatting in the future I would love too! I just happen to live in Gippsland near a wonderful Xanthorrea stand in a nearby state forest. I would be very pleased to dicuss anything about this with you. You can write it me using austgary@dodo.com.au
Take Care Anne and Good luck!
Gary |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Count d,
I have grown Xanthorrea quadrangulata to flowering stage from seed in ten years, looking magnificent currently with it's fourth flower spike aged 15. That requires less patience than 300 years, I can assure you... |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| I fully agree with kearnage about rate of growth. And xanthorrhoeas are fire survivors but do not need fire -- except to the extent that the temporary soil nutrient boost following a fire, especially when followed by good rain, promotes more luxuriant growth and prolific, synchronised flowering. I used to work at the Sydney Botanic Gardens and recall seed of Xanthorrhoea glauca being germinated about 1964. One plant was planted out about 5 years later, in what was known as the 'native border' beneath tall eucalypts, the soil not especially fertile. I think it first flowered in the early 80s, after making a large, luxuriant rosette. By the late 90s it had formed a trunk almost a metre tall below the leaves. I must go back and see how big it is now. Also, in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens there were several massive Xanthorrhoea plants with trunks about 6 metres tall on a gently sloping area of lawn, all with dense thatches of dead leaves below the crowns, i.e. unburnt! When I first saw them in the mid 70s I think there were 3 and they were labelled as a hybrid between X. australis and another species, can't remember which. When I last went there in 1994 they seemed to be reduced to 2 but still growing well, and relabelled as X. malacophylla, a species from the NSW north coast. Now the Melbourne BG only dates from around 1860, so unless they were transplanted as mature plants (unlikely!), they would have been less than about 140 years old when I last saw them. Some of you Melbourne natives will no doubt be familar with them. Also in the Sydney B.G. nursery I recall some plants of the smallest species, X. macronema, being raised from seed to flowering, still in their nusery containers, in only 3-4 years. This species, by the way, is very unusual and very attractive, with the thinnest scapes (4-8 mm), the shortest spikes (8-15 cm), and at the same time the largest individual flowers of any member of the genus. As it happens I collected a modest amount of ripe seed of X. macronema only about a month ago, from a development site I was consulting on. Anyone interested? (not overseas I am afraid, on account of the customs and quarantine paperwork involved). Tony
(Sydney) |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Hi I have been gifted a Xanthorrhea which is starting to show the same sickly symptoms as described in the original post above. It is one that has been legally poached from Queensland, and is still in its pot. Presumably whoever removed it from its original location knew how to do so without disturbing the roots etc. Aside from all the advice given above re burning etc, I'm wondering if the first thing I should try is to remove it from its pot and plant it out in our thick clay NE Melbourne soil? I have been reluctant to do so up until now because if we ever move house in future I might like to take it along with me. Forbes, Melbourne |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Mr Baron_N, Actually I like count_d and it's cowards like you that we don't like here. Please stay on your own forum and leave us alone. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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- Posted by roysta Gosford NSW (My Page) on
Tue, Apr 20, 04 at 5:20
| Posted by: Nepenthes_villosa NY (My Page) on Mon, Apr 19, 04 at 18:14 Mr Baron_N
Actually I like count_d and it's cowards like you that we don't like here. Please stay on your own forum and leave us alone. What are you on?
Have you been partaking of those plants that look like tomatoes? |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Roysta, A post by a coward called Baron_N has been deleted. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Hello I have searched the net tonight for help with my sick X.A and decided to join in your discussions. I have owned a Xanthorrhea Australis, tagged from a nursery for 5+ years. It lived mainly in its original pot transferred from house to house...always placed where the sun shone most, watered infrequently...but wet through winter...and fertilised once a year with native fertiliser. 'twas ALWAYS HEALTHY. A year ago I planted it into a north facing sunny spot, on a raised bed of suitable native soil mix....since then it has slowly become a rather unhealthy looking specimen. Green fronds have reduced in number and become brown and limp. Trunk appears in a fine state. I have tried extra water, less water, suitable fertiliser at a suitable time of year, changing mix from around plant base, using more then less mulch (pine composted). The underlying soil is clay but drainage is good due raised bed and gypsum dug through clay. The entire last year I have considered burning....either it will be a last dying option or it will be the spark for reviving the grass tree. In part I have always dreamed of burning to produce flower spikes when the plant was in the ground. So how did you go, did you burn the plant has it responded? I am familiar with lovely specimens from varying habitats having in a prior life worked in native revegetation and landscaping. All my garden is filled with natives, most indigenous to the area....all but this plant are thriving! |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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- Posted by Shooa NSW Aust (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 5, 04 at 3:28
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hi Anne, maybe the first thing to find out is did the Xanthorrhoea come in a pot or was it dug out of the garden (or bush)?? If it was removed from the soil, it takes at least 12 months to recover and possibly will not survive. You can cut the foliage back to about eight inches to assist in recovery. A good watering with sugar mixed with water could also help. Full sun and minimal water after that. It really dosen't matter if the soil is dry after they are established - if you look around the areas they grow especially in Qld, often on south facing slopes on granite or basalt soils and the only moisture comes with summer rains (if we are lucky).
And please, this is supposed to be a gardening forum, be nice!!
Jane |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Well 5 weeks ago I burned the tree......still no new regrowth, so maybe burning isn't always the best option.... |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Bummer Hope it comes good. These things seem to go at a fairly glacial pace so I wouldn’t give up yet. We still haven't burnt ours and it still hasn't improved particularly much. At least you gave it a go, we just sat there. Tim |
Revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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No one seems to have mentioned Phytopthora root disease, to which I believe grass trees easily succumb. After which changes in water, pots, soil have little effect...
Treatment with commercial fungicide may help reduce the problem, but this would hurt micorhiza too I expect. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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- Posted by moreton Bris. Qld. Aust (My Page) on
Mon, Apr 11, 05 at 23:08
Hi All,
one of the only suggestions i can give is to mix 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 5 litres of water and slowly add to root zone once a year. I think to many grass trees die because of overwatering in the domestic garden situation. The old brown sugar theory seems to work in most cases as it helps feed the fungi and spores that make the nutrients for the roots to feed the plant.If you are moving your potted grasstree you could help it by situating it in the same N,S,E,W, position as it may stop it sulking as well.
Good luck. Peter r |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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I transplanted 12 last year from my building envelope.7 died & only 5 survived. I burnt them after transplanting & cut them back.Watered regularly in summer.They are difficult. Put it in the ground & take your chance.Best in soil similar to where they come from.
vonlang. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hi,
I have enjoyed this discussion on Grass Trees. We are building a new home, and trying desperately not to move any of the trees and shrubs on the plot. We have one Grass Tree which will have to unfortunately be relocated. Can anyone give me some advise on what precautions we can take to ensure it's survival if we relocate it to another area of the block. The block is sandy on the sunshine coast. Currently the Grass Tree is surrounded by low grass and lots of sunlight.
Thanks
Fiona |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hi Fiona, Some years ago I was the head gardener for a large private estate in Cornwall in the UK. It was necessary to move 4 X 15' mature Irish Yew trees in late spring. The trees were sprayed with a dilute solution of PVA glue. 1 part glue to 10 parts of water and sprayed over the top of all the foliage. It is important not to completely seal the underside of the leaves as it is necessary that a little transpiration continues. The whole idea is just to stop the plant losing more moisture from its foliage than the damaged root system can take up. The PVA dries clear and eventually peels of the foliage (and doesn't look unsightly at all). When digging up a plant it is difficult not to damage the root system to some extent, even if one is very careful. If the plant is shrubby and a 'leader' is not important, then a hard prune will reduce the stress on the damaged root system by cutting down on the loss of this water through transpiration (having the same effect as spraying with the PVA). Three out of these four trees survived through a hot dry summer and were flourishing 4 years later when I left. The one that died had a severely damaged root system due to a careless excavator driver! Since then I have used this method many times over the years on my nursery and during landscaping contracts. There is a very expensive product that you can buy in the UK marketed as an anti-transpirant: It is white, smells like PVA, looks like PVA, sticks wood together and it cost my old boss about 60 pounds sterling (roughly $200) for 5l. Was it PVA? - I have no doubt. My old boss was in the Sunday Times 200 wealthiest every year so I had no conscience about persuading him to part with his money either! Especially as he was normally pretty tight fisted anyway! Hope this is of some help - if you have any doubt, experiment on some scrubby weed species first!
Good luck
Cheers Jan |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Can anyone advise how to best go about a 'burn' for a grass tree, do you wrap the whole trunk in paper or pile it around the base, and how much would you use - a whole newspaper? Is there any need to try and protect the green foliage while burning? |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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The history of Anne's grasstree suggests that it was an attempted illegal transplant that became an embarrassment. Oh, the poor sick thing!
I'm delighted to hear that the mysterious count d is always right. However I suspect that, being in England he rarely has to deal with grasstrees rip't untimely from their mother earth.
I got a plant like this once (from a reputable nursery, so I won't reveal its name - we all make mistakes, and they gave me my money back). I knew it had a shady past, though, because of the absence of the little ticket with the license number. It took a year to die, slowly. Investigation proved that it had had half the trunk buried in the pot to give it stability. What little root these was, was at the very bottom.
The story that grasstrees grow very very slowly - an inch in 100 years - is a British one, based on measurements made in the Edinburgh botanic gardens!! I've seen 2 metre high ones on the inside of a railway cutting made in 1906.
The burning process is good for mature plants, to stimulate flowering.I do wonder whether a dose of wood ash about the base would have the same effect.Maybe even just a bit of boring old Bloom Booster, or some other high potassium fertiliser would do the trick, but it wouldn't be nearly the fun! The burn is VERY important for the aesthetics, though. How else could we have that wonderful black trunk?
Keep us posted, Anne
Trish |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Hello all you grass tree lovers,i have read my way through all the postings with great intrest,i am based in england ,north london ,my passion for grass trees began in 2004 when i came across two jhonsoniis in a charity run garden centre ,you could say thay had seen better days,my frend who was with me at the time told me not to bye them,but ofcorse i couldnt help my self,probbaly because thay were only £20 each,for 12 inches of trunk on each ,i thought it worth the risk and i am told that jhonsonii have a bad survival rate in england.on ariving back home i smugled them into the back garden so my wife did not see them,thats how bad thay looked,once i had found a nice sunny spot i set about planting them in the ground,because my knolage of grass trees at this time was non existant, so i relied on my gardening instints ,i decided to feed one with fish,blood and bone+chicken pellet and the other with nothing just to see what happend afterall i hadent payed a large amount of money for them so i could experment,this was in july 2004,thay did absoultley nothing for 6 months untill feb 05 when to my amazement thay boath started to projuce a thick head of new grass the one that i fed even more so ,so this encouraged me greatley to find out more about thease amazing plants on my travles through different sights i discoverd a welth of infomation ,i also discoverd the real price of thease plants,wich leads me to beleave that generally people tend to fuss to much over there grass trees because of the money? however i know in austraila thay are much cheeper,you lucky so and sos,so as my two jhonsoniis have growen ,so has my obsession to onwe another one ,only it is now nion impossible to bye jhonsonii in england because of its survival rate, the only grass tree avalble here now is the glauca wich has a much better survival rate, i took the plunge in may this year and brought a glauca at 1.4m , due to the knolage i had now i set about prepairing a raised free draining bed with a medium designed by myself with a number of ingreadents,and i must say the plant has gon from strength to strength,i tryed to forget that the plant cost £450 pounds my most expensive plant, untill i came across a GIANT it realy was love at first sight,apparentley one of the chealse garden show grass trees used for the australin stand, there were five to chose from ,all totaly breath taking, i chose a multi head with three heads comeing from one single trunk wich is probbaly almost three times thicker than my onw waist,wich is 32 inches,i cannot display the price ,you will all think ive gon mad,however i take delivery tommorw afternoon,carnt wait,ill let you all know how i got on with my new arival ,one thing is for sure ill never smugel this one in. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hooray for you, Graham. Never let it be said that we gardeners lack a sense of proportion! You clearly understand the important things in life!
Trish |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Why thank you trish,i would realy like to post some pictures of the grass trees that i have ,and the ones that i have come across especally the ones used for the chelsea show,i have seen many pictures of thease wonderfull plants but nothing like thease,im dieing to show other grass tree lovers what i have seen,if anyone is intrested please feel free to email me at grahamgreenfingers@hotmail.co.uk. |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Is there anybody who could advise on identifeying different species of grass tree in particular xanthorrhoea pressii ,does anyone know a good web site? |
Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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- Posted by cadiz southern spain (My Page) on
Sun, Nov 11, 07 at 5:44
Google got me to you all and I too would appreciate some help.
I am concerned about burning due to the close proximity of mature palms and cyads and yuccas. I have three Xanthorrhoea glauca planted 2 years ago in full sun in southern most Spain. The soil is from the marshlands in Valencia... 5 tons came with the palm trees... Two Xanthorrhoea glauca are fantastic with a constant abundance of new leaves and very upright, but one has had rotting central leaves... one day 4 months ago out of sheer frustration whilst discouraging visiting desert locusts from gorging on palm tree foliage with homemade 20% neem oil spray, I pulled the affected mushy leaves out (about 30 leaves) and tipped neem oil onto the central affected area... bad temper indeed... BUT the rotting stopped. Now the site is now hard and clean and tightly closed. Still no new growth though. The plant is green and looks good enough to eat, but it appears `flat´ having no new growth for 6 months- shame- I suspect that I should blame myself for inadequate watering as the nearby date palm was showing signs of drought. It has now improved by liquid food and deep watering...
I want to try the brown sugar idea and was thinking about sprinkling Micorrhizal fungi carefully on the huge roots... any thoughts... please... |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hi Grahamgreenfingers... how DO you do that? mine are always black and grubby... he-he!
sorry. the site I truly love to read is this one... http://www.bihrmann.com/caudiciforms/subs/xan-gla-sub.asp and there is www.mulu.co.uk http://www.mulu.co.uk/plant_info.php?id=991
Xanthorrhoea preissii
Common Grass Tree
Although common to Western Australia, X. preissii is extremely rare to cultivation in Europe. It is probably the hardiest grass tree to frost and is much bigger than X. glauca and X. jonsonii, its wide trunk giving it a particularly spectacular appearance. It is also tolerant of drier conditions than other grass trees. http://www.mulu.co.uk/plant_info.php?id=656
Xanthorrhoea glauca
Australian Grass Tree
A rare form of grass tree with glaucous blue/green leaves. It's similar to X. jonsonnii, up to now the most commonly seen Grass Tree, and just as slow growing, but happily seems to be easier to grow. Despite rumours to the contrary it needs plentiful water, and benefits from full sun. Will withstand some frost, |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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I think I am pleased that at last this thread is beginning to discuss the differences between grasstree SPECIES! Isn't it frustrating that nurseries here in Australia sell grasstrees, often labelled Xanthorrhoea, but without offering us the courtesy of the specific name! This does matter, as they differ a lot from each other. Some are big, some small. Some form trunks while many spend all their lives sitting like a pom-pom on the ground.They are not slow growers - this is how they're MEANT to be.
Cadiz, X. glauca is native to my part of Australia (the Darling Downs in Queensland), and is not at all rare here. It differs from X johnsonii (also native in this area) in being a plant of the heavy clay blacksoil plains, which may be why it's loving your marsh soil. X. johnsonii grows on the better-drained (but still clayey) hillside soils. (Other species are native to sandstone, granite, or sandy coastal soils)
I think X. glauca would happily withstand periods of waterlogging (it grows on creek banks in places where floods that break the banks and spread for miles are the norm). However it may also want to be allowed to dry out very thoroughly between times. It is quite normal for us to have no rain at all, and (VERY low humidity) for well over a month in winter.
I am fascinated by your neem cure. I've never heard before of a tree being cured of that kind of central rotting.
X. glauca would also be subject to some sharp frosts every winter in its natural habitat,(but snow is a once in 25 year event).
We Australians like to burn our grasstrees for the sake of their good looks (the attractive black trunk) but it's not necessary for their health, and is not done by the thousands of people who grow them in the suburbs in Australia.
Trish |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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| Hi all been of line for ages just following up the last post
is there any body out there? |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hi Graham
Just found your post. Spoke to you almost a year ago now about my sick Xanthorrhoea here in Essex. It had been sick for about 10 months, leaves were brown and dying, nothing happening and I was almost resigning myself to losing it when in May this year I spotted a sign of new growth in the centre. I had treated it with two things - a solution of brown sugar and also a solution of soluble endomycorrhiza (which I had found out is the type of fungus the roots form associations with) Whether these things helped or whether it would have done this without these I don't know but I am pleased to say there is now plenty of new growth, it's now in a raised bed and with three others!!(thanks for advice re planting out, looking good so far, fingers crossed, winter cover being built this weekend!) |
RE: Help needed to revive sick Xanthorrhea grass tree
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Hello everyone,
How are the grasstrees? My family have been successfully recycling/transplanting grasstrees for over 30 years and I would like to offer advice for those who are thinking of buying or who have a sick grasstree. My email address is grace@grasstrees.net.au and my website is www.grasstrees.net.au |
Here is a link that might be useful: Bruinsma Grasstrees
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