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protea dying?
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Posted by weeddummie NSW (My Page) on Wed, Jun 15, 05 at 19:47
| Dear garden lovers,
I have 3 protea neriifolia in separate locations on the garden bed. Two seem to be flowering healthily, while the other seem to be:
- having its leaves turn completely gray-ish/brown - and it seems it's actually dried out there :(
- a bit more horizontal than the others, even the flowers are growing sideways
- the stems where the leaves have turned all grey/brown, have stunted flowers, very small and all gray as well
- it rained heavily recently and I only noticed it being sickly looking this morning onwards (could this be related? but I didn't observe it properly for the past 2 weeks before).
The other two plants have tiny dark spots on some of the leaves, other than that, they seem ok and blooming.
Could this be a kind of fungus/root rot? What should I do?
I've read up about pruning protea and using them as cut flowers - does anyone have tips about this? The only detailed stuff I could find on the web is in www.proteaflora.com.au so far...I was wondering how to dry them for display, but I guess I should worry about that after figuring out this problem first.
PS: I've posted this in the south african natives forum with no reply, so hope there's more people familiar with proteas here. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: protea dying?
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Hi there,
To dry proteas, remove any leaves you don't want on the finished product, then hang each bloom upside down, individually in a dry place. Don't be tempted to hang them near a heater or such. It will be faster but will spoil the flowers more. Good air circulation is better than heat.
Cheers,
Dee. |
RE: protea dying?
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| Is drainage a problem? Or did it get an accidental dose of fertilizer? Has the soil improved rapidly around it? Does it look sickly all the way down to the ground? |
RE: protea dying?
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| I have quite a few Proteas growing very well and have also lost a few in the past. In my situation I reckon it was lack of water. It seems to me that Proteas need to be well and truly mature in order to be fully drought resistant. I have seen them growing in New Zealand in situations where the rainfall is much much higher than in NSW and they appear to thrive. In fact they grow Proteas and Leucadendrons commercially there for the cut flower trade. On the Central Coast, where I live, I checked the soil a fortnight ago to find it bone dry a few inches down. So I have given my Proteas a good soaking. They are still doing well. It could be excess water but I am inclined to think it is the opposite. I suppose it depends on the situation and only you would know that. |
RE: protea dying?
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| I'm not sure whether if it's too much or too little water problem. I'm located in the ACT where it was really2x dry for months until these 2 weeks. I've actually been watering this one a tad more than the other two (weekly-forthnightly). But that can't be the cause. I will try to take photos here later on, the grayness seemed to have spread to almost all areas now, so I think it's gone :( I haven't changed the soil, other than...it growing sideways into the roses, and I did put some prunings of misc plants a metre away from it. Does that count as excess fertiliser? I really like the protea in that spot, but I guess it's time for me to think of how to grow another one there. Are people here familiar with how to propagate from the healthy ones, say via cuttings or seed (is it worth a shot or more trouble?)? I'm very new with all this, so I appreciate advice from others who've done it before. PS: thanks for the drying advice Dee. I've seen instructions on using protea as fresh cut flower in sterilised water, but I think it'll be more practical dried :) |
RE: protea dying?
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| Pics that might help...what do I do with the branch that's brown, and the branch that's growing sideways? Is there hope? :\ |
Here is a link that might be useful: photo
RE: protea dying?
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- Posted by Popi NSW Aust (My Page) on
Sat, Jun 18, 05 at 3:21
| Have you checked for borers ? Popi |
RE: protea dying?
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| I don't see any obvious holes (but it's hard to tell as it's very moist after the rain). I'll see if I can contact places to have a look at samples of it later on. |
RE: protea dying?
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Have some ideas which may help...
Some nerifolia grow sideways, it is in their genetics. There is nothing you can do to change this. To help, if the plant is still alive, you could trim the plant, ensuring that there is always some leaves left on the branch, otherwise this branch will not grow. This will encourage straight growth, but not guarantee it. To trim proteas, you need to remember not to ever cut back too harshly. Each branch cut, MUST have some leaves on it. An easy way to trim is to only cut back to the 'growth ring'. The growth ring is noticable on each stem, approximately 4-6 inches above where it originated from the main stem. If you cut above this, you will get healthy growths in future.
I have seen proteas grow with no watering at all, except what the good Lord provided. This was in well drained soil, SE Qld. Nerifolias, however, do require more watering than pink ice.
If you still require a protea in that area, and the one there is dying/dead, perhaps you could consider one of the hundreds of other varieties available. Pink Ice is hardy, as are safari sunsets, although of the same 'family' have very different flowering habits. There are lots of alternatives.
Propagation of protea should be done with new growth which has hardened off. Keep the soil moist, but not wet.
Good luck. |
RE: protea dying?
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| Thanks Gardensareus, appreciate it heaps :) I checked the dried up bits, and found some bugs (different types actually) hidden in the middle 'burst' flower. I don't know if they're harmful, but the whole part seems off anyway and I ended up cutting it all off :( I am not wondering whether I can....dig up the whole plant and reposition it such that the healthy bit left will be towards the sun (and away from tangling with other plants). But I read somewhere that proteas do not tolerate change well. Is this a feasible thought? This plant has about 4 feet length stalks. Wonder how it's root system is like at this stage (how deep do they go?) always learning :) |
RE: protea dying?
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Proteas don't like to be disturbed, once they are established, as far as I know. You could try cutting the extra growth off and then dig up all of the root system. Getting rid of the extra growth will help the transition period of the plant. As long as you get all of the root system, which will be extensive now, you may be able to transplant it. The main problem with this is, because of the extensive root system, which the mature plant should have, you will have difficulties in obtaining it all. Good luck.
Karen. |
RE: protea dying?
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| Proteacae are very suseptible to phytophthora cinnamomi, a fungus disease that affects the roots, causes the plant not to be able to extract water from the soil and then it dies. http://www.rbgsyd.gov.au/information_about_plants/pests_diseases/fact_sheets/phytophthora_root_rot Most protea can handle quite a bit of water, if they have excellent drainage. Fertilzer can really hurt, it causes the leaves to die and then the plant. If you accidentally fertilize one by mistake and it is in a pot, you can flush out the fertilzer by heavily watering it for several months. They do need iron, just be careful of the source, that it does not have anything else in it. |
RE: protea dying?
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I would go with the fact sounds like its caused by phytophthora cinnamomi (die back). Dont remove your soil and dump it anywhere it spreads very easy, and there is no way of removing it, sorry ! it goes through the soil, as well so you might loose the others as well.
do some research on this ! |
RE: protea dying?
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| Hmm...updates on this...the plant passed on I'm afraid. Upon cutting the base (I only sawed across to remove the base branch) I saw there were heaps and heaps of black ants coming out from the ground where the main branch is. What does this mean? Ants colonising its roots area? I haven't been watering my protea regularly...does it sound like fungus problems still? The other two plants had their flowers bloom to the maximum, and are now finished flowering (flowers are drying up and closing - time to cut off I think...). I'll read up about root rot and see if it applies to us. |
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