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rupi

Courtii Struggling - Help?!

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Hi All,

 
I've just returned home after 2 months away to find one of my Courtii looking a bit sick.
 
It's ~1.5m tall, in the ground, in a temperate climate, south facing in nearly full sun.
 
The phyllodes in the top 1/4 of the plant have died off. The bottom 3/4 look healthy (for now).
 
A few meters away I have another Courtii same age & growing conditions that is looking very healthy.
 
The soil is poor/clay, with a layer of garden mix then pine bark on top, and is moist from rain. It hasn't received any watering / nutrients in the last 2 months (I occasionally give it some Seasol).
 
I've attached some pics of the sick plant, and pic of its healthy neighbour. 
 
Does anyone know what is going on here?
 
Any solutions to try?
 
How do Courtii's respond to topping?
 
Many thanks!

courtii_4.jpg

courtii_2.jpg

courtii_1.jpg

courtii_healthy.jpg

courtii_4.thumb.jpg.eb4c34408fc27d287be9db6fbcd85efa.jpg

courtii_2.thumb.jpg.ecd74c94f1f9af70aeb7d169ae697c9a.jpg

courtii_1.thumb.jpg.64b9f4b1292a0686beeb3d2ac385c9da.jpg

courtii_healthy.thumb.jpg.67d09ce1339b13cf1223c49641752973.jpg

courtii_4.thumb.jpg.eb4c34408fc27d287be9db6fbcd85efa.jpg

courtii_2.thumb.jpg.ecd74c94f1f9af70aeb7d169ae697c9a.jpg

courtii_1.thumb.jpg.64b9f4b1292a0686beeb3d2ac385c9da.jpg

courtii_healthy.thumb.jpg.67d09ce1339b13cf1223c49641752973.jpg

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Courtii respond favourably to pruning. it's best done during dry weather when the plant is actively growing.

Unfortunately I'm not in a position to diagnose what might be the issue with the sick plant.

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Rupi, this is a hard thing to determine - my first guess would be saturated ground. Courtiis hate prolonged saturation. I'd start with removing all of the mulch within a meter diameter to aid in drying out the ground. Perhaps also attempt to dig a bit of a drainage channel around it to divert as much surface water away as possible. I've certainly almost lost a few Courtii  to wet ground in my earlier growing days. Keep and eye on it and if it still seems to be going down hill I'd suggest pruning back the dying areas, digging it up and bringing it inside for a few months. I'm often amazed an the turnaround that can occur when I have done this. Additionally, you could dose it with bradyrhizobium bacteria. See my video (posted yesterday) for some info on how to go about that if you're unsure. I'm on a clayey site and have found that a sandy loamy mound improved there survival and growth rates significantly. Good luck with it and would love hear how it goes.

 

Cheers Rhys

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Thanks for your details answer Rhyzobium, I think you're probably right about it being waterlogged. I'm going to pull it out and bring it inside and see how I go. Also with your sandy loamy mounds.. you building them up then planting inside the mound? That video you made was great! Can you share some more details about how you do the inoculation? 

 

Cheers

 

I'll let you know how it all goes!

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Rupi, you can get the bacteria here: https://www.edenseeds.com.au/Category-Info-General?category=Inoculant

 

Use type I & H combined as they contain various  Bradyrhizobium cultures that seem to work well with the Acacias that I've trialed

 

 You'll only need  the 2x 5g (1 type I & 1 type H) sachets  to treat half a dozen plants.

 

They mention on the web site mixing it with milk powder however I've always just mixed it with water and applied with a watering can and had good results. 

 

A bit of reading material attached.

 

Rhyz

Rhizobial-inoculants-fact-sheet.pdf.pdf

Nitrogen fixation in acacias.pdf

Rhizobial-inoculants-fact-sheet.pdf.pdf

Nitrogen fixation in acacias.pdf

Rhizobial-inoculants-fact-sheet.pdf.pdf

Nitrogen fixation in acacias.pdf

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Ok I've taken the plant out of the ground and potted in 60/40 Native Potting Mix/River Sand, & given a treatment of rhizobium I+H.

 

I've pruned the dead side shoots from the top 1/4 of the plant. I'm now trying to decided if I top the main (only) stem - but I'm hesitant to do it.

 

Should I do it? If I do top it, should I just take the very tip off,? or the top 1/4? more? Anyone done this before?

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Rupi, they cope with pruning very well. However, I'd try to gauge how supple the stem is. I.e. if it is still pretty supple (i.e. green and alive) and not dried out I'd leave it. In the photo above it looks salvageable - not sure if it has become worse since then?

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