Banisteriopsis has stalled

[tripsis]

My B. caapi has stalled for some reason. Earlier in the year and late last year is was growing rapidly and vigourously, but then suddenly ceased growing. It's still quite small and had only fairly recently started taking on the form of a vine (i.e. the distance between the nodes started in to increase dramatically). First its tip died back, but then two axillary buds started growing. These soon ceased to grow as did all the other branches. Now the entire plant seems static and not particularly healthy.

It is in a pot with enough root room, in a rich mix of soil and horse manure. Until recently, it was getting only morning sun, but is presently in a mostly shaded position. Also, until recently, it was in a very coastal area, so perhaps salt was playing a role?

Does anyone know what is causing this and what I can do to get it to start growing again?

[haze1205]

It could be a couple things; you might be watering too much, or your soil doesnt drain well enough. Has it been exposed to cold? They seem to go dormant when the temps drop too much. Also mine seems to like a lot of light, maybe yours is growing in too much shade?

[tripsis]

No, it's been very hot and unusually humid here.

The soil is very moisture retentive though. Does it need to be fairly free-draining?

Would full sun be too much? The sun here is pretty harsh and I would think that the leaves would burn quite easily.

[Alice]

Is it not simply too hot? I have experienced limited growth during the hottest and coldest months. They power on during autumn and spring. And doesn't seem to like full sun or full shade - give it some more light. I don't think the salt is a problem, I'm only a few km from the beach.

Edit: Just saw your recent post as I posted the above - if it's been "very hot", the answer is most likely the heat over other factors.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Alice

[haze1205]

You should add some perlite or crushed pine bark to your soil they like soil that drains very well.

[tripsis]

Excessive heat can cause them to stall? Aren't they native to the tropics? It could definitely explain the halt in growth.

I'll repot it and add some perlite and sand into the mix. Will also move in to a position where it will get morning sun.

Hopefully it will pick up again soon.

Will light frost kill it, or just cause it to to drop all of its leaves?

[haze1205]

A light frost probably wont kill an established vine, it might kill a young one though.

[planthelper]

i don't think its either of those things mentioned, but simply, the plant is starving.

don't repot and add perlite, unless the pottingmix has turned into goo.

i would leave it in the same pot and soil and just simply, apply 100ml of weak fertilizer solution, after i watered, or made sure the soil was wet, never apply fert to a dry rootball, specialy if you guess the plant is suffering from mal nutrition.

caapis are thirsty, virgorous growers, if you don't fert them like a tomatoe or similar, they will prettty much stopp growing.

i like liquid ferts as they are fast acting and could be sprayed aswell over the leaves (as foliar feeding)but, you can aswell use organic pelets, compost or manure, if that is what you normaly do. adding organics often means it takes longer for the plant to recieve the new nutrients, but wormjuice would be pretty fast acting aswell, if organic is your 100% goal.

[tripsis]

I was fertilising regularly for a while, but ended up over-fertilising, resulting in burning the leaves.

It was repotted not so long ago into a mix with a pretty high percentage of horse manure in it, so I wouldn't think that lack of nutrients is the problem, but maybe it's not enough or isn't sufficiently broken down to be of benefit to the plant yet.

So should I repot into a mix with perlite, or just leave it? Is a very moisture retentive mix alright?

I'll give it a fertilise with half strength Charlie Carp this afternoon and see how that goes.

Where do you get worm juice and worm casting from?

Thanks!

[planthelper]

so you think the plant recieves ample nutes?

in that case, it could be aswell water stress.

has the plant always been watered?

cappi will stopp growing aswell if ther is not enough moisture, moving from the wet coast to an inland location as you mentioned might be a factor.

and just on a sidenote, horse or any manure can be aswell low in nutes.

get yourselve a wormfarm going!

[tripsis]

I've pretty much watered it consistently. It's never been allowed to dry out yet; it's gotten drier, but never dry. Perhaps I should mix some perlite in before fertilising it?

I'm still on the East Coast, just not minutes walk from the beach. Closer to an hours drive now.

[Mycot]

I,ve often seen junior caapi plants that have seemingly stalled. Being a vine often the problem is simply that the plant has nothing to climb up. Lean a thin stick or cord up against the young shoots and encourage twining about it then watch out as the plant rapidly takes off and climbs up the support literally putting on inches per day.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Mycot

[Zaka]

Irie,

I had a couple of Caapi seedling that stalled at a few inches......Just left them alone for literally a year.....Before they actually took off.

I've found that tropical vines have this tendency in nature.

Respect

Z

[tripsis]

Well, it's not only stalled, but the tips have begun to die back and the top most leaves, drop off. Looking at it closely today, some of the leaves are showing signs of chlorosis, which could be a sign of both nutrient deficiency or waterlogged roots. I didn't get a chance to repot it today, but will do so on Thursday.

[Quill]

Where do you get worm juice and worm casting from?

 

Worm bums. You can set yourself up a great worm farm. There are numerous benefits of having it besides getting awesome fertiliser. There's a thread on it here.

A box of worms will set you back $50 (they're special Amazonian ones that burrow upwards.) and a worm farm will set you back another $50 I think. But you can make your own cheaply. MT B. did it that way. It is discussed here.My link

IMO a worm farm is the shit.

Oh and best of luck getting it back to full health

Edited February 23, 2010 by Quilliam

[Mycot]

You really want to get some healthy young tips going and get them twining around something. Chlorosis may be a sign of nitrogen deficiency. Perhaps some more people can weigh in on the chlorosis and dieback problem.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Mycot

[t st tantra]

sounds like the horse manure was not old enough and is rotting in the pot ,burning the new feeder roots.

also horse manure is more a soil conditioner than fertilizer ,so it might need nutes......

repot if this is so.

t s t .

[planthelper]

maybe the manure was not old enough as tantra say's, but i think it rather was horse manure in a state thsat even steals N from the surroundings in it's need to break down.

the constant watering might have evev flushed out what little nute there were left.

just repot into the best quality potting mix you can buy, forget the perlite.

and use liquid feed on her as i say, pretty sure it's a nute deficancy.

[tripsis]

The horse manure is ancient brumby manure from the Pilliga, so it's definitely been leached of any ammonia, etc. Possibly of most of its nutrients too. It sounds quite plausible that it is stealing N as it breaks down.

Anyway, I'll repot it on Thurs and mix in some home-made compost. How often should I fertilise it?

Thanks for all your help so far everyone.

[blangschpeer]

Try throwing some worms in the pot and crush up and slightly bury the leaves that are dropping off so they have something to eat, it's recycling at its best!

[Bread Filter]

Can anyone give some tips to help out a noob who is trying to start a new garden with this Caapi cutting:

I bought it one and a half months ago and it has always looked like that. It is getting morning sun and regular watering.

[planthelper]

Try throwing some worms in the pot and crush up and slightly bury the leaves that are dropping off so they have something to eat, it's recycling at its best!

 

as much as i love worms, my approach is, to never have them in the pots, as they can cause problems,

like clogging up the drainage holes and producing soggy (non friable) soil.

sorry to say but i don't give much hopes for the plant (selfabuser's) pictured just in above post.

the pottingmix in the pic, looks to me of poor quality and of the sort which "steals nutrients" in it's need to break down.

caapi will never stall because of too much heat, but stall if there is not enough water.

[Bread Filter]

sorry to say but i don't give much hopes for the plant (selfabuser's) pictured just in above post.

the pottingmix in the pic, looks to me of poor quality and of the sort which "steals nutrients" in it's need to break down.

caapi will never stall because of too much heat, but stall if there is not enough water.

 

Thanks heaps for your post, I can't seem to find any help with this.

The soil is Debco propagation mix just with a small layer of potting mix on the top. I bought two plants at the same time and the other is in the same soil and thriving. They have definitely had enough water.

Should I throw this one away?

[tripsis]

So I repotted it around 10 days ago, into a rich mix of compost and good quality potting mix and then gave it a fertilise with Charlie Carp. How long should it be before it begins to start growing again?