Recently, I cut off all the leaves on one of my Strelitzia nicolai because the plant didn't look to be in good shape. The stump has since turned black and looks dead.
Will any new shoots appear?
Are these rhizome plants?
Mike
Will my Strelitzia nicolai survive?
From my experience strelitzia's are clumpers. They will send little offshoots from their base. If the stalk has turned black my best bet is that it has rotten. Smell it and see if it stinks. It may have died off but that is just from my experience which is limited.
Think you might be right. The entire base of the plant has turned black.
Wonder if it will shoot away again or has the entire plant rotted and died?
That I guess you would just have to wait and give it time I have no way of knowing if it has the capability to do that or not.
That's interesting, mine has done the same thing.
My plant just started to look sick for some reason so I decided I had nothing to lose and cut off all the leaves in the hope it might recover. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to do. Time will tell I guess.
The interesting part on mine, is all of the upper section save the 6 inches around the roots have not deteriorated. I find this extremely odd. Fortuneatly I did separate a couple of the pups at the bottom and planted them elsewhere. Time is going to tell on what's going on with them.
I've noticed the same problem on one of my other plants. Here are some pics.
This one shows the new growth on the diseased area, note the black spots.
Here's the end result showing an earlier leaf from the same part of the plant unfolded.
As you can see looking a little sick.
And now from the healthy part of the plant.
A recent new leaf. Nice healthy color.
Finally some healthy new growth. Note the darker green color.
Apologies for picture quality.
This message was edited Nov 14, 2009 9:37 AM
what does it look like at the base? are the roots rotting?
No it doesn't seem to be. Maybe it's just a temporary thing? There must be others who have had this problem.
I can't figure what's going on with mine either...it has a new leaf, but the root base is rotting. Was just over at my friends house and his are 20 feet high with the biggest bird blooms I've ever seen, over a foot across for the bloom coming out..huge.
I have seen this with mine on two occasions. 1.) I didn't water it for a while 2.) I overfed it fertilizer and it burnt up a bit but it came back after just giving it water and not fertilizing it until it looked healthy again.
Hmmm, I'm trying to remember if I put any fertilizer on mine. I read that they do not like salt so have avoided soluable fertilizers.
i spray mine down with miracle grow once a week and it is healthy as an ox. I used to use granular on it until it just got too hard for me to regulate it. Since I have switched to miracle grow, the plant has actually shown signs of accelerated growth and seems to look healthier.
Ya know, someone else I know here did that and had the same results. Spose I might give it a douse. I can't figure out why the roots are partially rotted, yet the trunk is firm and it's still putting out leaves. It still hasn't recovered fully from hurricane Ike though
Mine is in pretty sandy soil too. When I planted it, i didn't take the time to amend the soil any. So, the fertilizer that isn't used by the plant just seeps down pretty much.
I saw some 1 gallon strelitzia nicolai at Home depot for under $5 so I bought a few. When I got home, I read about how big they get. I really don't have the room for a giant plant (over 10 feet tall). Is the any chance that they have developed any smaller versions? The tag only has "Stretilzia nicolai", no indication of any subspecies. What I would really like is a 5 foot plant, much like the orange ones.
Are all the ones that you have really big??
Mine are in super soil (compost/soil combo) so I haven't done any fertilizing. As rjudd says there is still normal growth rates but not a healthy look to the leaves.
Hi soilsandup
Strelitzia reginae is the smaller version if that helps.
This message was edited Nov 21, 2009 3:57 PM
Hi Mike - I have two of the strelitzia reginae. The "white" flower caught my eye so I bought them, thinking that they are similar to the S. reginae, but with white flowers. Boy, am I wrong, after looking at some of those pictures of giant full grown ones.
How is yours doing? I hope that it will survive. How tall was it before you cut the leaves off?
Dianne
I have to climb a ladder to cut the leaves on mine.
My Dads Got enormous! I took a pruning saw and cut the clump in half. I was able to cut the half into 5 good sections to give away (keeping a couple of course)
hmm..any tips on the removal? My friend that has those 20foot high BOP is moving and told me to have at it..but they look very intimidating to move..I certainly will go for some smaller ones..they seem difficult to separate
My father had a clump like that. He wanted to keep half of it and didn't care about the other half. So... I went around the plant and cut of any leaves that would get in my way. Then I took a saw right down the middle of the clump and cut it in half. I took a steel garden spade and proceeded to hack at the roots for about an hour. once I got the half out. I took that saw and split it into 4 or 5 other sections. I took two of the sections. I just stuck it in the sandy ground in front of my house. It took it a while to recover from all of the shock but it started growing quite well recently.
sounds like I better plan a little time for that struggle!
Yest Time, I am 24 years old and i was hurting!
Yeah, I under estimated an Orchid tree I was digging up..it wasn't that big, but it was not going easily..It took me a couple hours for that small tree.
Dianne
The one I cut the leaves off was quite small (only about 4 feet) as is another in my garden. The one in the photos above is bigger at around 6 feet. The ironic thing is that the one which is planted in the wettest spot (especially in winter) is the healthiest plant!
Work that one out!
I've experienced the same perplexing results. I can't figure them out.
nature always throws a curve ball, that is what keeps it so interesting! I have a question about your tree fern rjudd, what is your secret to success? I planted mine maybe 4-5 months ago and it just seems like it isn't very happy! fronds burn up, one frond even grew out and only unfurled on one side of it's stem???
What species of tree fern do you have Dan?
Cyathea cooperi if I am not mistaken. This photo was taken right when I planted it.
I bought my tree fern on a whim, as it was in the clearance section at Home Depot. I had vowed to stay away from them after killing a few off, but this one looked so Charlie Brown pathetic that, like a stray dog, I had to take it home. It was sold as Cyathea Cooperi, but some comparisons with gardeners here who have them revealed that mine seemed a bit different, and after consulting with some DG Australian gardeners we think that it is C. Australis http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/58539/
Oddly, my bird of paradise also turned out to be something far different-
Strelitzia caudata , so it's not the first incident of Home Depot generalizing.
In any case, this might be a large factor in the success with the fern because it is more cold tolerant and generally more robust for this zone. The previous ferns I had kept in pots and most likely killed them from overwatering- So, when I got this tree fern, I decided I was going to put it in the ground and selected a location at the edge of the deck, next to the fence on one side and the pond on the other and a large water oak tree that shades most of the area. I made a small raised bed for the fern, wanting to ensure it got great drainage. I had just installed a new pond at this time, and noticed how dry it was under the liner- I figured that planting the fern next to it, would provide the roots for an escape should it get too wet. Whether this did anything for it or not, I can't say. The other serendipitious stroke of luck, (I think) was that the pond filter splashed fine drops of water on it on a mostly continual basis. It isn't much, but I believe the fern greatly benefited from it. At the time I did not water it much because of previous experience of overwatering. Then DG friend told me that I should water the center of it every day (during the summer). Seriously, after I started doing that, the plant took off and hasn't stopped since. The contradiction is while it requires constant moisture, it also requires constant drainage or rather this particular plant seemed to benefit from that. I've heard that some gardeners in California put drip hoses over the center of their tree ferns during the summer.
Center watering, well drained humus rich, protective location, large shade canopy, but bright light- this is important particularly during the change of seasons..it does well in fall and spring with much more sun exposure, but still manages to get fried during the summer even with a tilting umbrella.
It is still not easy repeating the success. I've had one small fern pup I brought back from Hawaii 3 years ago, that is doing reasonably well, but seems stuck in a mediocre state. I find that after a couple of years they don't seem as fussy.
I guess the secret is there is no secret. Seems like when I have a plant figured out, it tricks me. The Strelitzia caudata use to be right next to the tree fern until Hurricane Ike knocked it down. Obviously I didn't plan for success on that group planting. I'm trying to decide if I should remove the BOP and relocate it once again. It's extremely heavy to haul around though and not sure it would help it anyway. I fear it's going to be a loss, as it's never fully recovered from Ike.
I've kept a picture diary, and my muses here
http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/rjuddharrison/6461/
This message was edited Nov 24, 2009 3:53 PM
DanKistner, it looks like you're on flat ground in the middle of an area of flat land. These situations are always tricky for plants that need good drainage. To give it enough water you end up with water sitting around the roots and stagnating. They normally grow in wet areas in gullies and on slopes where the water is constantly moving over and through the ground. The water has a good oxygen content.
A friend has one in a hollow tree log. I personally think that long term the tree log will end up too narrow. And it won't be easy to "re-pot". But the base of the plant is well above ground level and as long as he keeps the water up, it will continue to thrive.
Well, maybe I will relocate it. I will dig a hole, put some rock at the bottom of the hole and built it up into a bit of a mound and plant it. Maybe That will suffice.
I'd reckon that'll make a big difference.
Thanks, it is such a beautiful plant I hate to see it struggling!