Stewarthia

Anyone have success with Stewarthia? I have some seedlings that have me baffled. Some are doing quite well but other will just turn brown and appear dead. They are all growing under the same shade cloth and well watered. Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Hi Dennis - while I don't have an answer I didn't want you to think no one saw ur post :) quick question...do you have any animals? are the ones turning brown all in the same area? I ask because I caught our pooch giving my hibiscus seedlings a squirt one day and it dawned on me why some of them on one end where dying...

Thanks rednyr. No animals. They are on a 36" bench. It happens quite suddenly. One day fine the next almost all brown. And a seedling right next to it is fine.

That shrub is a mystery to me. They are said to prefer the cooler zones but there is a mature stand of them nearby on a zone 9 sea island that apparently dates to anti-bellum days. It is frequently referred to as the "Rare" Stewartia; perhaps it has something to do with poor germination.

S. malacodendron, S. ovata are native to the southeast if this is right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewartia

Doesn't help the poster but that might explain the sea island Stewartia's.

I should have said the cooler zones of the southeast, the zone 8 areas. The colony on St. Helena is on calcium rich soil, no acidy at all.