These are my silver dollar eucalyptus plants I grew from trustworthy seed. I have included pictures. I have a dead one, a dying one, and several "healthy" ones that might be starting to show the tiniest bit of the same problem.
In early summer, when they were only 4-5" tall, I lost my first one but I chalked it up to heat. This last dead one happened in this last week. Now that I've researched it I am scared it could be phytophthora fungus. I know there is a strong chance that under cooked compost was used in this soil mix so it's not the wildest assumption. This is the only plant species I have which would be effected by that stupid mistake also, so it would be the only one to show symptoms.
Am I jumping to a worst case scenario? Once the leaves start to dry up they have died quickly.
I know how to prevent this for the future but I have questions.
1. Is this even the problem? If not, what is it?
2. If it is, everything I've read so far says there is no hope to save them once infected. Are the plants that are just showing maybe a tiny sign of it too late for intervention too?
3. What should I do with the bad soil? Throw it away completely?
Any help would really be appreciated. I've dealt with pests and disease stuff so far but this has definitely been the most serious and troubling.
Photos: 1. Tray of still OK plants. 2. Closeup of OK plants revealing early signs of browning. 3. Sick plant in quarantine. 4. Overview of recent dead plant. 5. Bad closeup of base of dead plant.
