This is my big passiflora edulus(not sure of the exact variety) and I think it is dying. It did this overnight. I thought it was dry and watering didn't help.
I think I've killed it
Maybe misting it with Superthrive will bring it back and start recuping. Are there any grubs/slugs, gophers around? They do that to several of my plants.. the other culprit is my DH..
Do you have Rabbits? I'd be checking the base just to be safe, make sure it didn't get cut in half.
Mark
Good luck, Susie. Hope it bounces back.
Was your DH weedwhacking around it??? I hope it revives!!!
Hey Susie, go look at brug forum for my new tree.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/503598/
If it did that overnight, you certainly aren't to blame. One of mine looked like that when a gopher ate the roots. This isn't a watering problem. If it weren't getting enough water, you would have noticed this problem traveling up the plant from ground level for weeks before the whole thing could look this way. Could someone on the other side of that fence have been going crazy with Round-Up?
By the way, what's the plant next to it? It looks intriguing. It has leaves like a rhododendron, but the flowers are nothing like rhodie flowers.
Nothing on the other side except a field that no one does anything to.
I do have bunnies, they come in the yard at night when the doggie is asleep, so I will check the stems.(they have been eating my daylily buds and stems).
We don't have gophers that I know of, but we have palm rats, do they go underground? We also have those giant grub worms that eat roots, but I haven't seen any in that bed and they usually prefer palms or bananas.
Should I cut it back? Dig it up and look at the roots? It looks worse today.
Kell, the gardener is the only one allowed near the flowerbeds with the weedwhacker. I took it away from DH and now he's only allowed to weedwhack down by the gator pond, lol.
I'll go look at your tree. I know I'm going to be jealous when I see it!
Zuzu, that is Jewel of Opar, I forget the botanical name, starts with a "t". It has airy sprays of pink flowers and the seed pods are round and vary in color from green to red to purple(like jewels).
Well, I wouldn't dig up the roots at all, if you do, it may finish off your vine for good. Passiflora, especially when larger, do not like their roots disturbed. If you do inspect the base and don't see any damage, then yes, you might try triming it way back, but even still, the size should really kill it unless it is an old vine.
Mark
I've never heard of palm rats or giant grum worms, but the very sound of them makes me glad I'm in California.
Thanks for the name. I found the "t" name too--talinum paniculatum. It really is beautiful.
I think you should take a look at the roots to see whether something ate them. If there's any root left, I guess you could try cutting the plant down and giving it a fighting chance. If something has been eating the roots, try pouring a little Pine-Sol into the hole. It won't hurt the plant and it might drive the critter away. It works on moles in my garden. They don't die, but they go someplace else (so would I if someone filled my dining room with Pine-Sol).
Okay, I see that while I was composing my message and looking for the Talinum, Mark posted and said Passiflora doesn't like to have its roots disturbed. Don't dig to check out the roots. Just try wiggling it at the bottom. If there's a lot of root damage, it'll just flop over or lift right out of the ground. If it seems to be firmly rooted, then try pruning as a remedy.
I wiggled it, and it seems firmly attached. I checked the stems, nothing has eaten them. I will prune it this evening if I get a chance.
Oh those palm rats are probably the culprits, they ate mine the first year, they cut the stems and I tried to root the cuttings.. except we call them roofrats, they came down after the fires. I haven't seen any this year so far. Don't disturb the roots, mine came back this year from the roots, it's been almost two years. What a surprise it was to me.
I'm a firm believer in D-Con. They are RATs and they destroy and carry disease (Bubonic plague) and vermin, (fleas and lice).
How dare they go after a butterfly hoast!
Oh Sugarweed, I like D-con too, but my kitties catch rats and mice and I'm so afraid they will get sick. Bleu the weimaraner likes to catch mice too and even though he doesn't eat them, he might get sick.
The other night he was digging after something(probably a mouse) and he dug up my Lavender Lady, so don't know which is worse, a mouse or a mouse-chasing dog!
I have trimmed off the badly wilted part, we will see if it recovers.
Susie, I'd be weary of D-con with you kitties. My Dad lost his prized dog due to D-Con.
Cala, I had two Passifloras drop dead last year from what I think was a fungus of some kind, Lady Margaret and P. mixta. They wilted overnight and when I finally gave up on them, the stems were brown and mushroomy smelling (anyone who eats those nasty things knows what I'm talking about hehe) at ground level, but the roots were alive, as were the stems 2-4 inches above ground level. I am still leaning toward some kind of fungal wilt as the cause, but it hasn't happened to anything since then.
I managed to root some cuttings of the mixta by taking some from the uninfected upper areas, so maybe you can take some cuttings from that part of yours and stick them in water first to see if they revive.
I was going to ask you Susie if Bleu was behaving himself these days. Sounds like he is a handful still.
I don't think you have to worry about your kitties eating poisoned rats. When my kitties bring me gophers and mice and don't eat them, I know they must have been poisoned or diseased. Kitties are really fastidious. They won't eat or drink anything that's spoiled (I test questionable shrimp and chicken on them before I cook them; if they won't eat them, I won't either).
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Well, if you have concerns that your kittens will eat the D-con dead animals, we'll have to work on plan B. I'm not fond of the thought of Pinesol in the water table. Maybe a hose from your tailpipe to the rat holes with the car turned on. Stuff holes around with old rags? Just an idy. I detest Rats with a passion!
I hate rats too! There are cane fields down here, when they burn the cane the rats start moving out and the hawks go crazy! Free lunch! We have a large indigo snake, he is welcome to stay and eat all the rats he wants. The power went out and the Utility company worker took the cover off the big box thingie(all underground utilities here) and there was a rat snake all curled up. He took a long pole with a hook on it and relocated the snake to the field.
Kell, Bleu is getting better, but sometimes he just can't help himself and he is bad. He almost went to the pound when he chewed on my French doors.
I remember. Poor naughty boy Bleu. Are you still walking him miles a day? Teach him to catch those rats. ICK!!
Yes, he gets to walk 2 or more miles every day. He knows when it's time to walk, he starts pestering me and won't quit till I say "lets go walkies" and pick up the leash. There is a lady that has a huge organic garden and she comes out to say "Hi" when we go by(and she gives me tomatoes). Bleu gets so impatient! He starts bumping me with his nose and then he makes pitiful doggie sounds, but once we start walking again he is fine. He is so spoiled.
And you must be so skinny. Maybe I should walk my cats every day!! I need something. LOL
Nah, not skinny. I eat too much, lol. All that walking makes me hungry.