i have 2 big lantana in pots(plastic)...they are in full sun...i am watering them everyday; one is dying....leaves are getting yellow....and starts drooping and starts looking stressed; i water and it perks up.....too much or too little water???
If anyone could kill a lantana it is me
ps...i am in west texas....hot west texas
Mine took a couple of years to get going good for me...I had to threaten them with "yanking" them out. Typical perennial behavior for me. First year they sleep, second year they creep, third year....leap. I'm in hot and humid Texas. Keep at it...
I have had thes brown - and regrow from the base. Just keep watering it and keep a good eye.
hmmm. lantanas are supposed to be drought tolerant, though anything in a pot will always require more constant watering than plants grown inground.
are they new plants? sometimes the transplant shock will be too stressful. can you move them to a shadier place, just for a week or two to acclimate them, especially if new plants. It might help.
I used to live in Lubbock and had to really work to kill a lantana. My mom said it was poisonous, and I had two small boys. It was a job, but I finally disposed of it! :>))
How large are the lantana and how large are the pots?
Is it rooted or a cutting? Maybe if you try putting mulch around it?
Yellowing leaves frequently signifies too much water or too little water. I suspect too much, if you are watering it every day. Check down into the soil with your finger and don't water until it is dry. Lantana doesn't like a lot of water....
I've never killed lantana accidentally, but I did get tired of it always looking downright nasty with all the lantana lacebug damage - so I killed it deliberately. I pulled it.
The plants may be too large for the pots. Lantanas have smallish taproots and have large, well formed lateral branching rootssystems. that neeeds room to spread. Perhaps yours are rootbound if they keep wilting and you have to keep watering them. They should not have to be watered every day. I suspect that they are receiving too much water. They can develop Cotton Root Rot (fungus - Phymatotrichum omnivorum) if they receive too much water or they are in soil that does not drain well; however, this usually occurs when they are in the ground. I have found that after a certain size, they do better in the ground rather than in containers.
Are they in potting soil that contains time released fertilizer? If so, by being watered everyday, they are being over fertilized. The same thing as you describe happened to some pentas I had last year when it was so hot at the end of the summer. I had to water them a lot and the fertilizer in the soil was burning up their roots With less roots to support the plants, they then needed more water and the more I gave them, the more roots burned up. I finally figured out what was going on and I repotted them in potting soil that contained no fertilizer, cut them back and they rebounded.
well i backed off on water yesterday.....it was 100 here...this morning at 6 i looked at it and it looked fairly good.....i am a sucker and when i feel like the plant is not looking good i water it.....but since we were haveing 100 here today also, i watered....it seemed dry....yet i have 3 lantanas that grow wild in my alley....no water for months and they just come up....go figure....anyway, thank you and i will hold off on the water, and if that doesn't work i will go about the business of answering all the questions (lazy girl i am) and starting from square one...thanks so much:)
suggestion.
start with new pot (wood, concrete-you can make it yourself for creativity, terra cota, plastic. put a layer of smal gravel or pebbles then add a layer of potting soil, third layer of moss, layer of loam, thin layer of sand plant the lantana then add rocks to cover sand and loam. It might sound strange and alot of work but when I tried this at my parents house while growing up in El Paso all the lantana stayed healthy with watering done every 4-5 days. Lanta in El Paso grew so well I had to cut it down like a pruning 3 vine in the winter every year. If you have the time and all try it everyone and tell me how your results were.
calvin
i wish i had time....and energy...but those are very scarce....but thank you and if they continue to crater, i may just plant in the ground...they do well here:) thanks so much for your input
I don't live in TX but I do have Lantana growing experience. Lantana (different colors) grows wild in my part of FL. zone border 9b-10a. They thrive in areas where the soil has been disturbed but where man does not inhabit. The largest and most beautiful plants are found in the poorest soils and in the driest areas.
I bought odd colors at Home Depot. Brought them home and kept them watered and babied. Most of them died. After the 2004 hurricanes that part of my yard was mutilated and I still haven't gotten all the damage to that area under control. I don't water that area and we are having a bad drought. Guess what is thriving in that part of my yard? .... Lantana!
Hope this helps ... v
This message was edited May 21, 2006 6:27 AM
I have trailing, native and 5 of the breed colors all here and they all get regular water and do great (some times to great and then I just get cuttings!)
I also live in hot, hot West Texas. My lantana's have to have water everyday. The lantana's I have in containers droop horribly if they are not watered every single evening during the summer. It's 101 degrees here today!
thanks jubabe...how big are your containers?? i would say mine are 12 -15 inches wide....that way i can kinda gear mine for watering...it was 100 ish here yesterday(by lubbock)....watered them yesterday and they looked great last night...i think i was just watering them to to much....
Add some mulch to the pot too - really helps keep in the water...
I would say that this one is in a 7-10 gallon pot. Oh, Mitch is certainly right! Mulch is a must!
pot...wheres the pot?? he he....thanks so much:)
okay, this is a side shot. For some reason, I never took a picture of the pot last year. It is a beautiful plant. It's kinda like Timex. takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
I planted this one as a baby last year about this same time and here's what it looks like now. It's in a huge, almost twin-bed sized planter and shares space with about 4 other lantanas and 3 evergreens. I also water each day, but if I forget one, it doesn't matter. I usually pot with Miracle Grow potting soil with the 3 months' worth of fert. inside, so I guess that's all gone. I think I sprinkled some time-release fert. about a month ago.
If I could say one thing about plastic pots...I have never had success with them. If the drainage hole gets plugged, the water just sits in the pot, whereas with clay it can evaporate thru the sides. I gave away / threw out all my plastic years ago and I only regret it when I have to lug heavy clay or wood ones somewhere! :)
This message was edited May 22, 2006 12:28 AM
I use sphagnum moss, the kind that florists use on top of the soil in their containers (not sphagnum peat moss used to amend soil), to cover the soil in containers. I soak it before adding it. It is a bit expensive, but I buy it in very large blocks. I like to use it instead of mulch because it holds in the moisture better and it can be lifted out of the container easily when I need to remove it. I also use it around some plants in the ground that need a lot of moisture like impatiens. Caution must be used when handling it, however. In rare instances, if it is not treated properly when collected and stored properly after being packaged it can be contaminated with Sporothrix schenckii, a fungus. This fungus can cause a fungal disease, cutaneous sporotrichosis, which is a chronic infection which causes ulcerous skin lesions. It is treated by orally administered potassium iodide. So, to be safe rather than sorry, one should wear gloves and long sleeves when handling sphagnum moss.
I use junk mail - shreaded to top off all my pots... love finding a use for all that stuff.
Mitch, using junk mail ... as a Brit would say, "Brilliant".
sticks_n_stones--lantana is beautiful, in the wild and also contained in pots. I also think you were probably just overwatering, but I think you already came to that conclusion. Like patrob, I also used to live in Lubbock. I grew up there and moved in 1998 to Austin. I won't ever move back there, but I do miss it. I have family and friends still in Lubbock/Crosbyton/Ralls, so I get to visit. Already getting 100+ degree days there, huh? I bet yall are hot!
htop and Mitch--I just ordered some bougainvillea and the plants came in the mail heavily mulched with shredded paper that was wet for the transport. I too thought that was a great idea. All the paper stuck together really well and it made me think that I would not be finding shredded paper everywhere since it stuck together when wet. I also like the sphagnum moss idea, but gee htop you about scared me to death with ulcerous skin legions. ha ha. Just kidding, I do think I will try it for some of my plants, but will definitely use gloves when spreading it. :-)
jubabe i love your garden art....the things that were in your pot...too cute:)
hey connie your lantana is a beauty; did you bring it in in the winter??
ms_marae i bet we know some of the same people....if you are ever back here i own the video store in ralls, crosbyton, and have an antique store in crosbyton....stop by; my antique store has been open since 97 in crosbyton...i went to hi school in lubbock...then i movved to dallas for 15 years ..came back to texas tech to finish my masters and met my hubbie...go figure ...who was born and bred in crosbyton...farmers and he works at texas tech for the last 20 yrs....small world
Junk mail is perfect - I get a good trashbag a week (yea I look for things to shread) and just add it here and add it there... breaks down in just a yuear or so..
We use shreded paper in the bottom of our conpost bucket, absorbs the juices and contributes to the compost pile.
No...it's halfway under a carport....but when it got below the 30's I would throw an old blanket around it. The neighbors don't do that, but since it was a baby plant I wanted to . Thanks! I never was a fan of lantana but it sure is performing!