My California Pepper Tree (Schinus molle) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/38316/index.html breezed through winter, grew well earlier this year and as it grew leaves would dissappear. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. It gets several hours of sun and seems to continue to grow. Any suggestions?
Not sure what you have there, but it isn't Schinus molle (which as an aside, is actually Peruvian, not Californian).
Resin
I don't know what it is either. Getting it identified correctly (by scientific Latin name) might help someone here diagnose the problem. Do you have any browsing animals there, like rabbits?
Guy S.
I purchased it as Schinus molle aurea, a high altitude form. Maybe its a different species. It's still growing strong but the leaves keep dissappearing.
We can't grow Schinus here and I've seen opnly a few in my lifetime, so I won't attempt to confirm its ID. But if the leaves really disappear, and don't just fall off and lie on the ground, it must be something eating them. Have you tried a night inspection with a flashlight?
Guy S.
That sounds like a good action plan. If it wasn't growing so strong I'd think it was roots or overwatering. Closer inspection does kinda look like something ate it but I haven't found anything during the day.
As for the ID, Colvos Creek Nursery is pretty good and this seems to be a seedling about 4 yrs old.
Well, nobody's perfect. I saw some oak seedlings at Colvos Creek years ago that were misidentified. As I recall he got them as open-pollinated seeds from Shields Grove or some similar cultivated source with pollen from all over the planet, which accounts for part of the problem. But he even had Q. acutissima marked as Q. serrata (formerly = Q. glandulifera), which is in a completely different series and looks nothing at all like Q. acutissima. Anyway, hope you find the varmint tonight and put an end to this!
Guy S.
