(If I should ask this in another forum instead, don't be afraid to mention it)
I've got 3 'Gold Mound' lantanas and 2 of them are very unhappy where they are, even though the trailing purple lantanas are doing okay in similar places (in one case, planted just a few feet away in the exact same soil, with exact same amount of sunlight- just half a day). The 3rd Gold Mound I have seems to be doing great... it's only got a few flowers at a time, but it's really healthy, even though it only gets around 4 HOURS of sunlight a day!!! This 3rd one is planted in the same kind of soil as the other 2 (basically it's sandy soil that's only been amended a little).
Any idea what's wrong? Is 'Gold Mound' less salt tolerant than other lantanas? I have a feeling that I may not have planted one deep enough [too close to the driveway pavement], but that doesn't explain why the other one is also trying to die off... I might think it's the rain, except that the healthy 'Gold Mound' that gets hardly any sun is situated in similar circumstances where it also gets a whole lot of roofwater falling onto it.
Any help is appreciated :)
~Gina
Lantana help...
Gina, can you describe what the "unhappy" lantanas look like? Pictures would be great too. How long have they been in the ground, and how long have the two been looking bad?
yes, pics would help. However, here is a good link about lantanas. scroll down to problems and see which one applies. In my experience, the less I fuss with lantanas, the better they perform. Also, all mine are planted in full brutal texas sun and they luv it. Good luck and let us know what you figure out.
oops! I forgot the link! here it is:
http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1177.htm
This message was edited Nov 4, 2006 6:56 PM
(wishing more and more that I had a digital camera...)
"Unhappy" isn't a helpful term is it? ;)~
By "unhappy", I meant that 90% of the stems are bare of leaves, with only a few stems containing any leaves at all. The stems are woody, although I think that's pretty much the normal lantana look, but that's also what makes it hard to determine if it's really dying.
These have been planted for approx. 6 months now- the plants flowered decently about 3 months back, but even then they seemed to lose leaves in-between flowering. For the past 2 months, they've seemed to gradually lose leaves and have not gained any more leaves as I was hoping they would.
I think I've read that the roots don't like to be disturbed? However the trailing purple lantana recovered quickly from being moved around, yet the 'Gold Mounds' have never been disturbed.
Any thoughts, Tigerlily?
Thanks vossner! What's the link then? lol
click on this, go from there
http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1177.htm
Usually if a plant drops its leaves that fast, and it should be growing well ( i.e a lantana in warm months) then it went into shock for some reason. The most common reason is that it got too dry and the plant dropped its leaves to lessen the need for water. But you say that its rained alot, but since it has been going on for a while, could the plants have dried out severely? Like someone watered for you and didn't water the two as well as the healthy one? Maybe the two are on a slight hill, or more raised area that drains faster?
At any rate, they should have recovered by now, and they aren't. So you have to look at the roots and see how they look. It may be that they dried out, and that can make them susceptible to a fungus ( a root fungus-which is fairly rare with lantanas). If so, the roots will be dark brown/black and maybe mushy (if in wet soil). Healthy roots on a lantana are a light brown/tannish color.
Lantanas don't have a problem with transplanting. They have very tough root system, and just yesterday I literally yanked out about 15 very mature Gold Mounds and cut off the stems and transplnated them into one gallon containers and they don't miss a beat. I do it every year.I did it to a few of the lavendar trailing ones a few weeks ago and didn't even cut off the long blooming stems and you can't even tell. They never even shocked-I was surprised!
Something happened to the plants that didn't happen to the healthy one-I forgot to ask-how did the leaves drop off? Was it where one day they looked great and the next they started to fall off, or was it a slower process and the leaves turned an off color and they gradually fell off?
Forgot to ask another question-when did you last fert these plants, how much, and did the leaf dropping happen after the fert?
This message was edited Nov 4, 2006 8:11 PM
I actually haven't fertilized them in a while- I think I just used Dynamite slow-release pellets in the soil, a few months ago. The soil is really quick-draining here, but I've made sure to give the lantana water once a week at the least since I was worried about them. The foliage (what little there is) appears green... but I will give the roots a look!
As for the de-leafing... that's a good question! I can't quite remember how fast or slow a process it's been.
I'll also check the leaves out more thoroughly for brown spots, or etc, tomorrow.
Thanks for all your help! :) I'll let you know what I find.
~Gina