Trouble with Nandina Purpea

I have some dwarf Nandina Purpea (they grow to 18" tall/wide). My 10 new ones are
looking drab, yellow and brown, a few have signs of mildew. They get plenty of water and sunlight and have recently been fertilized and sprayed with iron. Any ideas what the problem may be??? We live in Southern California.

Can you post a picture? The drab yellow and brown could be from transplant shock, if your weather's warm already and you just planted these that can be very stressful for plants.

I planted them several months ago. I don't know how to send pics, but will get
some help. Thanks!

If you have the pictures on your computer hard drive, all you need to do is look right underneath the box where you're typing your post, you'll see a space to add a picture. Click the "browse" or "choose file" button, then navigate to whatever folder your pictures are saved in (most likely the one called "My pictures" unless you've purposely put them somewhere else), then choose the one you want to add.

Okay, I'm sending a "typical" picture. Maybe I should pick off the brown leaves and
spray with Ironite again???

It's hard to say for sure from the pic what's going on, I think there are a number of possibilities. Fertilizer is not usually the best thing for newly planted things or plants that are under stress, so I'd hold off on more Ironite for now. Were the plants in full sun at the nursery you got them at, or were they somewhat shaded? Adding too much extra sun without adjusting them to it gradually could cause some distress for the leaves and it looks like some of your leaves might be showing signs of sunburn. And just overall transplant shock could be playing a role as well. I'd lay off the fertilizer and make sure you're watering them the right amount--check the soil with your finger on a regular basis to see if you need to water--if you stick your finger down a few inches and it still feels pretty damp then don't water, but if it's drying out then give them a good drink. Also keep an eye on whether the symptoms continue to get worse or not--the ugly looking leaves won't get better, but if you stop seeing new leaves developing symptoms then you know you're on the right track. My only other thought is just on their location/amount of sun in general--I know Nandina is listed as being OK for full sun, but the only ones I've ever grown were at my old house and got AM sun only and looked gorgeous. Sometimes if you have hot summers, some plants will be happier if they get a bit more shade, particularly in the afternoon. I don't know if that's the case here or not, but it's something else to think about.

Ok. I dug up two that weren't optimally located and put them in a pot temporarily.
I think the others look better than they did, but still not optimal. Also, they weren't looking great when I bought them, but that's all they had and they're hard to come by. I have six of them that are doing great (in about 5 years) close by. So, I'll
lay off the fertilizer and iron, pick off the old brown leaves and watch the water and see what happens. They are not in a full sun location.... Thanks! Linda

If they were already stressed when you bought them then that makes your job even harder! Hopefully if they can make it through the initial stress of transplanting they'll perk up and put out some new growth. But if you continue to see more leaves yellowing/browning make sure to post back here in case there's something else going on.

I happened to be at the nursery where I bought the plants (it's a high-end one). I spoke to
someone quite familiar with the plant. He said it may be that I may have a different version of the plant called "fire something or other" which has a light green/yellow leaf. He also said that fertilizer and iron
are not needed by this plant and that the red color develops with age. Also suggested they may not be getting enough sun and
may be getting too much water. Suggested that specimens as bought may have been
poor due to low light exposure. So, I'm going to cut off the brown stuff, make sure they're
getting good sun and see what happens! Thanks for all the advice! Linda

An update to my problems with "Nana Purpurea". Further investigation indicates
that I may have been sold "Firepower" which were mismarked by the grower as "Nana Purpurea", which means the leaves are light (as mine are), vs. a green that turns "purplish red" in fall/winter.. Now I understand what the nurseryman was trying to tell me! Nonetheless, he gave me some good tips....

Glad you got it figured out! Hopefully either you like 'Firepower' or the nursery will take them back and give you the ones they were supposed to be!