golden chain tree

I bought a young golden chain tree last year and told the gardener that since I am a renter was it ok to grow it (or at least start it for a year or two) in a half whiskey barrel. I got 2 opinions which were yes - but not forever - My question is this - it is not doing very well. I just got some flowers about 2 weeks ago and they've already turned kind of white and droopy. It gets enough water - just not doing well. Is it because of being contained like it is??? Or is there just maybe something wrong with it????? HELP!!!!

I'm not sure if you can grow it in a container long term, but if it's still small then it should be OK at least for a couple years, so I suspect there's something else going on. Can you post a picture? If it's just the flowers that are fading then you may not have a problem, it could be the flowers are just done blooming. But if the leaves are looking droopy too then my first suspect would be overwatering, but there could be other possibilities as well. If the whiskey barrel is large relative to the size of the tree's roots, then it becomes very easy to overwater, so that could be your problem, maybe it needs to be in a smaller container for a while, then move it to the whiskey barrel when it gets a little bigger (if you can't tell whether the barrel is too big, when you post pics post one that shows the whole plant and the container).

Gardenerwanabee,

Forgive me if you know all of this already....

Have you cut holes for drainage? Did you put down rocks on the bottom for drainage? Barrels are loose when you buy them, but once you start watering or it rains, they swell up and seal tight. (They are barrels, after all. I once got three barrels at a discount because Home Depot thought they were broken, one of those moments when it pays to be a city gardener.) If you have to pull it out to drill holes, best to do it before it's too hot. My neighbor just went through the same thing and his shrub now looks very healthy.

Unless it's a twig, for a large shrub or a tree, you want a 20X20X20 container, preferably 24 . Ideally, you want something that doesn't grow more than 15 feet. I see two listings for GCT, one says it grows to 15ft, the other 25-30ft. If it's the former, it should be happy in a container. If it does grow bigger, and you are diligent, you can try to bonsai it every few years, meaning, you can trim off some roots. It won't ever be as happy or as large as a tree in the ground, but you'd be surprised by what you can grow in a container. By the way, many nurseries know very little about growing trees in containers. Always good to double-check with container people. It's a different world. Also, make sure you take out some soil and give it some new soil every year. Not a lot, just a couple of handfuls should do it. And use a good mulch, nothing with dye or too heavy bark. Something finely shredded.

If you have done all of this already, then I would let it dry out for a day or two and see what the leaves do. If they perk up, you are over watering. I think that you had any flowers is a good sign.