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passatryde

Silk floss tree problem - need help

passatryde
12 years ago

About 2 years ago I bought two silk floss trees but for some reason only one seems to be doing well and I was hoping someone might be able to tell me what The problem is. So when spring time comes around only one seems to generate new leaves appropriately. One seems to get "stuck" after the little buds start to appear for the new leaves. It happened last year as well and this tree is smaller even though they were both the same size when i bought them. One has had leaves now for probably two months but the other one is still stuck with little tiny buds for leaves. Not a single leaf has actually opened up this year. Any ideas?

Comments (3)

  • bahia
    12 years ago

    I'd check to see if you have a drainage issue, gophers eating the roots, or maybe you have drip irrigation and the second tree is not getting any water. If the soil is staying too wet, you could be rotting out the roots. If it is gophers, you will see some obvious signs of tunnels and mounds. If an irrigation problem, the area at this tree will obviously be quite dry.

    If none of the above, could this spot have chemical contamination from paint, paint thinner, herbicides or building construction rubble? You might want to dig the tree up to investigate what is going on at the roots, and get a soils test for toxicity contamination if there are no obvious signs of the other problems I suggested above.

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    12 years ago

    Dan's default #1: improperly planted. But without pix impossible to say with any certainty.

    Dan

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    12 years ago

    Or it was stuck in the pot too long before you bought it and the roots are wound around and around themselves.

    These trees are fairly fast growing. The easiest thing to do is maybe just plant a new one. (Check the root system of the one you buy.)

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