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darkgreen200

Oleander Leaves Dark Green Black Drooping

darkgreen200
13 years ago

I'm located in Zone 5/Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, and we have an Oleander shrub/tree lovingly grown from slip over 8 years ago into an over 6' shrub. We take it inside our house/large window foyer hall every winter and, because the rootball is so big, we then repot it in the ground in the same south west, but partially shaded area every May/April. Because it had spider mites in late Feb. and it was unusually warm out early April, we put the plant out on the porch to harden it off and hopefully kill off the mites that still existed after spraying it with soap for a couple of weeks. (We've done this around 3 times during the plant's lifetime with success both with beating the mite problem and hardening it off/transplant shock.) The plant looked just fine while on the porch for a week, except for the remaining mites and the odd yellowing leaf.

Then we dragged it out in 25 celcius deg weather in the yard towards its usual location and soaked the soil (clayish but with earthworms) in order to dig up the deep hole- and also put some compost assorted tree leaves in the bottom for conditioning. We hadn't fertilized the plant all winter, and still haven't, but now I'm wondering what to do.

The plant, out for a good 3 weeks now seems to have gone well beyond its usual transplant shock and I've never seen the leaves this dark and not rebounded from the droop. The only thing I can think of is that the weather turned cold at night again, but it remained pretty warm during the day: 15-20 celcius most days, and sunny, though with a few rain soakings now and again. We also haven't watered it since, since I know it hates sogginess, and it rained a few times since repotted. Or perhaps we gave it too much water when we dug the hole to pot it?

Some of the green/black leaves also have white towards the pointy ends, looking a bit like salt stains. However, most of these dark leaves don't fall off on their own like the yellow ones used to. These dark leaves actually have to be pulled off (or should I not touch them?) The stems themselves don't seem to be too dark or dried out, so I don't know what's going on.

Is it possible to save this plant if what harmed it was just the extreme cold weather shock (1-5 celcius most nights), or is it something more sinister? What could I do to keep it going? I love the plant even more for its beautiful dark green palm tree like foliage than for the pretty pink flowers it gives 3 times a year, and we did get the original tiny clipping from an elederly Italian man's plant over 8 years ago and took great care to nuture it. Have we been careless and killed it now? I can provide photos of the tree if there's a forum here to do this, or in an email attachment.

Thanks for any help

Comments (3)

  • ianna
    13 years ago

    It was way too early to bring out a tropical - this was my first thought. You need to see consistent warm temperatures not just during the day but also over night. I live in Ontario and I know it's too cold to keep plants out overnight which is what you've done. Dark green leaves are indicative of exposure to very cold weather

    I do think your plant has suffered in 2 ways. The cold temperatures and also transplant shock. So it's not one thing but both. So I make sure they are well watered before they go through stress.

    We have had weather extremes. Just last week we had flurries in my area.

    Also as a matter of practise, I normally water plants a day before uprooting or transplanting. When the plant is uprooted, the roots get into that transplant shock state and is unable to absorb water.

    It is also worth knowing that tropicals tend to go through a form of hibernation during winter and may look poorly indoors but come spring, they seem to spring back. So they start having new leaves, etc. during spring and the plant does not go through root development. I do hope you didn't do any root pruning at this time.

    So what to do now. I hate to say it but take out that plant and put it in a pot and set it the garage. DO NOT do any fertilizing. Watch for die backs. Branches and leaves will start to show these first. What you hope for is that the base trunk/trunks remain alive. All you could do for now is a wait and see. Water only sparingly as needed. Watch for growth. If in doubt, scratch the bottom trunk to see if you can see greenery. But do be careful as oleanders are toxic and their sap can irritate your skin. If you also wish to check to see if their 'arteries' are functional, cut a tip off one branch and see how quickly sap will show. If it doesn't the branch is probably dead.

    If you cannot do a transplant now, then do your best to protect your plant by insulating it well.

    Good luck.

  • darkgreen200
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks kindly for the detailed information ianna. I think we soaked the plant pretty well before we placed it in the ground, and we definitely haven't fertilized or pruned it in any way at all, and won't, based on your advice.

    However, since bringing it back in/taking it out of the hole isn't an option now, and we're going down to an abnormally chilly -3 tonight, I mounded up a big, thick pile of straw around the base. Before doing this, though, I took a thin pole and stuck it into the ground about 2 feet, and the soil is still damp- so no water is needed.

    I did notice, though, that in order to pull the dark leaves off, you have to pull hard, and upon closer examination, it seems as though the tiny portion of the stem which joins the leaves to the branch is still green and firm- small though that join is. I also note that in general, the structure of the plant seems firm, that is, the branches and trunk and stems seem pretty solid. It's just the leaves that are flopped down. Though, not all of them are blackened- a few of the smaller, younger ones aren't as bad and appear more speckled and mottled than a solid dark colour.

  • ianna
    13 years ago

    when tropical plants go through a freezing, they will continue show green but it's deceptive. For Oleanders the best way of finding out if it's survived it's ordeal is to nick it and see if sap quickly come out.

    For tonight, I would advise if you have this available, covering the entire plant with a tarp or bubble wraps. The best thing you can do for now is to keep the temperature steady.

    Again good luck.

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