I currently have five michelia albas. They are all fertilized with a coconut husk-based organic fertilizer and are watered whenever dry. They seem to be happy with this treatment but it seems three out of five are currently showing signs of chlorosis. They are essentially in the same soil type in my front yard which is somewhat loamy with little amounts of clay.

My michelia alba #1 (the oldest), used to be chlorotic more than a year ago when it was much smaller. However, this year, its chlorosis disappeared without any special treatment other than the regular watering and fertilizing with the fertilizer mentioned.

My michelia alba #2 is planted near my mango tree. It is chlorotic but my mango tree (over 5 years old) near it is quite healthy and not chlorotic at all.

Here's another photo of my michelia albas 1 & 2 showing their relative location to each other:

My michelia albas #3 and #4 are both chlorotic with #3 as the most chlorotic of the five:

Michelia alba #4:

My michelia alba #5 is very healthy and never experienced any chlorosis.

My question is, do I need to treat the chlorosis or shall I just let them grow bigger so they overcome the chlorosis like what happened to my michelia alba #1?

I'm wary of treatments/soil ammendements because these plants are what is like 'gardenias' to most of you. I lost one even though it was already big (5 ft tall) due to soil ammendments (adding chemical fertilizer and iron compounds) which I did to treat its chlorosis. (I also probably overwatered it... They seem to be VERY sensitive to overwatering; a lot more sensitive than my gardenias.)

So back to the question... Should I leave them as is, or should I try ammending the soil again (and risk losing them). What 'safe' soil ammendments would you recommend for such plants?

Thanks in advance.

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By the way, I'm planning on adding more michelia albas. I'm hopelessly in love with their extremely sweet, captivating, intoxicating, addictive, heavenly, 'to die for' scent. I just can't get enough of them! I suspect they have some 'addictive' component in their fragrance, or it is just probably my nose. :)

They are really quite a bargain here: only 1,500 pesos for a 5-ft tall grafted plant in bloom (about USD$31 based on the current peso-dollar exchange rate.)

tropical

Those with more michelia experience (which is almost everybody), please jump in.

Jim

Right now, all five of my michelia albas are in bloom in my front yard. The scent is really heavenly. They intoxicate me from sunrise to sunset to early evening to late night up to the wee hours of the morning (if I happen to be awake). They tend to bloom all year round with the peak flowering around this time of the year in our two season climate (currently rainy season).

If this was mine, I would treat it as nitrogen deficiency. I would use something organic and in 3 weeks you begin to see an improvement.

jk

pug

But what do I know. Mostly I wanted to thank you for the eye fest. I can only imagine how wonderful the smell fest must be! Good luck!

You are probably right. Lime from the concrete may have leached into the topsoil.
It could explain why my michelia alba #1 has 'outgrown' its cholorosis
and why my other older trees (5+ years old) aren't chlorotic.

Anyway, here's a photo of my older trees and my michelia albas in my front yard:

puglvr1,

Here's a photo of my 5+ year old mango tree:
(It was planted from seed by my dad about the same time as my water apple and jackfruit tree.)

tropical

Sorry, forgot to answer your question. My mango tree hasn't flowered or fruited yet. Mangoes usually take 7-12 years to fruit here when planted from seed unless you spray them with 'flower inducing' chemicals.

My 5+ year old mango tree is actually big enough for 'flower inducement' but I decided to leave it alone and let it flower by itself 'the natural way'. I'm not so much in a hurry as I have lots of other fruit trees already bearing numerous fruits like my jackfruit, water apple, sugar apple, papayas, bananas, breadfruit, etc. It's more than enough for my family so I give some to my neighbors and relatives. :)

Anyway, if you're interested about mangoes, here's a link which may be useful:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/mango_ars.html

tropical

Thanks for posting those beautiful photos of your Mango tree, yes I've heard that when planted from seed it does take a while for them to fruit. That is definitely the reason I planted "Grafted" trees. Your tree is huge for being 5 years old. Its all that tropical weather 24/7...I have to cover mine with frost blanket a couple of times a year when we get frost here...something you don't have to worry about there. I also love your Jackfruit tree, I love the fresh ones, haven't had those in a long while, only canned.

Thanks for the mango link, have that one on my "favorites", LOL...

Thanks again "Kamusta"...Gusto Ko ang manga!Salamat...

High soil ph can cause plants to not be able to take up available iron.