Sick fatsia japonica

lukeredpath

Yet more plant troubles...our fatsia japonica, which was planted along with the rest of our new garden borders back in October, is looking a bit sick. As you can see from the photos, the leaves aren't very green and are quite droopy and have been for a couple of months now.

The two large leaves with large brown marks on them that are badly wilted - I'm pretty sure next door's cat is responsible for this as I caught it spraying on the plant, the pesky thing.

On the advice of our garden designer, who designed and planted the borders for us, I've applied some blood fish and bone and given it a good water. She advised to leave the damaged leaves and let them fall off on their own as removing them may further stress the plant.

I know old fatsia leaves have a tendency to turn yellow and drop off towards Summer but it seems a bit early for that. It doesn't seem to have started much new growth yet this year.

The plant is in a south facing border and gets a fair bit of morning sun but is in shade in the afternoon.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0o5nhQSTeFp4q;8265EE12-5128-4347-BC88-C6089963FDA3
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0o5nhQSTeFp4q;C6383C47-D6D3-4182-B05D-EFC706A546DB

Borderline

I had a look at the photos. The plant all looks fine. The two leaves may have some scorching liquid on it or chemical damage, but unlikely going to affect the whole shrub. I agree to leave them for now. They may drop off later. If not, you can prune them off later. But more superficial at the moment and in my opinion quite a minor blemish compared with the whole shrub.

UpNorth

totally agree with Borderline.  we have a few.  They will go quite lime green in the sun, would prefer a good deal of shade, but i have a mature one in near full sun and it thrives, just a much lighter colour than my deep shade one, also thriving and also has a few leaves looking like yours.

lukeredpath

Thanks for the advice - I do agree that the brown scorching on the leaves is a separate issue - like I said I'm pretty sure next doors cat is responsible for that.

It makes sense they are more of a lime green if they get more sun. Do they require much watering? Should I expect it to pick up over the coming months as it starts growing? Thanks.

Borderline

The plant in the picture looks quite young, so it's still settling in. I advise on watering when temperatures are warming up in early summer. Only water if you see no rain forecast for over 8-9 days in warm weather. Water in the evening or early morning, and directly into the root area to conserve water. 

They should start to grow but they are not fast growing at the beginning, but once established, perhaps after a year or two, they can grow quite fast.

lukeredpath

Thanks Borderline, that's really helpful.