Fatsia Japonica drooping

swisscheese

Hi all,

Our Fatsia has looked unhappy for over a month now - leaves permanently drooping and going brown!

It’s outside, and gets a couple of hours of sun each morning, but mainly lives in a bright but shady spot.

I see many other Fatsias around London looking amazingly healthy at this time of year, lots of bright new leaves etc, so I’m puzzled as to why ours is unhappy.

Do they just not like be pot-bound?

Thanks so much in advance!

George

Obelixx

Do you water it?  It looks thirsty to me and you have roots on show at the base of the stem and it also seems to have some scale insect. 

First thing to do is to check the base and see if roots are poking out.  If yes, remove it form the pot and give the root ball a good soaking in a bucket of water and then re-pot in a bigger pot with fresh, good quality compost.  If not, soak it in a bucket anyway till no further air bubbles appear then add an inch or so of fresh compost mixed with some slow release fertiliser to cover those exposed roots and boost the nutrients available.  Keep the compost moist but not sodden.

Give the foliage a good shower form a watering can with a spray rose or else use a watering can.  This will remove muck and dust.   Then you need to go round and pick off the scale insects and wipe off any sticky stuff they've secreted as that will attract sooty molds.  Baby wipes are good for this.   

More info here, including a link to scale insects - 
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/7147/i-fatsia-japonica-i/details 

Fairygirl

I'd cut that right back too. It'll produce new growth low down. There's already some showing in your 2nd last pic.
They don't do very well long term in pots. The pot has to be huge. They need a lot of water and nutrients to do well. 

swisscheese

Thanks very much Obelixx, Philippa and Fairygirl!

Great tips – I will get started today. Cheers!

Obelixx

Good to know.  Let us know how you get on.

swisscheese

I've now repotted the Fatsia in a much bigger plastic pot, with fresh compost, after giving the root ball and good soaking in a bucket.

I was expecting the roots to be poking out the bottom / sides when I removed it from the previous pot, but it was the opposite - the roots were only taking up around 30% of the soil space! This seems odd to me - is it a sign it's lacking in nutrients or something?

cheers!