Smoke Bush
I have had a smoke bush for about four years. I planted it out but it never grew so I put it into a pot and planted something else. It moved house with us and was replanted last year but just sits there sulking. It is only about 60cms tall, is in the correct position, and is the royal purple one.
Think I should have teased the roots out?
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I INHERITED A MATURE ONE WHEN I MOVED HOUSE AND IT HAS HARDLY GROWN MORE THAN A FEW INCHES IN NINE YEARS.
NOT SURE IF THAT CHEERS YOU UP OR DEPRESSES YOU.
If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
MayLane, it's probably just putting new roots out and not growing much because of it. When it starts to grow give it a high nitrogen feed, that will encourage it to grow.
How big is the pot? What compost did you use? Do you keep it watered and fed? Is the plant looking healthy otherwise apart form the lack of growth?
I suspect it's worth hoiking out of its pot - after first giving it a good soaking - then checking the roots for little maggoty things that may be eating them. If there are, pick them out and feed them to the birds. Either way, you need to tease out the remaining roots so they don't keep going round and round then re-pot with some good John Innes no 3 type compost and water well then treat with a vine weevil solution such as Provavado as insurance.
If your plant is wilting it may be suffering from verticullum wilt, in which case it's probably a goner and needs to be destroyed so it doesn't infect other plants. The RHS has this advice and info - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=255
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
It's in the ground now and was watered. It's Red Robin buddy has grown well.
It has two healthy branches that looks proud during the Spring, Summer and Autumn; but I don't think it understands it should grow. Hopefully it is putting down roots and I'll give it a feed in the spring.
There must be something else wrong. I have never had a smoke bush that has failed to grow. They do grow quite big if you let them and can be considered a true small tree. They are incredibly easy to grow and superb when in flower. They also make good foliage for putting in vases along with flowers
As it's in a pot, might be worth getting it out taking all the soil off, washing the routes and replant it in new soil.
It is my experience as well that they are easy to grow. I would check that the roots are not being eaten by vine weevils but mine have never shown any signs of this when other plants have .
You should get it out of it's pot and check it is not totally pot bound with the roots twisting round inside the pot. If they are like this I think you need to prune out the twisted roots and perhaps if reduce some of the top growth so there is a balance between the tops and the roots. Then plant it in some decent soil. so the roots go down into the ground.
Someone else might know about this. It is a vigorous plant and needs to be in the ground.
I have rescued a number of bargain price pot bound plants from GCs, and had to really tease out a lot of the excess roots.
Last edited: 09 February 2017 22:56:06
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
MayLane said it's in the ground.
MayLane said it's in the ground.
MayLane. Oh well that shows how well I read things.
I hope it does well.
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
I'm on my third one of these. The first two never got going and ultimately died. This one looked like going the same way but last year suddenly looked more lively. We'll see what happens this year.
In the sticks near Peterborough