Browning Leaves

MaryT says...
Could be mites that you need a lens to see. I had the same problem with a delivery. I think they multiply in the box, but once diagnosed, I sprayed with homemade white oil (a teaspoon of vegetable oil and a DROP of detergent in a spray bottle of water) especially the understand of the leaves and all's well within days.

John Mc says...
Yes they look like they are drying up and look very blotchy. If you can get the right angle to the light, you can see the fine webbing they produce.

Nick says...
Hey everybody, unfortunately the lychee isnt looking its best. It seems that the spray didnt really work and most leaves are looking very sick. The carambola definetly had mites and has recovered now (thanks btw :)) but I dont think the lychee has erinose mites because the leaves dont really look velvety, instead the growing tip seems to fry up and the lower leaves go blotchy brown around the margins. Any help will be appreciated! (sorry I hadn't posted photos earlier haha)

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Nick says...
Thanks micarle! :)

Peter says...
Hi Nick,
to get a good magnifing glass is inexpensive (Dick Smith has some nice 10x handlenses for about $10) if you not already have one. So I would keep checking for investations of any kind.
However for me too,it looks more like a chemical damage most likely too much fertiliser. The tricky thing with lychee is, that they are known to respond to fertilising very very slow and sometimes it takes a long time for overfertilising to show up with symptoms and the other way around with not enough the tree keeps going healthy for a while and by the time you see the effects it is already too late and even given a correct amount to make up for it, you see the good effect not for a while. In that way, after 2 years I still try to correct an imbalance in my Bosworth 3 and I'll never know if I gave enough or too little.
Its the best to only use slow release fertilisers for lychee.

amanda says...
Liquid powerfeed would have been enough on it's own ;-) I normally use just seasol after transplanting/repotting until the plant gets going again.
I prefer to use a good/high quality slow release fert in my pots....but even then maybe a only teaspoon at a time every cupla months, with seasol in between.
Little bits at a time are safest - and if the plant is doing well then there is no need for more - you will do more harm than good...
Dynamic lifter is reasonably slow release - but watch out for this kind of reaction with it, in pots, ....

Peter - that's interesting info...it wouldn't surprise me with lychees either..some plants just don't respond to being 'pushed' by hard core fert's very well...I think my jaboticabas are a bit like that too,...

MaryT says...
I noticed you have it in a relatively small pot - maybe you'd like to pot it up to the next size and water it well then leave it in a warm spot protected from wind and full sun. I wouldn't add more dynamic lifter to it.

MaryT says...
Sorry, here's the photo (if it would load)

amanda says...
It's a good point denise about the chlorine - but I have severe levels of chlorine in our tap water (tested) and it doesn't do anywhere near that kind of damage to my lychee...
MaryT - that new growth looks very pale? What's the pH of the potting mix it's in?

MaryT says...
Amanda you can see the photo? Great. No the new growth always looks pale but then green up as it 'ages'. Is that a sign of pH imbalance?

amanda says...
I'd still be tempted to check the pH myself - growing in pots is a very different situation to in-ground...it's a lot more difficult for starters :)

I have a lychee in a pot too. I can see the veins on that new growth - for me - that's worth keeping an eye on...

amanda says...
Hey MaryT - like Wayne said - likely nothing to stress too much about - but I would check the pH of the potting mix myself...just to be sure..?
What are u fertilising it with?

amanda says...
Hi MaryT - sounds ok - I use the same...(but mine in a 35L tree sack though..) maybe the new growth is playing catch-ups! ;-) Might be time to pot it up to a bigger container - how tall is the actual plant?

I use my pH test kit mainly when using synthetic fertilisers...and also for testing 'imported' organic composts/manures....you'd be surprised at how badly alkaline some of the manures are that u can get from the bulk suppliers...and also how synthetic fert's can end up making your soil more acidic too...
I don't use it much for the garden anymore as things are quite stable now - but I do use it for my potted plants - soil in a pot just doesn't have the same dynamics as soil in the ground...it can behave quite differently... :)

amanda says...
Ah...nice tree tho' Mary T - but yea that would make it a challenge. There is good book by Kevin Handreck "Gardening Down Under" and he has a great chapter on looking after potted plants....

amanda says...
Hi Nick - I haven't found my longon as sensitive as the lychee - but I also don't find the longon as tough as it either.
My longon is in a tree sack and doing great (better than in gound). I use a premium slow release fert (osmocote) sparingly every few months and seasol (I do intend to plant them back in the ground when we eventually relocate)

amanda says...
Yea - our hot n dry summer winds really knocked it around Nick...it's been in the shade house since last winter and is heaps better...my guess is they like a bit of shelter (almost everything needs afternoon shade here in the summer)

Ioana says...
Photos with my lychee.

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