Rowan tree puzzle

Good morning all, I’d be grateful for some advice and guidance…. I bought two very small Rowan trees in the early spring - no more than 60cms tall. As they were so young I didn’t plant them but put them in bigger pots and placed them in a sunny spot in the garden where I want them to grow. One of them has thrived and is now approx 150cms tall but the other has done very little apart from showing some healthy-looking leaves at the top. I’ve treated both of them the same but with very different result, so would appreciate any suggestions.

 

Have you got any photos @MichaelJC ? That will help, along with more info. Are they the same variety?
However, putting a young tree [of any kind] in direct sun at this time of year isn't a good idea, epsecially if you're in one of those very hot areas of the country. Rowans aren't particularly keen on a lot of hot sun anyway, so it always pays to be careful with the site initially.
It could also be wind damage or lack of water. They'll take any amount of water, as long as they have decent drainage, so that's another factor.
It can often just come to down to luck as well. Even taking two identical specimens and planting them in the same way with the same soil mix etc, one can do better than the other.

 

It may just be genetic variation. I have two rowan that were grown from seed collected on the same tree. One has grown strongly and is twice the size of the other. They were planted about 20 years ago and are side by side. The smaller arguably has slightly more sun but all other conditions are the same. I'm sure the larger one has dwarfed the other a little by out competing it now but they had plenty of space when young.

I'm definitely agree that different cultivars have different rates of growth. I have a couple of others that don't grow particularly fast compared to the wild type.

 

Thanks for the replies. It would seem from what you have both said that it’s down to luck. They are both from the same supplier, bought at the same time and are placed in the same border, so conditions are the same. At least the smaller one is still alive and I’ll be patient to see what next year brings.

 

I've had plants in pots in the past that seemed weirdly stationary and that turned out to have vine weevils. This is probably not the case (I'd say given the healthy leaves), but with potted plants you have an easy opportunity to inspect the root ball to see if anything is amiss.

 

I think it would be highly unlikely to be vine weevil on a rowan.
Even in the same site [approximately] @MichaelJC , it's surprising how conditions can vary as there could be more light, less light, more wind exposure etc.
Anything in a pot, regardless of type, needs more attention than in the ground, so just make sure when you water, for example, that it's getting enough. Waterlogging can also be a problem, so it may be worth taking the poorer one out of the pot and checking the conditions it has. If, by any chance, there IS evidence of weevils, wash the whole root system thoroughly and repot.

If you have pots sitting on a border, that's really not a great idea, as it can prevent proper drainage.