Can my Forest Flame be saved?

I have an established Pieris Forest Flame (approx 10 years old) which is in a large tub. Last summer the foliage remained green but it did display a mass of cream coloured flowers. This spring its appearance went downhill and I was sure I was going to lose it so I gave it a top dressing of fresh ericacious compost and some liquid feed. There is now some new growth appearing (see photo links below) which might indicate all is not lost but I'm unsure what to do next to try to save the plant further.Can I just cut out the old dead wood and hope that the new growth will thrive?

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/Franco50/Dscf0005.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/Franco50/Dscf0006.jpg

 

i have the same problem with mine, i treated it exactly the same as you have done and i wait with bated breath...
I'm not sure how to water it though, as i'm sure i read somewhere that it shouldn't be watered with tap water, so what else do i use.
One thing i did do was to treat the ericaceous compost with sequestrene which i'm sure has had a positive effect on the leaf colouring. it was an icky sick pale green and now it looks a deeper green, and it certainly isn't losing any more leaves.

I hope someone more knowledgeable than you or i comes along with some sage advice!

 

We shall keep our fingers crossed Lynne. I'd hate to lose it as I've had it so long and it's my favourite plant when it's in all it's red leaved glory.

p.s. I love cats!

 

Mmmmmmm, having taken a look at the pictures you may have two problems - besides the leaves looking paler than they should, there is some scorching as well. That last could be due to late frost, wind, or drying out.

When was the last time you potted it up - you could consider doing this, though it is a little late - into something like a half barrel

If you can move it to a slightly shadier spot, so that while it gets light it doesn't get full sun. Its not called Forest Flame for nothing Gently tease away the top inch of compost and replace with ericaceous compost - being careful not to disturb the roots too much as they can be quite shallow rooted. Water with rain water, or if you have no butt, use boiled water - cos tap water does not agee with them too well especially in a hard water area. Feed with something like miracid - and repeat once a month. As an added precaution, I would use pravada - thinking vine weevil

Then keep your fingers crossed - it may look sad for a while, but as long as there is new growth there is hope that by next spring it will have picked up. .

 

Fran - thanks a lot for your advice. I moved the plant into that container (which is 500mm diameter) about 14 months ago as it had outgrown the previous pot. Since then its general health seems to have declined. I top dressed a few weeks ago with new ericaceous compost and gave it an ericaceous liquid feed (not Miracid though). Unfortunately I don't have a water butt but I live in a soft water area so did not think that tap water would have been a major problem. However I shall try your boiled water tip and applications of Miracid and pravada. Just one more question - do I prune or just leave alone and see if it picks up?

[ 12. June 2005, 01:32 PM: Message edited by: Franco50 ]

 

i'd definitely cut out the dead wood, if for aesthetic reasons alone!

 

OK, so we got it declining since it went into its new pot. That should have only caused it to check slightly and die back a little as its roots got established not go into complete decline. I assume the pot has drainage holes, and that you did not disturb the root ball when potting up, therefore it could just be the compost. What did you use?

It would appear from your pictures that it is the top growth that is dying back - now that could be weather or it could be the roots. The plant is obviously still alive as you do have a little new growth. I would really like to hear a) a little more detail of how you potted it up, and b) how often your watering - cos wetness can kill just as much as dryness.

In respect of pruning I'd be slow to do that at this time, but be very sure any dead wood, is actually dead before you remove it. Scrape a little of the bark off from the bit your thinking of pruning - if its white or green leave it.

 

Fran. If I remember correctly when I repotted it I used a mixture of ericaceous and multipurpose compost .. BUT I made sure the top 3 inches or so of the container was purely ericaceous. There are drainage holes in the bottom. Overwatering is not the problem (unless you count the Scottish weather) as I only water it in dry spells in summer. I watered it a couple of weeks ago for the first time this year - this was done at the same time as adding some new ericaceous compost and giving it a feed. It may well be your other theory of the weather as it stands in that position all year round and we did get some harsh weather during the past winter. I maybe gave the wrong impression my previous post - it didn't actually decline as such after being repotted but the foliage did not go through its normal cycle of red and yellow, instead it went into flower and stayed like that all year. It was only after the winter that it began to look as bad as shown in the photos.