The Message Board

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 829 days ago

I'd suggest a one-third haircut, a dose of seasol, then total neglect for at least two months. Definately no fert. They're pretty hardy, so hope you get a result.
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 828 days ago

Thanks for the suggestion, that's what I will do - wish me luck!!

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 822 days ago

I have done as suggested, but it keeps losing leaves. Should I give it water seeing the weather is so hot??

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 820 days ago

A good deep watering could help, but only one . Are the leaves drying out, is it only older leaves dropping, are there new leaves sprouting? Sorry to put three separate questions like that, but combinations of those could indicate different things.
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 820 days ago

NO NO NO.. IT IS NOT CAUSED BY THE LACK OF WATER BUT TOO MUCH WATER.....

the plant looks like you have not watered but in fact you over watered or rain has caused the ground not to dry up. you can't really do anything but take it out of the ground and keep it in a cool environment with less stress on the plant.

this is caused by clay on the bottom. when you dug the whole you created a pit for water to drain into therefore you practically planted your plant in a soggy soil. i have the exact same problem for my murrays from dying dye to heavy soil.

I fixed my problem by digging another deeper hole half a meter away from the plant. Drill holes in the bucket and put the bucket in the deeper hole. This creates another hole for water to drain into. In times of rain you would have to bail or pump the water out...

I'm sorry but this is the only way if you want a Lilli Pilli to grow and any future ones. There is no other way out of it but it works


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No gardener is really good before he has killed one or two plants.

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 820 days ago

hutcho

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 819 days ago

I'm sorry Dragonace, but I've got a Lillipilly which had exactly the symptoms described, and I did exactly what I suggested. Lillypillys are quite happy in the Sydney basin area, where there is little else but clay.
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 817 days ago

The leaves started drying out from the middle of the lilli pilli and spread upwards. Now only a few outside branches are unaffected. We are experiencing very hot dry conditions at present and it is in the hot sun all day long. I gave it a dose of Seasol as hutcho suggested, and a one third haircut. Do they transplant well if I was to take it out of the ground?? And would it be better in a pot until it recovers???

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 817 days ago

Yes to the transplanting, esp. since it's still only a pup. A while back I asked a horticulturist about the question of backfilling with potting mix or the local soil, and her strong advice was to use the same soil that the plant was going to spend its life in. I wouldn't recommend putting it back into a pot. Usually if a potted plant is in big trouble, you'd bung it into the ground and hope for the best, but the other way round pretty well has never worked when I've tried it. Hope this helps a bit.
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 814 days ago

Well the lilli pilli looks to have stabilized (maybe??). It hasn't deteriorated any further for the last week of so, so just maybe it will pull through!! There are no new shoots yet.

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 813 days ago

oh didn't know that Lilli Pilli needed to be taken care differently. I had two rows of 30 murray's which died due to heavy clay. found out that it created a well and water actually did not drain and not allowing the roots to dry up. root rot set in and the plants start to die.

i thought i would be the same case to a Lilli Pilli....hmm...

We told our nursery about the problem but they said we are not watering it enough though how can you water it more when it sitting it water............ so yeah........
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No gardener is really good before he has killed one or two plants.

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 813 days ago

dragonace... try a liquid clay-breaker. That works quite quickly without having to dig it in. From what you said, I can see how you probably think you're trapped in "Catch 22" !!
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 810 days ago

i doubt liquid would have worked as efficient as powder form since there was absolute no top soil (literally) due to the builders who put all the topsoil to put under the house.

we ended up digging all the clay and put new soil in with clay breaker, sand and gravel. now they are growing quite fine
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No gardener is really good before he has killed one or two plants.

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 794 days ago

All of the above discussion probably was not relevant, as since the leaves dropped off I was able to see the most probable cause of the trouble!!! There is a split in the main trunk of the plant, and all of the branches that come from that main area have seemingly died. I taped it up, took it out of the ground and put in a pot, but I'm afraid that the damage is now irreversible. Sorry I have caused all this fuss for nothing, but thank you for so much advice.

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 794 days ago

Not at all, roopower. Nobody even thought of that, but now it's another little bit of info. that could help out sometime. Thanks for the update.
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Problem with Lilli Pilli

Posted 627 days ago

Hi all Lilly Pilly experts. I have newly planted lilly pilly's and they have leaf drop (green healthy leaves) and the plants (about 5 of the 25) are dying from the inside out. The dying ones are not necessarily next to each other either. The plants have been very well watered and our landscaper cannot explain the reason either. He would like to keep them very well watered, however, I'm worried that they may be getting too much water now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!