Help - My Japonica isn't very well!!

ABajaninCork

Hi

I've got a Japonica plant which did really well at my old house. Since I moved, it seems to have gone backwards!:(

It's potted, so no problem there. But I've noticed something seems to be eating the leaves. I've sprayed with bug spray and put down slug pellets (I was already doing this at my old house as I knew the slugs liked the plant!).

The new growth seems to be stunted. Whatever new leaves are being eaten, and they don't seem to be as green as they were before.

Should I cut the plant back and re-pot in fresh compost? I guess I would need to do this quite soon before the frost comes...

TIA for any help/advice!

looksee

I am not sure what is wrong with your plant, but there are lots of things called japonica. It is something japonica, such as kerria japonica, it simply means a species from Japan. Can you give us a bit more information as to what kind of plant it is?

ABajaninCork

Thanks for the reply. Fortunately, I've still got the label...

It's called a 'Skimmia' Rubella Japonica. Has little white flowers in the spring, which turns to gorgeous little clusters of red berries in the autumn/winter.

If anyone can give me some pointers, I'd be grateful!

bmaxi

Sounds like aphids, although you don't say how long the plant has been in the pot so it may need feeding. I would give it a half strength ericaceous feed at this point and then feed it again in April.

looksee

Skimmias are usually pretty tough, but something about the description made me think of vine weevil, and while they would not eat leaves, they might account for the sickliness -

"It is worth being diligent with your skimmia as vine weevil larvae can decimate root growth. Problems are particularly pronounced where plants are confined to a pot, so combat the threat by buying either weevil-treated compost or employing the services of biological controls such as nematodes, available from organic suppliers."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/gardening/article-1089024/The-green-midwinter-Evergreens-brighten-garden-dark-months.html#ixzz11KRvTdmG

Ha! that second para came up on its own when I copy/pasted the quote...

ABajaninCork

Great!! Thanks for the responses - I thought it might be a weevil of some sort, but couldn't see anything...

So should I cut back the leaves and re-pot? I've been feeding it every summer since I got the plant some 6 years ago, and like I said it's been doing fantasically every year except for this one.

Where can I get pre-treated compost - would it in a proper garden centre as opposed to Atlantic/B & Q?

Thanks again!

looksee

I have never seen weevil treated compost, so I don't know where you would get it. You can get the nematodes at Mr Middleton in Dublin (you can buy from the website) but they are fairly expensive so I would suggest you check by gently tipping the plant out of the pot and looking for little fat curled up white grubs in the compost.

Beruthiel

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Great!! Thanks for the responses - I thought it might be a weevil of some sort, but couldn't see anything...

Some time back, I bought a Japonica from a garden centre. Little did I know, it also came with the gift of vine weevil.
The first sign was stunted growth and leaves falling off. I just thought it wasn't happy in the place I had put it and so I moved it. No change.
I took it out of the pot and noticed the grubs.


By then of course, the adult feckers were everywhere:



I tried nematodes and other chemicals, the rest of my pots seem ok for now. But for how long?
Even if you do all your pots you are not guaranteed to get rid of them all as the adults are wandering around your garden.
I squished countless amounts of them as they went out and about in the garden at night.
I even found one in my god damned kitchen last week.
Frustrating doesn't cover it.

jezko

Beruthiel wrote: »

Some time back, I bought a Japonica from a garden centre. Little did I know, it also came with the gift of vine weevil.
The first sign was stunted growth and leaves falling off. I just thought it wasn't happy in the place I had put it and so I moved it. No change.
I took it out of the pot and noticed the grubs.


By then of course, the adult feckers were everywhere:



I tried nematodes and other chemicals, the rest of my pots seem ok for now. But for how long?
Even if you do all your pots you are not guaranteed to get rid of them all as the adults are wandering around your garden.
I squished countless amounts of them as they went out and about in the garden at night.
I even found one in my god damned kitchen last week.
Frustrating doesn't cover it.

I have heard that Peat based composts are very prone to these "B@$&@&@s ... was told to use core (Coconet) fibre ...

The Nematodes are quite good .. but you need to do it at the right time and temp... they are not as active at low temp's... Also ensure the compost is not too WET ..Fussy Buggers these nematodes ... They also don't last that long in this environment. a few weeks at most..

That said Most Chemicals that killed these Grubs are now banned or removed from the market...

Over the years I have tried all sorts of Peat mixed with bark chipings (From pIne)

The Core Fibre is Expensive and I find it hard to source.

The Bettles do make some sign of being around ... Small bites around the edges of the leaves...