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Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 10:15 am
by Moods
At the end of last summer we brought 2 tree ferns from different nurseries. One has 11 leaves on it and looks fantastic the other has started to produce leaves but none have curled out. Both have irrigation on them daily and were protected from the winter. Does any one have any idea why the second plant isn’t doing so well.

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:10 pm
by chainsaw kid
Hi, can you tell us a little more about the plant when you bought it. Did it have fronds last year, did it have roots or was it just a log? how did you protect it over winter and how big is it? Thanks Jas. icon_thumright

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 5:58 pm
by Moods
Hi Jas, it had about 6 leaves when I brought it around about mid September. No roots just a log. Got it home and got it in the ground immediately and supported it with stakes. I left the leaves on but used small pieces of germination sheet in the crown to protect it then wrapped the top 30cm with germination sheeting. I think I may have also used some insulation material of about 3mm thickness. The tree is about 6ft tall.

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 6:23 pm
by Moods
This picture is of the other tree fern I brought around the same time and I treated in the same way as the one that is struggling

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 6:40 pm
by chainsaw kid
Hi Moods, I don't pretend to be an expert on these, but I think you bought it to late in the season. The plant expended all its energy growing leaves last year with out being able to put any back due to the lack of roots, and mid September was a bit late to start to grow any. It has run out of puff. Have you tried carefully digging down the side of the trunk with your hands to see if it has grown any roots this year? How deep did you plant it. icon_thumright

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 11:58 am
by tatter
how often has it been watered and when did you start ? Since it has no roots both the crown anf the trunk needed watering
often

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 12:33 pm
by Moods
chainsaw kid wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 6:40 pm How deep did you plant it.
Roughly 200mm

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 12:34 pm
by Moods
tatter wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 11:58 am how often has it been watered and when did you start ? Since it has no roots both the crown anf the trunk needed watering
often
It has Been watered twice every day since March. The water has been from a irrigation system you can see the sprinkler in the photo at the top of this thread. I have water the trunk but the sprinkler give of enough water that quite a bit runs down the trunk.

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 12:36 pm
by Moods
The tree fern has now produce some small slightly deformed leaves I’ll post a pic later. Hopefully the can grow big enough to absorb some energy this year?

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 7:59 pm
by Moods
Leaves pick

Dicksonia leaves

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 5:11 pm
by chainsaw kid
Hi Moods, now you have a little bit of greenery on top you could try a bit of foliar feed to give it a boost, assuming you still have no roots. icon_thumright