Hi there! I am hoping that someone might have some ideas for me. I have a beautiful Wisteriain Duncan BC on Vancouver Island which constantly produces seed pods. Two years ago I started a few from seed, and once they hit about 6” tall, they died. They were in 2.5” square starter pots, and it was still frosting regularly so they were still indoors. I assumed that was the reason. This year I have tried again and all 5 looked fantastic! About 2 months ago they stopped growing and the leaves started yellowing. Once again about 6” tall and in the same pots - I moved them outside once it warmed up enough to not shock them. The yellowing and leaf loss continued. I repotted 3 weeks ago as they had become root bound, but they aren’t cheering up. If anything, they look worse. Could this just be a stage for seedlings, and they will perhaps go dormant for a while? Or have I unintentionally killed them?? Any help at all would be appreciated!!’ Thanks, Nelli
I fully understand how sorry you are for the sad fate of your seedlings, every sowing, cutting, layering …… that we do is a bit of a challenge to ourselves and waiting to see our efforts succeed and new plants give us the joy of grow healthy and robust. Returning to the problem, is it not that you give too much water or that the soil is not drained enough? Or that the pot in which you transplanted the seedlings is insufficient in size, Wisteria has a powerful root system and requires a large amount of soil (half garden soil and half universal soil) that should be irrigated, at least in the first months (but always if in pot) i, with descaled water. Another thing you need to pay attention to is the possible presence of snails which are a real torment for small and tender plants. During the day you can see if they are present by spying on the presence of their unmistakable path of movement or looking above all in the saucers or in the lower edge of the vase. If you see it surrounds the pot of a strip of ash, or broken egg shells ... on which snails cannot move. If you intend to grow them in pots, however, know that not all varieties of Winsteria bear the constriction of the pot: absolutely not, for example, W. Floribunda while you can try with W. sinensis. The only Wisteria that can be grown in a pot I know is W. frutescens 'Amethyst Falls', a North American variety with short, intense purple clusters. I hope, however, that you can identify the cause of the problem for sure and solve it. If it should unfortunately not be so, why not try to experiment with reproduction by cutting or by air layering. Considering also that, reproduced from seed, the Wisteria, if not subsequently grafted, needs from 10 to 15 years (if enough) to bloom and flowering is rather limited. Hope to read good news from you !!! Ciao, ciao! Note - A further tip in general: when you are looking to identify a pathology of plants, be careful also to observe (and possibly photograph and show for advice) the inside of the plant and the underlying part of the leaves: the symptom is noted on the top page but the cause of the problem is usually where you don't look !!!
Good morning, can I offer one observation and that is 'growing medium'. I have grown many of these from seeds and cuttings taken from one of my children's plants and nearly all have grown successfully. I place all in a very loose mix and not in regular potting compost. I find this retains too much moisture and is not free draining enough. I look at your compost and it appears very dark, hinting that it is rather wet. So many cuttings and seedlings are killed by over watering or being in a compost that does not drain well. If you had one that was showing these signs then I would be looking at something different, but as they are all showing this, then the growing medium IMO is the cause. @Arlette has got this right IMO on her reply posting.
