Young crepe myrtles (landscape, grown, fertilizing, bug)
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Don't know what to do about these two crepe myrtles. I have them in pots and will probably plant them in a couple of months. I have been using neem oil on them and have been spraying the leaves with miracle grow every other day. On the first picture, the leaves curl up and shrivel to nothing. The second, the leaves die a little at a time. Am I using too much Miracle grow?
Just water them for 3 weeks to see what happens. Crepe Myrtle is etremely hardy, I suspect they are not happy with your mothering. My plants, either by digging volunteer plants or via propagated cuttings, get nothing but water....as they would in a natural setting. Once they are established in the garden, they do get fertilized. See the instructions here from professional growers.
Gemstone1 spot on. They are not very difficult to grow the oil could be smothering them at this young age or the fertilizer could be burning them. Water and nothing else.
First, crepe myrtles don’t like transplanting. Second, too much nitrogen can cause tissue death like you’ve shown. Third, neem oil is fine but might be blocking transpiration water flow so not needed unless you have pests. Better to get the plants where you want to keep them as soon as possible.
I have them in pots and will probably plant them in a couple of months.
Why not plant them now, when it is cooler, vs the heat of summer? They probably have a better chance of survival.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luv4horses
First, crepe myrtles don’t like transplanting.
I have never had an issue with that, from digging up new seedlings that have sprouted, as well as moving a ten-year old one. (On the latter, I did use a shovel to cut the roots/outline of where I was going to dig in September, then waited until December to move it.)
Too much miracle grow for sure and you shouldn’t need any neem oil for many weeks in between applications. In fact if you’re having bug problems, I’d go with a systemic instead like the Bayer 3-1 feed and protect. That will also stop scale from happening.
When you plant them, sprinkle a little 10-10-10 around them for food (keep in mind the 3-1 also feeds). I have several mature crape myrtles in my yard. A landscaper told me about the 10-10–10 and how they really love it, will make it flower. But don’t overdo it.
Also, make absolutely sure of where you want to put them when you do plants them in the ground. Because an established crepe myrtle is extremely invasive and almost impossible to kill. Even if you one day move it, little pieces of root will sprout, and you can never be without it in that fist spot. So make sure that you want to keep it right there - for ever.
Here are pictures of crepe myrtles planted last year. I just noticed today that on this one tree a lot of the leaves are turning white. What is this and what can I put on the tree to cure this. I would hate to lose this young tree. It has grown so much this year.
That’s “Powdery Mildew”, and is very common in young CM’s, and almost always start at the bottom. You’ll want to stop it sooner rather than later as it will spread upwards. Google that phrase for ideas on what to buy to stop it. I like Bonide products for it myself, but they’re not organic.
It’s a fungus, you’ll want a fungicide to spray on it, and pretty soon.
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