A big boxwood (progression)

Replikant

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Boxwood Wilting

You mentioned wilting earlier with this Boxwood ... it's 90 degrees average here now and my large collected Boxwood has lots of new growth ... it does tend to wilt on some very new growth tips for a few hours then bounces back with watering ... I water it twice a day atleast right now. Soil mix is mostly aggregate(pumice, expanded shale, turface) so it drains very fast. Any advice on watering schedules for these large collected Boxwoods in high temps?

Thanks in advance,
 

Poink88

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You mentioned wilting earlier with this Boxwood ... it's 90 degrees average here now and my large collected Boxwood has lots of new growth ... it does tend to wilt on some very new growth tips for a few hours then bounces back with watering ... I water it twice a day atleast right now. Soil mix is mostly aggregate(pumice, expanded shale, turface) so it drains very fast. Any advice on watering schedules for these large collected Boxwoods in high temps?

Thanks in advance,

I water mine once a day...sometimes every other day and we have 90s for months now. My mix has (approx) 30% turface and 30% bark though and is more water retentive than yours.

What I found as the usual culprit on mine (esp on this) is failure to fill all voids in the soil. The problem is usually caused by too thick roots preventing the soil to fill the cavities under even if I chopstick the heck out of it. I now can feel the soil and can tell if there is a void underneath or not and act if needed. Problem solved.

For this, it took me longer than I should and it weakened it some. It is starting to grow again but very slowly. I am keeping it under shade until it regains vigor.

Make sure you do not have any voids in the soil...it is the most important part to strive for IMHO.
 

Replikant

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Wilting may be die back now :(

Was wondering what your opinion is on this. My collected boxwood which has done fantastic with tons of new growth since April is experiencing wilting to the point of leaves ready to fall along just one long branch. I always expected some die back but was wondering if I should leave the branch on the tree as the leaves wilt off or go ahead and remove the branch? The rest of the tree still seems to be doing great with all the new growth now hardened off. Not sure why the sudden wilting/die back on that long branch. Its one of the long branches in the lower right corner of the tree that runs back to the trunk. This pic is a little old. Much more growth on it now.
 

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Poink88

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The only time I had wilting is because I had voids in the soil...tree recovered fast after I fixed the problem. I usually remove dead branches after I am positive it is dead. I do leave a short snag now for possible carving opportunity later (easier to remove later than regret).
 

Replikant

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A big thank you!

Poink,

Wanted to thank you for the advice on voids in the soil with large collected material. Sure enough, when I started chop sticking and probing/pressing, several depressions or voids caved in a 1/2 inch or so. I don't know whether or not it will fix my wilting issue on this large Boxwood but it doesn't really matter because the issue was there either way and you helped brig it to my attention. After I worked the soil it easily compressed good 1/4 inch all the way around and I then added some expanded shale top mix to top it all off again. I should have known that the soil would have moved and gapped with 4 months of watering and some serious explosive growth of roots moving things around down there. Lesson well learned and I am checking my 5 other large collected material for similar conditions. Hope it stops the wilting and thanks again.

Rick
Louisiana
 

Poink88

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Glad to be of help. Note that too much "chopsticking" can damage tender roots also so you need to find a good balance.
 

Rodster

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Similar boxwood

Here is a boxwood I found pulled from a hedge maybe 7 years ago, your boxwood was very similar at time of collection, yours went a different direction as several of original spike like leaders died back. This boxwood had been in a heap by the road a couple of days before I noticed it, very dried out, unbelievable ability to recover! I grabbed two and both survived! I do not post much and not sure why this image is rotated? Sorry.
 

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Vin

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Here is a boxwood I found pulled from a hedge maybe 7 years ago, your boxwood was very similar at time of collection, yours went a different direction as several of original spike like leaders died back. This boxwood had been in a heap by the road a couple of days before I noticed it, very dried out, unbelievable ability to recover! I grabbed two and both survived! I do not post much and not sure why this image is rotated? Sorry.

Outstanding work!
 

Rodster

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Similar boxwood

Thanks for rotation fix, was it an easy fix?
 

Poink88

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Here is a boxwood I found pulled from a hedge maybe 7 years ago, your boxwood was very similar at time of collection, yours went a different direction as several of original spike like leaders died back. This boxwood had been in a heap by the road a couple of days before I noticed it, very dried out, unbelievable ability to recover! I grabbed two and both survived!

Very nice. Thanks for sharing. You should post more. ;)
 

Rodster

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Repoting

Very nice. Thanks for sharing. You should post more. ;)

Thanks for the repoting tip, always wondered why filling all voids is emphasized. I have noticed my boxwoods accumulate very dense root masses and often have to cut wedges using a hatchet placed on rootball and tapped with a hammer, to dense for root scissors and to dense to tease out using chop sticks. I do have them in fairly low volume pots, maybe I should repot every year instead of every two? However the mix still drains fairly after two years. Soil mix is turface, pumice, lava rock, akadama.
 

Poink88

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Thanks for rotation fix, was it an easy fix?

From a PC it only takes 2 clicks. Right click on the pic and a window with options will open...options include rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise.
 

Poink88

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Thanks for the repoting tip, always wondered why filling all voids is emphasized. I have noticed my boxwoods accumulate very dense root masses and often have to cut wedges using a hatchet placed on rootball and tapped with a hammer, to dense for root scissors and to dense to tease out using chop sticks. I do have them in fairly low volume pots, maybe I should repot every year instead of every two? However the mix still drains fairly after two years. Soil mix is turface, pumice, lava rock, akadama.

Timing is highly dependent on your locale and your style (soil mix, watering, fert regimen, etc.). Do whatever you think is working best. I think you do not need advise on that...your tree surely looks thriving well & very healthy. :) I won't change a thing from what you've been doing.

You probably know much more about boxwood than me, I am just a newbie. :)
 
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