Continuing problems with Wisteria

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So I've posted on this tree before. It's an American Wisteria "Amythest Falls" and it has been having yellowing leaf issues since late June. I've been using commercial fungicide as well as peroxide treatments and after this last week and a half of straight rain, she's looking rough. At this point should I just let it go and defoliate itself since we are moving into fall? Maybe hope it comes back healthy next spring? I know I'll be hitting it with a dormant spray this year and a fungicide before bud break next Spring to see if I can't head this sort of thing off next year. Also, I'm not sure how long it's been since it's been reported so I wonder if that would help next spring. IMG_20181003_170740.jpgIMG_20181003_170722.jpgIMG_20181003_170716.jpg
 

WNC Bonsai

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What kond pf soil is it planted in? What are you feeding it and how often? When you planted it in the glazed pot did you nare root it, replace the old nursery soil, anything else?
 
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What kond pf soil is it planted in? What are you feeding it and how often? When you planted it in the glazed pot did you nare root it, replace the old nursery soil, anything else?

Looks like Turface. I bought it already potted. Feeding it a 7-7-7 liquid at full strength per instructions once a week. Not sure if it was bare rooted when potted or not.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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I have an 'Amethyst Falls', and I have never had to spray it for bugs or fungus. Wisteria in general are fairly pest free. I'm surprised you are having trouble. The yellowing I see on your tree might actually be too little water, or getting too dry between watering. Reason is it seems the oldest leaves are yellowing. This could be an artifact of looking at a photo, rather than live in person. If it is the newest leaves yellowing it could be over watering.

In general wisteria are water hogs when in full summertime growth. Many set their wisteria in shallow trays of water during the warmest months.

I'm up north of you, within the next 2 weeks we will have a hard freeze, or at least should have a hard freeze. No sign of a freeze coming. If I were you I would not worry about it. Autumn is here, even though your first frost will be a month later than my first frost, trees are hardening off and going dormant.

By the way, these native wisteria species are hardy enough that I leave mine out, under the bench, on the ground but otherwise fully exposed for the winter, and so far -17 F (-28 C) was no problem. Caution if your pot is not freeze tolerant you will need to protect the tree to save the pot.

You should probably repot in spring - if only to get the tree into your own potting mix. This way you will be more familiar with how often to water. What mix you use is up to you, if at all possible use the same mix for the majority of your trees. That way you will be familiar with how quickly or slowly the mix dries out.
 
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Leo, thanks for taking time to leave a detailed reply. I normally do keep a saucer under it to collect water, but I removed it back when our two week monsoon began. You are right that its the oldest leaves that are yellowing first. Underside of the leaves has a mildewey mottled color, even on the green ones. I'll likely repot it this spring in a mix of Pumice, Lava Rock, and DE I got from Milehigh.
 
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Spoke with the guy I got this tree from and he said it had gone about two years between potting when I purchased it. So I decided to peel the moss off and see what I am working with. Check out that gnarly ball of criss crossing roots! It's also pretty stuck in that pot. How hard can I work these roots? My original plan was to just take them out a bit, reduce on the outside, then repot in this same pot. It's looking like a lot more work needs to be done. IMG_20190324_152259.jpgIMG_20190324_152241.jpg
 
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This tree is my problem child. I was never able to get it looking good this year and it looks like its about to defoliate early again. Quick rundown:

Bought it in May 2018 and it looked great. Kept it in full sun, it flowered out, all was good. The the leaves started yellowing around July. Got worse and worse until it looked like in the posts above. Full sun all day and also in a position where it got pretty good moving air. Fungicide didnt seem to help, nor did changing watering habits.

I repotted it in better draining soil this past spring and again, fir the first couple months looked ok. Yellowing hit in July and has gotten worse faster this year. Im at a loss. Again, full sun, decent moving air. Fungal rotations. Ive tried watering less for a few weeks with no result, ive tried watering more with no change. Im pretty tired of it at this point and just moved it over to my bench under 40% shade cloth in the middle of the day. Sick of looking at it through my kitchen window. Pics from today.
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penumbra

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I have one of these in about a gallon pot. I have a few more that I rooted very early spring / late winter in smaller pond pots. All of mine got tired leaves which yellowed and dropped off. The have a nice second set of leaves now. I am certain they never dried out and the soil mix is fresh. They had no signs of pests or fungus. A friend of mine about 13 miles south of me has one in a pot that did the same thing. Now I also have one in the ground that has been growing along for about 10 years and it did not experience any of this.
So my answer is, I don't know.
 

WNC Bonsai

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I have two I collected this past March. They had nothing but their main stems and no small root mass left but have done well this summer putting out tons of new growth. One thing I did was keep them in a plastic pot trays from Lowes with an inch or two of water. They love water and have thrived. I have had to cut them back several mies this summer they have grown so well. Mine are Chinese wisteria so may differ.
 

Paulpash

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I have both types: Chinese & Japanese. I always keep mine in a tray of water, often several inches deep. I chop sphagnum moss and put about 10-15% in the mix. Full sun and water and they thrive. Turface could be your problem? I don't use it but others have commented that the core can be dry despite the top appearing damp.

Moler works well retaining moisture. Do you have any access to maybe trying this component?

Edit: I see you've switched soil components.
 
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So this is American wisteria (frutescens), native to SE usa. I thought it might be a turface issue also,but when i repotted it there were tons of fine roots, lots of growing tips, and no sign of rot or pests. I repotted it in a mix of 2:1:1 DE, pumice, lava. Watered usually 1-2x a day as the first top inch of soil dries out . I did try keeping it in a 2" dish of water the last couple months but saw no real difference in growth. No pruning or defoliation happened this year as i was hoping for healthy growth. Only work was putting on some thick wire and moving that big branch over to open the canopy up more.
 

penumbra

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My smaller ones in plant baskets have tons of roots and the mix is 90% turface.
 

Silentrunning

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I have a collected one in a large pot with potting soil. The only problem I have with it is giving it enough water. It is the thirstiest plant I have.
 

sorce

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Got any more root pics?
Outside the pot?

It looks like a rootball that'll have problems.

If you didn't tear that ball apart, it's likely shedding water, the pot shape isn't helping. Neither is the new soil.

Tell you what.....

They say these are good for the 2 weeks they flower.
If the other 50 weeks is negative and ugly.
Burn it!

Sorce
 

_#1_

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I have 2 HD chinese wisteria. Both did next to nothing in the hot open sun of June to July even when I watered them twice a day. Then I kept the pot in full shade while part of canopy in sun. They responded well to that. Maybe the roots got too hot?
 
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I have a Chinese Wisteria pre bonsai who’s leaves yellowed and wilted in the heat of summmer. Growth stopped. I pulled the roots from the pot (no pruning or bare rooting), repotted in a larger pot with regular bagged ‘potting soil’ around the root ball - hoping the high peat content would hold more water and keep the temps down. The wisteria exploded in growth.

Like microscopic said, filtered sun is also important for me.

Not sure if this is your problem, my yellow leaves looked a little different. Good luck.
 

sorce

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It looks like it got over the problem before, by growing all that root mass around the old pot shape that the top part echos.

I would be concerned that the top part still sheds water. Was it poked thru with a chopstick or the like? Aerated?

If not it may still be shedding water, and the new problem is it doesn't have enough roots yet to maintain it.
Whereas the last repotter seemed to leave a lot more of the mass intact.

I think you did an excellent job working that ball back.

If you want it to survive, I hope it does for you.

Sorce
 

rockm

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You soil is too lean and this is getting too much heat...I don't use bonsai soil for wisteria. I use potting soil.

Also, if this has been in full sun this summer, it's heat stressed. Wisteria (regardless of species) is a woodland plant. It likes to have cool, damp roots and sun on its top. They climb trees in the wild, overtopping those trees with growth. Their roots are sheltered in the shade below. That's what you want to do with containerized wisteria. SHADE THE POT. Let the top run. Use soil that holds onto a lot of water (which has to be compensated for in overwintering by the way).

Next spring, I would chop off the bottom two third of this root mass. It's compacted and probably has dried out spots within it, which could be adding to you problems. I would comb out the remaining roots and rinse out the old soil. Replant in a mix that's 2/3 potting soil and 1/3 bonsai soil.
 

rockm

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You also might want to put the pot in a larger shallower pot and fill the out pot with water. The water should come up an inch or so on into the soil. As said before wisteria are thirsty. Drying out is easy if the plant has no reserves of water in the container-hence the heavy potting soil...
 
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