over the past few days trees, from small ornamentals to very large mesquites have been dropping leaves and dying...nothing 'new' except the latest
storms. the death/drop looks like someone sprayed a swatch of death from the SOC beach onto the vegetation. fronts of large trees are affected,
smaller trees and plats are dying within that proscribed arc.
these plants weren't under standing water for long, and trees at the back of the property, which do get standing water, are unaffected so far.
??????? anyone heard of this?David K - 10-22-2012 at 08:42 AM
That may be a natural defense mechanism... the tree is just shutting down and waiting for conditions to return to normal. They often will appear to be
dead, but come back to life later.Mula - 10-22-2012 at 08:51 AM
Storms and rains carry lots and lots of what is called by the locals - plagues -.
Leave the plants alone and wait to see what will happen. Lots of times after a shock period, they come back and maybe the above ground will die, but
the plant will renew from the roots up. . . so just wait.shari - 10-22-2012 at 09:23 AM
today I was surprised to see plants that had apparently survived the storm now have lost leaves and shriveled up like someone watered them with bleach
or something toxic...seemed so strange as they were fine for 4 days after the storm and are now doing poorly....hmmm...I think they will come back
though.Mexitron - 10-22-2012 at 09:24 AM
Sounds possibly like salt spray damage---was there an extended period of heavy wind coming off the ocean onto these plants?bajalinda - 10-22-2012 at 10:32 AM
We have 2 little neem trees here near the beach. The smaller one is small enough that we were able to keep it covered and protected during the storm
and it is doing fine. The larger one wasn't covered and was really battered around in the wind during the storm. It has been dropping leaves like
crazy during the last couple of days. I think it got "burned" by the wind. Our local ranch hand also said to me today, I see the tree is "un poco
quemado". This was before I had said anything about what I thought, so it seems we agree. I think it will come back over time - I can already see
new growth in several places.Mula - 10-22-2012 at 10:45 AM
Neem will definitely bounce back and a lot of times a lot stronger than they were to begin with.bajalinda - 10-22-2012 at 02:52 PM
Thanks Mula - that's good to hear!watizname - 10-23-2012 at 09:00 AM
I think it's wind burn and salt damage. Spray off with fresh water, and soak the soil deeply a couple or three times, to flush the salt from the root
zone.
salt sea air?
EdZeranski - 10-23-2012 at 10:14 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Mexitron
Sounds possibly like salt spray damage---was there an extended period of heavy wind coming off the ocean onto these plants?
The salt in the air was my guess too. We have had similar leaf drops after storms and we are up a hill two and a half blocks off the Pacific. The
trees came back fine with new leaves.
EdZDavidE - 10-23-2012 at 10:30 AM
As a professional amateur do-it-yourself, part-time hobbiest gardener I feel David K's answer to be right on the dinero. When this happens in my
garden, I do not fertilize, or disturb the ground. Roots exhale waste, as well as inhale nutrients. A lot of sudden water is like a shock to the plant
as well. About 2-weeks after they return to the living I'll give them a light dose of time-release 8-8-8 with sulfur.
Want to see a Mesquite or Palo Fierro haul donkey? Start digging holes in the ground within the radius cast by the overhead branches. Bury fish or
fish guts. Then give the tree a long soak. You'd think fertilizer would do the same thing...but it doesn't. And I haven't a clue why.
