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Florida Gardening

Can a plant be a dud?

11 years ago

A few years ago I planted a red rocket crape myrtle, it is still the same size as then. Each summer it puts out some leaves and flowers and it does get some suckers around the base. But overall, it hasn't grown.

About a month ago, I acquired another red rocket crape (bought from a different place than the first) and it already has new growth on it. While shopping for the new one I asked about the non growing one and the only reason I got that made sense was perhaps there was an air pocket where I planted it. So 2 weeks ago I dug it up but didn't see one. I also over dug the area and replaced the sand/dirt with nicer dirt to encourage growth. I did notice that the roots haven't grown but it wasn't root bound.

Can it be just a bad plant? Or is there another reason why it won't grow?

I want to give it another month but if it hasn't grown by then should I just replace it?

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Comments (6)

tomncath
11 years ago
Setting the plant height is critical for woody plants, too high or too low and it will suffer significantly. Sometimes the old mix it is in will hinder growth if the mix has compacted too much and holds too much water compared to the surrounding soil. If you're sure the soil height is the same as the surrounding soil and it doesn't take off soon you have nothing to lose by digging it up, completely washing ALL the soil away from the roots and then burying it again in the soil it is supposed to grow in, just make sure you leave the hose under it on a trickle for three days to keep the soil moist and reduce root shock, then no water until the soil is dry if we don't start getting regular rain soon....

Tom
katkin_gw
11 years ago
To answer your question, I'd say yes. I think there are sick plants just like there are sick people. And some just don't respond like their neighbors. I had several Indian harthorn planted in a circle and one never grew like the rest, I finally took it out and replaced it with a new, that now is the size of the older ones.

Tom gave you good advise, but all that fails, it might be time to give up on that plant and get a new one. :o)
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jellybobelly
Original Author
11 years ago
Tom, thanks for the advice. I'm sure the height was good. When I dug it up a couple of weeks ago I didn't wash the roots. I didn't even know I could do that. I did use my finger to loosen the soil around the bottom of the roots and that soil was pretty compacted.

If it doesn't grow soon I'll dig it up again and use your method. Thanks again.

katkin, I've had plenty of plants die or not thrive, but that has always been due to me. So I wasn't sure if a plant could, without a pest or disease or bad care, just not do well. It's good to know.
tomncath
11 years ago
I didn't even know I could do that.

It's a last ditch effort and a 50/50 proposition of survival for what appears to be an unhealthy plant, but when it works it's an amazing thing. I've done it fairly regularly to small healthy woody plants and most of them do well....It's just vital that you keep the roots moist for several days when you bare root a plant like this, and don't let the roots get dry or be exposed to the sun for very long before you get it back into the surrounding ground soil...use a pressure nozzle get all the old soil out as quickly as possible.

Tom
loufloralcityz9
11 years ago
Is it possible a dwarf of the species got mixed in with the others??
Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
11 years ago
When I've used Tom's method, I do it with the entire rootball submerged in a bucket of water so that the roots never dry out at any time.

Carol

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