Your plant appears to be in a container? Years ago, when I first had obtained the wisteria 'Blue Moon', I had kept it potted for several seasons and the thing had reponded rather poorly and certainly lacking the vigor in which wisteria are known for. Once settled in the ground, of course it then thrived!

Yes, it's in a container, however that's not the issue here. I have another wisteria in a container and it's doing well. It's also only been in the container for one season and I'm 100% sure it's not root-bound. I also use a 4-1-1 mix to prevent from overwatering and to allow significant airflow for the roots.

So, it could either be a nutrient deficiency or a fungus?

where are you?

it is september.. and things should be slowing down.. if for no other reason.. that the sun is in decline ...

come sept.. its hard to define leaf problems on deciduous plants ... some just shut down earlier ....

two children.. in 2 pots... should be pretty equal.. all things said ... but not definitive ...

other than this particular thing.. how did the plant do this summer????

for many of us in cold zones ... its not a great time to be heavily fert'g potted plants ... its time to slow down.. not potentially cause excessive late season growth ...

ken

It certainly doesn't look fungal and I doubt it has much to do with nutrients either. It looks like it is just starting to shut down for the season.....which containerized plants can do easily in response to stress and weeks before their inground cousins will do.

Plants grown in containers do need fertilizing......and on a pretty regular basis, as potting soil itself has little to no nutrient value and the need for frequent watering tends to leach out what nutes are applied. But its too late in the year to be doing so now.

Next season, start early with an application of a slow release fert like Osmocote OR use a water soluble fert like Dyna Gro or even Miracle Gro on a dilute basis weekly (weakly, weekly). They all contain necessary trace elements and should be more than adequate to address the plants' needs.

ken_adrian: I'm located in Massachusetts, zone 6. It has started getting cooler here, but certainly not cool enough to cause a plant to start going dormant, in my opinion. However the dogwood trees around the area have started turning. What makes me doubt that it's the plant going dormant is that it's still sprouting new leaves/vines. Seems odd to both be going dormant and sprouting new growth at the same time.

gardengal48: Yeah, I'm thinking I should try upping my fertilizer regimen a little bit. Currently, I feed it every other week. Seeing that I'm using the 4-1-1 blend, which is not that great at retaining nutrients, I might have to try fertilizing it every week.

Are you sure it's not a lack of a specific nutrient though?

If you have been feeding it consistently through the growing season, then a nutrient deficiency is unlikely. And not something you would bother to correct now anyway. I stop fertilizing all my permanent outdoor containers by the end of August so they have sufficient time to harden off new growth before cold weather sets in, usually in November. And my cold weather is not all that cold :-)

Plants in containers will behave differently from plants in the ground. It is quite possible for a plant to continue to produce some new growth - the result of all that fertilization - at the same time older growth is responding to shorter days and cooler temps.

That makes sense. My other wisteria, which is the same age and gets the same care, seems to be doing perfectly fine. Plants really are as individual are we are! I'll continue to keep an eye on it and see if any more browning/yellowing occurs but you're right. it really does look like it's just going into dormancy.

My potted roses do the same thing. The older leaves will yellow and fall off while new top growth keeps going, a reacttion fo shorter daylight and cooler nights. It's normal and I live in Ma. too) Remember, we have lost about two hours of sunlight already since June((((

Yea, your soil will cool down MUCH quicker in a pot as opposed to the ground. Cool roots will trigger earlier fall shutdown...add me to the "shutdown" column.

Would any one be able to tell me why my blue moon wisteria leaves are starting to turn yellow like this. I only planted it a month ago, maybe a bit of shock?