Plant Doctor Archive

Trees wrong colour

I HAVE several lophomyrtus and ake ake which are meant to be red, but new growth is coming through quite green. Is this a deficiency of some sort?

THERE are several things that could be causing the new growth to be green, but the good news is that as long you've got the plants growing in plenty of light it will just be a temporary problem. Both lophomyrtus and ake ake colour up best in full sun.

Other factors that can cause greenness in their new growth include: warm, moist conditions or recent pruning, encouraging a flush of soft growth - at cooler times of the year the new growth will be redder; nutrients from recently applied fertiliser or compost - lophomyrtus and ake ake have low nutrient requirements, so only feed if the plants appear pale and growth is very slow.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.