Okay, I suppose the truth that it is winter in South Africa counts as an excuse of types as a result of I have not been engaged on my bushes that a lot. Not even the final couple of weeks after I ought to have been busy repotting them as spring is unquestionably within the air. Sadly I’ve repotted only a few, partly because of the truth that procrastination is one in every of my huge weaknesses, however know-how issues have performed a giant half too. I used to be unwilling to get my palms soiled whereas ready for tech help that by no means arrived!
Nearly the one time I’ve labored on my bushes these days has been at workshops.
One of many bushes I felt needed to be repotted urgently was the fig truncheon chopping which I struggled to maintain alive by means of a heatwave final summer season. Two weeks in the past it was simply beginning to get its first leaves so I took it to a membership assembly the place I might get some assist lifting it out of the 2 pots it was residing in.
I purchased a number of pots from the membership’s store and shortly repotted the tree into one in every of them earlier than the assembly began.
It has been sitting within the shade since then, wanting moderately comfortable, and I used to be planning to maneuver it again into the solar within the subsequent few days.
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| August 2019 – displaying early spring development |
After which I made a discovery which pressured me to alter my plans.
Among the many gadgets I used to be packing for as we speak’s workshop had been coaching pots for repotting a few of my different bushes. I used to be horrified to seek out that one of many bigger pots I would purchased two weeks in the past had no drainage holes. That introduced the horrible realisation that the pot I would planted my fig tree in won’t have any holes both.
My fears had been quickly confirmed. My poor tree has spent the final two weeks in soggy soil. What’s extra as soon as I eliminated it from the pot, I found that the soil was actually smelly.
I’ve now moved the tree into a greater pot with clear soil, however I am very anxious about the potential for root rot. This tree should still be fats and ugly (although not as dangerous as after I first wrote about it) but it surely’s not a tree I need to lose.
It is again within the shade for now, and I have been suggested to water it with a fungicide (which I nonetheless have to purchase) and hopefully that may assist it to drag by means of. For now, nonetheless, I’ve bought a number of nervous weeks forward of me.
You possibly can see a full development of this tree (together with future updates) right here.
