Hey everyone, one of my Grevilleas has some lower leaves going quite rusty in colour but seems to still be pushing out some new leaves up top. Do I need to worry about this and do something about it or just leave them. I live in South Aus quite frosty here in overnight and finally getting some rain.
by Trick-Grapefruit192
6 Comments
Following because similar drama
Someone might have better advice, but I can share my experience. I lost 2 of these last year from root rot (or possibly phosphorus runoff from lawn fertilizer) after a ton of rain.
They’d been in the ground 2 years. There’s a bunch of products you can use, I tried one and it didn’t seem to help. I also dug around and under as best I could and put some sandy soil but I think it was too late.
If you do lose it,I would plant a new one in spring so the roots have a good chance to grow before the next frost/big rain. Plant it with a bit of a mound and use 50/50 native plant mix and sand, with mulch on top to stop the sand moving to much.
Is it G.Ned Kelly? They don’t like cold air. Also is your drainage good?
When the frost risk is over prune off the crappy leaves. I think it will be fine, Lemon Baby tolerates frost when it matures.
I had a similar issue a few years ago, I asked my University professor what the issue could be. He said to me ‘Its a grevillea… sometimes they just dont like living no matter what you do. Just ignore it, if it lives it lives.’
Needless to say, it did not survive… but the grevillea next to it is now 3 meters tall.
So I would say, Looks like possibly an Iron deficiency. Try a liquid iron chelate solution applied directly to the leaves and then hope for the best.
The loss of lower leaves and sprouting new ones suggests it’s replacing old leaves to acclimatise. Common for plants grown in shade houses and placed in more exposed/full-sun conditions.