Too much water or too little for Lil Gem Magnolia?

Discussion in 'Trees, Shrubs and Roses' started by garden_newbie, Apr 16, 2010.

  1. garden_newbie

    garden_newbie Seedling

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2010
    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    21
    Location:
    TN, USA
    Hello, I have no idea if my tree is not getting enough water or too much water. I took a pic of it and the funny thing is that it looks a lot greener in the pic then it does in real life. In RL the whole tree looks brown:

    [​IMG]

    However if you look closely on the bottom you can see brown leaves where they are falling off where other neighbors trees are green and blooming. I am not sure if I am giving it enough water or too much, since I have been watering it everyday but not soaking it, just a few minutes of shower water. You can see how the grass around it is thick and green from me watering. Oh and I planted it three weeks ago.
     
  2. Loading...


  3. garden_newbie

    garden_newbie Seedling

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2010
    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    21
    Location:
    TN, USA
    Everyone must be out enjoying their lawns instead of hanging out on the internet :p
     
  4. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2007
    Messages:
    12,067
    Likes Received:
    3,501
    Location:
    Western Norway
    Sorry, I've been asleep. But now it's morning here in Norway. :D

    You can have a look at these sites:

    http://www.helium.com/items/1148378-growing-magnolias

    http://ezinearticles.com/?Growing-Magnolia-Trees&id=3737061

    If I were you I'd monitor it closely for a while to see if new buds or leaf buds are forming. Also, scratch the bark a bit on one of the twigs to see if there's life underneath it.

    I have to ask: Is it planted in a pot or is that just a ring to keep the grass away?
     
  5. garden_newbie

    garden_newbie Seedling

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2010
    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    21
    Location:
    TN, USA
    Thanks for the reply :) No pot, just edging to keep the grass away. Oh yeah and I may still have a rain drainage problem and hopefully the edging will divert the flowing water. The funny thing is that it hasn't rained for a month lol, which is so funny since it usually rained twice a week until I added the edging and dirt to see if I redirected the drainage problem. It hasn't rained since so I keep checking the weather hoping for rain and it never comes.
     



    Advertisement
  6. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2007
    Messages:
    12,067
    Likes Received:
    3,501
    Location:
    Western Norway
    You're welcome. When did you plant the tree?
     
  7. garden_newbie

    garden_newbie Seedling

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2010
    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    21
    Location:
    TN, USA
    A month ago, so it should be over it's shock phase. I am also confused when they see deep soaking, it doesn't really specify how much water that actually is. When I do water it, the water never puddles it gets completely soaked up even when I hold a water hose on full blast on it for five minutes.
     
  8. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2007
    Messages:
    12,067
    Likes Received:
    3,501
    Location:
    Western Norway
    Well, a deep soaking is hard to define. It depends on the plant size, plant type, soil type and so on. But as a rule you don't soak plants every day unless they're in small pots and dry out quickly.

    Did the tree look healthy when you brought it home from the nursery? How about the roots, did they look good? Was it potted or in a loose root ball with netting around it? Is the nursery known to treat plants with care? I'm asking because I've seen dried-out plants in nurseries, and they will look good for a while but the after-effects will show after some time. Trees take their time to react. They're rather slow that way. :D
     

Share This Page