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Leaf Drop/White Champaca-Michelia Alba


RBL

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Hello--

I'm here in zone 10a on an island off the Gulf Coast of Florida. We have a beautiful Champaca tree that we planted in a large raised bed @4 years ago when it was 10' tall. It is now 25' tall and it has been thriving in what seems to be the perfect part-shade location where it gets 4-5 hours of sun each day.

Just when I thought we made it through another hurricane season, we were blind-sided in NOVEMBER by Eta last week. The winds only reached up to 55mph or so, but the storm surge was the worst to hit this area in 50 years. Fortunately the 6" of rain before the surge left the ground saturated and I'm pleasantly surprised that all of our fruit trees look excellent, and while some of our exotic bamboo looks stressed, I think they should all make it.

The water didn't quite breach the top of the raised bed housing the Champaca, but after a few days of showing no ill-effects, it has now lost approximately 50% of its leaves. Evidently the little bit of salt water that managed to make its way through the waterlogged dirt underneath the raised bed and onto the Champaca's roots have caused the leaf drop. The leaves that are still on the tree appear green and not wilted...but I'm worried that it has dropped so many leaves now.

I did give it a deep watering over the weekend and this evening when I got home from work. Is fertilizer a bad idea at this juncture? I know these trees are fragile and I don't want to lose it; we are hoping it will make a full recovery and it is merely shocked from the wind and the little bit of salt water that reached it.

Any advice or opinions welcomed!

Thank you.

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2 minutes ago, RBL said:

Hello--

I'm here in zone 10a on an island off the Gulf Coast of Florida. We have a beautiful Champaca tree that we planted in a large raised bed @4 years ago when it was 10' tall. It is now 25' tall and it has been thriving in what seems to be the perfect part-shade location where it gets 4-5 hours of sun each day.

Just when I thought we made it through another hurricane season, we were blind-sided in NOVEMBER by Eta last week. The winds only reached up to 55mph or so, but the storm surge was the worst to hit this area in 50 years. Fortunately the 6" of rain before the surge left the ground saturated and I'm pleasantly surprised that all of our fruit trees look excellent, and while some of our exotic bamboo looks stressed, I think they should all make it.

The water didn't quite breach the top of the raised bed housing the Champaca, but after a few days of showing no ill-effects, it has now lost approximately 50% of its leaves. Evidently the little bit of salt water that managed to make its way through the waterlogged dirt underneath the raised bed and onto the Champaca's roots have caused the leaf drop. The leaves that are still on the tree appear green and not wilted...but I'm worried that it has dropped so many leaves now.

I did give it a deep watering over the weekend and this evening when I got home from work. Is fertilizer a bad idea at this juncture? I know these trees are fragile and I don't want to lose it; we are hoping it will make a full recovery and it is merely shocked from the wind and the little bit of salt water that reached it.

Any advice or opinions welcomed!

Thank you.

First off, Welcome to the forum and Palm Talk..

Wouldn't doubt exposure to high winds and/or effects of salt water washing over/through the soil it is growing in may have shocked it.. Would allow it to recover on its own before applying any fertilizer, especially considering the time of year. Don't want to encourage any extra tender new growth when it could get nipped by a freak cold spell, should one occur next month-end of Jan. Wouldn't be surprised if you did loose some of the newest growth, like what might happen if it experienced light frost/freeze related burn regardless but being that it has been established in the ground for several years, it should bounce back, sooner if it stays mild thru the winter there of course ( Lived in southwest Bradenton for a few years and know Longboat Key well )  Feel free to add a few pictures of how it is looking / later as it recovers.

Curious, how bad was the storm surge out there on the island?

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Hello SS--

Thanks for chiming in, and I hope all is well in the Grand Canyon State, where I have spent quite a bit of time over the years.

The surge was about 5' above sea level, and all of the (grandfathered) ground-level homes here on the north end of LBK got thrashed. The storm passed up the coast about 55 miles to the west--which of course it the "wrong" side. By comparison, the eye of the much-stronger Hurricane Irma passed about 25 miles to the east a few years back, and while there were 95mph winds, there was no surge at all.

As it's dark now, I will take a photo of the Champaca tomorrow morning before work. Whereas two of our bamboos look decidedly crispy with leaves that are half brown and wilted, you might not suspect anything is wrong with the Champaca...if you didn't see the blanket of leaves on the ground below it. The salt water did not inundate/wash over the top of the roots; this Champaca is essentially in a large 6' x 6' x 3' deep planter (it sits 3 or 4 feet above sea level) and it isn't actually in the ground.

I figured fertilizer would be a bad idea. Fortunately, we haven't had temps below 45º the past few winters, and hopefully this coming season will be no different.

(On a side note, the base of our enormous mango tree was underwater for @3 hours during the saltwater surge, but amazingly, I actually noted a few spots this morning where it has actually set fruit, which doesn't usually occur until February or March.  Our perennial lemon & lime trees have not dropped their fruit. With the fruit trees and the bamboo, is one week out enough time to say, "If it hasn't started to show signs of dying back, then we are out of the woods"...?)

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14 minutes ago, RBL said:

Hello SS--

Thanks for chiming in, and I hope all is well in the Grand Canyon State, where I have spent quite a bit of time over the years.

The surge was about 5' above sea level, and all of the (grandfathered) ground-level homes here on the north end of LBK got thrashed. The storm passed up the coast about 55 miles to the west--which of course it the "wrong" side. By comparison, the eye of the much-stronger Hurricane Irma passed about 25 miles to the east a few years back, and while there were 95mph winds, there was no surge at all.

As it's dark now, I will take a photo of the Champaca tomorrow morning before work. Whereas two of our bamboos look decidedly crispy with leaves that are half brown and wilted, you might not suspect anything is wrong with the Champaca...if you didn't see the blanket of leaves on the ground below it. The salt water did not inundate/wash over the top of the roots; this Champaca is essentially in a large 6' x 6' x 3' deep planter (it sits 3 or 4 feet above sea level) and it isn't actually in the ground.

I figured fertilizer would be a bad idea. Fortunately, we haven't had temps below 45º the past few winters, and hopefully this coming season will be no different.

(On a side note, the base of our enormous mango tree was underwater for @3 hours during the saltwater surge, but amazingly, I actually noted a few spots this morning where it has actually set fruit, which doesn't usually occur until February or March.  Our perennial lemon & lime trees have not dropped their fruit. With the fruit trees and the bamboo, is one week out enough time to say, "If it hasn't started to show signs of dying back, then we are out of the woods"...?)

No worries, and you're welcome.. Still Hot, been in the upper 80s/lower 90s -in mid November- here.. Had a bad feeling LBK and Anna Maria might experience some of the more significant effects of Eta as it approached.  Still remember driving down the island shortly after moving there thinking the north end ..and perhaps some other spots, facing the Gulf further down might be trouble in such a situation. Regardless, glad Eta wasn't worse.

As far as the Champaca, roots likely reach down below the 3ft depth of the planter at this point and definitely possible those experienced some degree of salt water intrusion. That said, wind and salt spray whipped up off the Gulf is the most likely reason for the leaf drop you're seeing.  Bamboo might be a different story but honestly not 100% certain on that.

 Members here, esp. those in S. FL. might have better thoughts on the fruit trees and what you might experience after any storm surge related salt water intrusion. That said, depending on how long they might have been exposed/ sitting in it,  have heard some things will tolerate that better than others, or take longer to show any potential damage, like some Palms/other tropicals can after a frost/freeze.. The fact the Citrus isn't dropping fruit yet is a good sign, but it might still be early to be sure. Fruit -on pretty much anything- is usually one of the first things to be aborted after a tree suffers damage.   Early Fruit on your Mango is likely related to favorable weather conditions during the development stages rather than an after effect of what it experienced during Eta. Good that it hung on though.   Remember seeing fruit developing on a few big old trees scattered around my old neighborhood in Bradenton about this time of year when i lived there.

As long as the Bamboo wasn't killed, ( doesn't sound like it ) it should also bounce back pretty quickly also. Pretty tough plant.

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Hello again--

Here are some photos of my ailing Champaca. The leaves that remain are generally very green with no wilting, and in fact I can spot @20-25 blooms. The problem is that roughly half the leaves have fallen off over the past 4 days or so due to the 55mph winds and salt water surge from last week (8 days ago to be exact).

When I constructed the raised bed, I sunk it about 6" below the surface. Many years ago, we decided to plant Mexican Petunia/Ruellia as a hedge in a dour moment. The stuff is invasive, and I have been fighting it ever since. The spot where I put the Champaca's raised bed sits right on top of/is surrounded by Ruellia. As I didn't want it growing up through the raised bed, I lined the bottom of it with weed mat and then poured in a few inches of small limestone so as to assist in drainage. I suppose the roots of the Champaca may have pushed through the limestone and weed mat in 4+ years now, but I still think the salt water contact with the roots was minimal at best. Again, there was 6" of rain that fell before the storm surge, so the soil was thoroughly saturated beforehand. It would seem the strong winds and salty air may have caused the leaves to drop.

For Silas and those of you with Champaca experience, does it appear that mine will pull through ok? The leaf drop doesn't appear worse than yesterday, and I am hoping this is "bottom" in terms of drop.

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