Hello! I have collected a few sickly old arctostaphylos trees from an industrial park in Hillsboro Oregon. They look around 15 or 20 years old… maybe kinnikinnick or hookeri. Hard to tell!
I know the challenges involved with manzanita but I thought I’d experiment and share my results in the next year.
Most roots were in tact on collection and there was mycorrhiza present. I am trying two different substrates, one with pumice, akadama, and a low PH soil used for cannabis, and the other with kanuma , pumice, lava, low ph soil, and worm castings.
They both have been inoculated with Bigfoot mycorrhizae.
They all have brown leaf spot which is affecting most of the leaves. (All at the collection site have it as well). Sounds like a rust that infects wet manzanita. It’s been raining 90% of the time in Portland and I know they don’t like that! It definitely has been spreading throughout the plant. Hoping for new growth in spring.
I am experimenting with neem oil and aspirin as an anti fungal spray as well.
Any comments or education welcome!! Thanks
Mike
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These are really cool manzanita. This has been the fate of every.single.manzanita I have played around with and it always starts with the spots on the leaves. Not sure if they are affected by phytophthora like oaks are down here. The ones I have been experimenting with are nursery stock, so you would think they would be less finicky. Next time I see a nice one at the local native nursery I will try a soil mix of akadama and lava only. Possibly a 1:2 ratio of A:L with a size of 1/8 to help facilitate fine surface roots. Manzanita down here grows well in limestone soils here in SoCal, so I’m not sure they like acidity as much as higher pH because of their dry nature. The coastal varieties are in sandy soil. I will also be experimenting with a later summer repot when they are dormant, as I have heard locally that fall planting brings most success in the landscape.
I do think your wetter climate made it very difficult to have healthy potted manzanita. They like to be (what I feel) uncomfortably dried out compared to other species. Most people who have them in the landscape here water them deep during summer once a month in Southern California. I do believe once watering is mastered with these trees (I’m still trying to figure it out too) success will come.
Variety also plays a big roll in being able to grow them in a pot based on location too. There are lowland and higher elevation varieties.
