Author Topic: Are abius heavy feeders?  (Read 607 times)

Epicatt2

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Are abius heavy feeders?
« on: July 19, 2022, 09:45:32 PM »
I bought six seeds from a TFF member in Venice, FL two years ago.  Four sprouted right away and grew like gangbusters.

Two feet tall and transplanted into 3 gal pots early last year they continued to grow well until our several cold nights in January this year (2022).

Three of the four stopped growing after those coldest days (33ºF here in Tampa) and their leaves slowly began to yellow and all fell off by February's end.  The liviing one that remains is limplng along and still has its leaves but they are half the length of last year's growth and this one remaing abiu is just sitting there.

Is this somethng cultural like are they heavy feeders or do they need to have a certain pH level to thrive?
It's getting watered weekly and gets partial sun (1/2 a day).

Any suggestions for getting this abiu to resume growing would be welcomed.

Paul M.
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Gone tropo

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Re: Are abius heavy feeders?
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2022, 06:40:47 PM »
Hi mate I would think your problem is those extremely cold temps that is near freezing i believe ?? Abiu when grown in the tropics are a very hardy plant. Mine get no shade covers or anything they are planted straight out in full sun. Im on acid soil which i believe they like.  I havent noticed any heavy feeding requirements I treat them like any other plant sometimes they can be deficient in zinc i believe.  We dont get those temps that you are talking about i think thats just too cold.  Mine have fruited at 18months in the ground from seed.  Good luck

brian

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Re: Are abius heavy feeders?
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2022, 10:16:10 PM »
Mine has been easy growing, zero issues.  I suspect Gone tropo is right that it simply doesn't like cold.  Mine never sees below 50F

JoeP450

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Re: Are abius heavy feeders?
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2022, 10:51:33 PM »
I have a few seedling trees and the past two years we had a light and brief frost but the cold weather didn’t kill my abiu, I have noticed they will get chlorotic and they start weakening, I give them foliar iron and blue bag of hollytone (has sulfur) and they green up again. Have noticed they are way more actively growing during warmer months. It’s possible if they are malnourished they will have a tougher time handling cold weather. I have a thick mulch layer of pine bark chunks on them and keep them well watered.

-Joe

Epicatt2

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Re: Are abius heavy feeders?
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2022, 11:14:31 PM »
Thanks for the replies, especially Joe's remarks.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M
Tampa - Zone 9b
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