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Robina Moptop is losing leaves

Hello. Newcomer here. I recently purchased a couple of Robina mop tops for our front yard. They were fine however I have noticed that the leaves in some spots are dying and dropping. Not all over the tree, mainly in the area where the afternoon sun hits it.
On planting, I was told to cut the roots a little as it was a little pot bound.
Not sure if this is normal or it just starting to loose leaves for when they go dormant.
The pictures are not the best as it was windy. I was told to water them for the first few weeks the slow down on it to once a day for the first year. My lawn is on a timer for 10 minutes, morning and afternoon. Not sure if this would be over watering.
Any advise would be much appreciated.

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Comments

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @shaneb. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about Robina Moptops.

This could be due to a little transplanting stress or from the roots you removed. Typically I'd advise teasing the roots out instead of cutting them off. A plant perfectly balances its canopy to its roots. The plant cannot sustain the whole canopy if a substantial amount of the roots are cut off. If you did a light trim, then it's likely not the reason. I'd suggest applying some Seasol and monitoring the plants.

How hot has it been in your location? Mid-summer is not a great time to be transplanting. Not only does the plant need to deal with the stress of being moved and adapting to a new environment, but it's also now baking in the sun. Over-watering could be an issue if the ground is staying continuously wet, but I'd believe it's more likely that the plant is not getting enough water. Depending on the type of irrigation system you have, the water applied to the lawn might not reach down to where the plants need it. I recommend doing at least a couple of thorough soakings each week or when the soil starts to dry. How much are you currently watering, or is it just the lawn irrigation?

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

shaneb

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/25523#Comment_25523

Thanks Mitchell

At the moment it gets watered in the mornings every day for half hour with the lawn sprinkler. I also water a little when I water the other plants in the evenings. No water sits on the surface and drains ok. I also mulched around the tree with the middle free of mulch.
It has been up and down with the temp with being mid 30 last week and going up again this week. Might apply season and see how they go.

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/75449#Comment_75449

Watering every day for half an hour would be fairly excessive @shaneb. A couple of 30min deep soakings per week are all that should be needed. At a minimum, I would suggest stopping the additional watering unless it's been an extremely hot day. You should only be watering when the top 150-200mm of soil begins to dry out. I'd check the soil just prior to the morning sprinklers activating, and if the soil is still damp, then this could be the issue. Also, depending on the type of soil you planted in, if it has a clay base, the roots could be continually sitting in sumps filled with water.

Mitchell

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