Sarcococca confusaI bought one of these as a rooted cutting two or three years ago

Could it be S. hookeriana ?

Hi Sue, it sounds like a magnesium deficiency, try giving it a dose of epsom salts, 1/4 to 1/3 of a tablespoon to 3 gallons of water, see if that works, Derek.

Badfish it wasn't labelled but from what I can remember of the flowers last year confusa was my best bet. Does it make a difference?

I will try the epsom salts Derek - some calculation necessary to get the right amount for a six inch square pot!

I have confusa and hookeriana and the flowers are pretty much the same....it's the leaves that are different.

As for the Epsom salts, personally, i wouldn't be throwing any of that around until you've definately found the species or the problem.

Hi Sue, I wouldn't bother trying to work it out, just mix the 3 gallons, use what you need, and water the rest on your garden, it can't do any harm, at that dilution, Derek.

1/3 tablespoon is 1 teaspoon so 1 teaspoon to 3 gallons is equivalent to 1/3 teaspoon to 1 gallon - I'm not sure that dilution is going to do anything.

I hunted all over for my Epsom salts and decided they must be in the shed which is across the garden and has no light so instead I just put some ordinary miracle gro stuff on it, on the grounds that it does contain magnesium.
Urbanite I was trying to get the diution for half a pint - decided that a pinch would do the trick - but it was academic in the end. My tablespoons must be bigger than yours - they take four teaspoonfuls. Perhaps the simplest thing might be to repot it!

Urbanite I googled both varieties but couldn't see any difference in the leaves in the photos there - more details please! And what difference should there be in the treatment of the two varieties?

Found it - it was in the shed - pity I half emptied the kitchen cupbard first but at least it got tidied!

Hi Sue, and at least you now know where it is, ready for the next time you need it, :-):-):-) Derek.

Mine is a light green also. I would say that it's because it's in a container and watering and the constant deluge of rain has been the problem. Yes the Epsom salts should sort out the problem but if it is growing in peat-based compost then a soil-based one should hold the nutrients for longer.

Constant deluge just about sums it up. It will need potting on in the spring anyway - I'll try to remember to put it in John Innes - I've only got no 1 just now, do you thing a stronger one would be better?

Stera - official tablespoon is 15ml and a teaspoon is 5ml. The measure of a teaspoon always seems a lot bigger than a typical teaspoon. If you don't have a set of kitchen measures (or don't want to use them for garden stuff) it's worth asking at the chemists if they can let you have a disposable teaspoon - say you want it for taking couch mixture; most chemists will oblige rather than risk you taking an overdose!

JI no. 1 would be ok unless you really want to buy No. 2 or 3. Yes, wait until spring and give it a boost with any balanced fertiliser. Growmore, Fish, Blood and Bone or best of all Vitax Q4 (be a little mean with this as it's a bit expensive but has lots of extra minerals).

Hi Urbanite, I agree the ' official' tablespoon is 15ml, but in our house we call that a dessert spoon, which is the largest spoon to eat with comfortably, ie, ' table' spoon, but what most cutlery sets give you as a tablespoon, is used as a serving spoon, usually holding 20 to 25 mls or sometimes more, and that's where the confusion comes in, Derek.

I've never heard of the official tablespoon in UK being that size - as you say Derek a tablespoon here is reckoned to be 4 teaspoons, ie 25ml.(Though yes, you do have to use the right size of teapoon!) You have to be aware that the instructions you're following are British ones and make the appropriate allowances if they are US. Most nowadays though will give the measurement in mls which makes more sense really. I do get fed up with the British tendency to change to US words for things. I see people are beginning to winterize their gardens - horrible expression! Makes you want to burglarize them or arrange a power outage....
Re the Sarcococca, I did give it a weak feed since it clearly is still in the mood for growing and flowering - will keep it sheltered in case of hard frosts just in case it goes soft on me!

You've all been so helpful - thank you!

Hi Sue, you're so right, it drives me mad, some of the words they come up with, and the pronunciation, well don't get me started on that, my wife gets annoyed with me, when I start complaining, { to the tv } ,she keeps telling me, it can't hear you, and the spelling is atrocious, it's no wonder our school children can't spell properly, having picked up Americanisms, or as they would say, Americanized, Derek.

I shout at the radio too - its not ony the pronunciation, the grammar is often hopeless too. One of the English teachers at a school where I worked didn't know what the subjunctive was and corrected me for using it...... Drives you bananas doesn't it? (Or does it bananarize you...)

Did you see a question recently from someone who said she was gonna do something or other, foresaw that somebody might correct her and said in advance that she wasn't gonna take any notice...

Hi Sue, I think I must be " bananarized" , you hear mistakes in everything, every day, I thought I might have been in a minority, in picking up on them, 1 thing that really annoys me, when you're leaving someone, is, see you later, even if you don't know when you'll see them again, or in a text, c u l 8 r, what's that all about?.
I must have missed that question Sue :-), Derek.

Is it an attempt at See you later alligator? Another one I hate is Sea change, which seems to be fashionable just now and betrays people - Shakespeare wrote
"Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea change into something rich and strange"
I don't think this is the kind of change people are usuallyu talking about. My OH told me off for going on about it yet again this morning!

My son says See you later, and for ages I thought he actually menat it...

Hi Sue, yes everything gets a sea change nowadays, you only have to change your opinion on something, and if there are more than half a dozen of you together, it becomes a sea change, Derek.

:(

If anybody remembers the original question, I found the answer - it needed more shade. It has been under a hanging basket all summer in shade from the house most of the day, water full of Miracle Grow dropping down on to it regularly and its now bursting with enthusiasm.

Hi Sue, so miracle grow is good for something then!!, Derek,