By Latinivy
United Kingdom 
I have a young Skimmia in a pot surrounded with Ivys, I planted it in multi-purpose compost and to begin with it seemed fine, but the leaves are developing tiny yellow patches and are really droopy - some of them have also fallen off. I really don't know what to do, any suggestions?
2 Jun, 2011
Answers
I'm wondering when you planted the pot - if it was more than year ago, the ivies by now will have taken all the root space and left little for the Skimmia. The other thing I'm wondering is what compost you used - Skimmia prefers acidic conditions, so ericaceous compost would have been best.
2 Jun, 2011
Sounds to me like it's a watering problem. It could have got too dry. You need to apply water slowly, for quite a long time.
I don't use a hosepipe. If you do, you could let it trickle onto the pot for a few hours.
If you water by bucket like I do, you pour on a few cupfuls of water at a time, but go and do it again about every half hour or so for a whole evening. You want to deliver a few gallons slowly.
It's better to water really thoroughly every few days than to give a little trickle every day.
2 Jun, 2011