I think my Pomegranate is mad at me.

[PastryBaker]

I have had this Pomegranate for over a year. And it has done great. Made it through our super hot summers like a champ. Now, all the sudden it is being different.
The leaves have a slight curl. And few have dried a little. I have not changed anything. Been getting the same care. It bloomed just a week ago and had new shoots.
You can see there is a long new growth.
I water as I did all the time. I don't water on a schedule. I check my trees. I did mist it a couple times a few days ago as I did with all my trees. I don't mist often.
It is in akadama, lava and pumice. Gets sun all day, and 50% shade in the noon hours. The shade will come off in a couple weeks.
All my other trees are fine.

Fungus?
Any ideas would be great.

Thanks

 

[SailDesign]

I hear they are deciduous in certain temperature ranges. Has it been cooler this year than last?

 

[BrianBay9]

My understanding is that leaf curl in pomegranates can be caused by mites, fungi, or environmental stress. If you don't see bugs I'd try an anti-fungal spray.

 

[hemmy]

The leaves have a slight curl. And few have dried a little. I have not changed anything. Been getting the same care. It bloomed just a week ago and had new shoots.

That seems late for blooms. They are summer flowering for fruit to ripen by Fall. I just picked a ripe fruit off mine last week. Mine were deciduous even in coastal SoCal. I battled leaf curl in SoCal from assumed fungus, but seem to have it under control now. Shake the leaves over white paper and smear your hand across for a mite test. They don’t have the stippled look of mites feeding. But Fall and the dusty dry winds seemed to make them worse.

Do you treat your water? Pomes are tough, but those salts build up.

 

[PastryBaker]

That seems late for blooms. They are summer flowering for fruit to ripen by Fall. I just picked a ripe fruit off mine last week. Mine were deciduous even in coastal SoCal. I battled leaf curl in SoCal from assumed fungus, but seem to have it under control now. Shake the leaves over white paper and smear your hand across for a mite test. They don’t have the stippled look of mites feeding. But Fall and the dusty dry winds seemed to make them worse.

Do you treat your water? Pomes are tough, but those salts build up.

I do treat my water. It goes through a filter on my hose and I change the pH manually. It has been getting the same water since I had it with no problems.
Mine just bloomed two weeks ago. I didn't let it fruit. I will do the shake test. I have a Copper Fungicide. Will that work? Or something systemic?
Thanks

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Mine went floppy like that when the roots collapsed. But they seem to be indestructible and can act like cuttings similar to olives.
I would check the roots, maybe it was cooked. Maybe it was underwatered, maybe overwatered, but this seems like a root and water issue to me.

 

[PastryBaker]

Mine went floppy like that when the roots collapsed. But they seem to be indestructible and can act like cuttings similar to olives.
I would check the roots, maybe it was cooked. Maybe it was underwatered, maybe overwatered, but this seems like a root and water issue to me.

I don't think it was cooked because it made it through the real heat already. The thing with bonsai that is hard that under watering and overwatering can have the same symptoms. We just started having cooler weather. And that means less watering, which I have been watching. Hopefully it will recover.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm hoping with you man! I have a dwarf variety that should be more cold hardy, but I've cut branches and jammed them into the soil, all of them rooted (although some took a full summer). Which makes me think that as long as there is something still alive in there, it'll live.

 

[hemmy]

I have a Copper Fungicide. Will that work? Or something systemic?

I have sprayed copper fungicide on mine. But I’m not sure I would spray yours in its current state. I agree with then the above that it could be a root issue. Leaf curl on mine did not look like your picture. Mine had lighter coloration and leaves that developed with a deformed, curled nature. Which I know remember could also be some type of insect or mite in the leaf bud.

But I also wouldn’t think you could overwater with a 1:1:1 soil mix in your area. Could you have missed a watering and it got hit with Santa Ana winds? I somehow missed a watering on an azalea once during those winds and it went crispy fast.

 

[PastryBaker]

Thanks for all the replies. It seems to have been an under watering issue. Since it is much cooler, I am afraid of root rot, so held back a bit on the watering,
As soon as I watered it a little more. It perked up. them temps here are 85-93F in the day and 65F at night. So I was being overly cautious.
If my trees could actually talk it would be sooo much easier.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

If my trees could actually talk it would be sooo much easier.

Not so sure about that. My son talked a lot, and we still had trouble figuring out what the problem was.
Turns out, kids don't like soggy bases either.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?
We might, if they screamed all the time, for no apparent reason."
Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy