How we prune and feed Fatsia Japonica (False Castor Oil plants)

[@KordTaylor]

Thanks for the great video. I am in the Seattle area (somewhat UK-ish) have an older plant and trying to decide how much to cut off big stems/trunks. No obvious buds on it currently but maybe?

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi - many thanks for getting in touch, I would wait until early spring if possible ( as we did in the video) because by pruning it now (in midsummer) you might encourage new growth later in summer / autumn which could mean you have soft new growth going into winter .. which in the UK could get frost damaged. But by pruning in early spring you will hopefully encourage new growth at the normal time of year in late spring / early summer which will have more time to 'toughen up' before winter ... does that make sense? By the way, if you go to the community section of my channel and scroll down through the pictures there to about 6 weeks ago you will see how the new growth looked on our Fatsia earlier this spring - looks lovely!

[@graemeweston-lewis3445]

Hey Roger, how did the pruning work out. Please do a follow up. Thanks!

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi Graeme - thanks for your comment! Yes the pruning did work and the plant come back well with some nice bushy glossy new growth ... it got a bit knocked about by the winter weather but wil do an update this summer when it has recovered from the winter ... in the meantime this video from last summer shows it in passing at around 6 minutes 55 - 7 minutes kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZaln4WjqZmHf6s

[@catherinexie6119]

Thank you for your video Roger. I live in Victoria BC Canada and have similar climate with UK. Our Fastia has the same problem - some brown/black leaves possibly due to too much light exposure or fungi, we were never sure. The leaves towards the shade seem intact. Most videos on KZbin talk about how easy it is to grow this plant but yours explained pruning in details and supported my plan to just remove all the unhealthy branches at the end of this Spring. Hopefully it’ll be a “thrive”! One more question: would you prune the blossoms as well? Ours turned to be quite mushy in the rain so I simply snapped off the whole blossom stems. Cheers.

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi Catherine, thanks for your comments, glad that our video helped you - good luck with your prune, please keep us posted with your progress. Yes I guess cutting off the clusters of flowers as your describe should be fine. I hope your winter isn’t too long or cold … I did a zoom talk for a great gardening club over in BC a couple of months back (Gibson’s gardening club) and they were saying that they’d had a lot of rain … which is a problem we are familiar with here in wales 😀

[@azz17394]

@@rogthegardener1 Mine is well over grown can it be cut back and what time of year.

[@rogthegardener1]

@@azz17394 thanks for your comment, spring is when I do mine, where do you live?

[@azz17394]

@@rogthegardener1 Greater Manchester.

[@rogthegardener1]

@@azz17394 Similar but possibly slightly colder to our climate - so yes late March - May would be ideal - good luck keep us posted with your progress - thanks

[@alexisalex1820]

What was the name of the feed you gave it? 🤔

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi - many thanks for getting in touch, It is Westland Grow sure slow release fertilizer (with a high potash balance of nutrients) available in most garden centres ion the UK - are you in the UK yourself?

[@Isfetka]

Is fatsja resistant to frost? How do you take care about it before winter?

[@rogthegardener1]

Fatsias are quite tough and ours has been left outside without protection for almost 20 years, with only slight occasional overwinter damage with some leaves looking ‘slightly rough’ (as you can see on many evergreen shrubs after winter) and the fresh new spring growth quickly covers the old leaves, in my experience. I avoid using fertilisers after early spring on Fatsia as I do not want any soft new growth appearing later in the year as it will be more vulnerable to cold winter weather, I like the spring new growth to have plenty of time to ‘ripen’ and toughen up before winter. I only use high potash fertilisers (and only in early spring ... March / April) such as Rose / Tomato feeds or Westland Grow Sure slow release which will encourage tougher new growth … and that works well for me. Hope this helps / makes sense? Thanks Roger

[@Isfetka]

@@rogthegardener1 Yes :) this helps a lot! I was just wondering because in Poland fatsja is sold as indoor plant, and when I saw yours growing in the garden and you said 'UK' I started wondering. Since we have quide mild winters, in my region the lowest temperature is barely dropping till -10 I might try it outside (when I will finally have my garden ;) ).

[@rogthegardener1]

@@Isfetka ah I see, I would be cautious of growing them outside in Poland (lovely country by the way I think, I went there once to a plant nursery conference in summer) another option would be to put it in a large pot so that you can bring it into a conservatory or greenhouse overwinter …? … so now you need to buy an greenhouse too!

[@Isfetka]

@@rogthegardener1 A greenhouse is a dream to me :D one day I will have it! Right now I will try grow my fatsia indoor, and when I will have balcony or garden I will put it outside for the summer :)

[@rogthegardener1]

@@Isfetka good plan, have a great summer!

[@mrstofu_]

It seems like your fatsia is receiving too much lighting, especially the ones at the top. It likes more shade than light. Maybe it's the reason that the leaves are turning yellow.

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks Katherine - that's a good point. Funny enough I had been wondering the same thing myself since uploading the video ... however it does get some shade for quite a bit of the day, and I have another one in a sunny warm corner (in another garden) which seems to be thriving ... you are absolutely right though they do love a shaded position - thanks for your comment - enjoy your garden.

[@Divinemessages69]

I have had fatsias for years, from experience I do know they like a bit of shelter from the wind, I made this mistake by moving my lovely large plant from a sheltered position to a higher more exposed place last year, and low and behold, the wind knocked it for six, all the leaves turned black and fell off. But now I'm thinking it might have been the shock of moving it. It is slowly recovering now but my question is: shall I move it back to where it was or shall I leave it to adapt to it's new place? Note to self in future:: If it's not broke don't fix it, leave well alone! lol Also I have had a good success rate of propagating this plant by taking a whole leaf stem and popping it in a pot of soil. they take really easily fortunately!

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, many thanks for this and your other recent comment. It's tricky to know whats best to do re possibly moving it again .. it could set it back / shock it again ... so maybe leave it for the 2023 season and see how it does ... if it struggles maybe you could look at moving it next winter ... ours is in quite an exposed position on a welsh windy mountainside and seems happy enough ... it was very happy and putting on lots of lush growth after the prune in this video but a recent cold snap in the winter has scorched the leaves, but that is different to wind damage ...sometimes being cut back by frost is like a 'natural prune' for them ... please let us know how it does this year, thanks!

[@sarahjones8396]

Thank you for that, most useful! My problem however is that my Fatsia is growing in a terracotta Alibaba style pot and has only one main stem! I am concerned that if I cut that down that will be the end of my Fatsia! What would you recommend I do? Thank you.

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, thanks for your comment - and excellent question! First I would wait until spring before pruning… sometimes they are ‘pruned by frost’ if we get a proper cold winter…are you in the uk? That can cause some die back of the softer new growth at the top of the plant, all we can do is cut off the frosted part at the top of the stem in spring and wait for the dormant buds to shoot from lower down. Second only prune if you need / really want to … e.g. if the plant is getting so tall that it might cause the pot to blow over in windy weather Try to make sure that you leave sufficient stem below your cut to allow as many dormant buds to shoot from below (mine always have produced new growth from a spring prune and feed) Lastly we have to accept that there is risk / no guarantees with pruning… it may not produce new growth, but good timing helps and I can’t recall ever losing one through pruning after 40 plus years of gardening Hope this helps?

[@sarahjones8396]

@@rogthegardener1 Thank you so much for your reply and so quickly too. Moreover thank you for the pruning advice which I will definitely follow in the spring; I am very grateful! Sarah

[@davidripley6551]

Hi’ I’ve had a few Fatsia for about two years, they were around 18” tall , I’ve get them in pots and they’ve grown a pace, looking great until this year now they’ve gone spindly with yellow leaves, any advice Regards David

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, thanks for your message, maybe you could email me a couple of pictures to [e-mail] So I can take a closer look ?

[@norswil8763]

Look like cabbage trees, I'm from New Zealand and see plenty.

[@rogthegardener1]

New Zealand - wonderful country with wonderful plants (and people!) went there in 1999 - need to go back soon!

[@lisaconner7609]

Oh lovely- I just clipped ours that was let go-

[@rogthegardener1]

Hope it comes back twice as strong for you - please keep us posted with your progress, thanks

[@haroldbetterson1877]

Wow roger your like a mind reader. My fatsia has flopped, do I prune or stake

[@rogthegardener1]

Well that's a happy coincidence!? Good question, hard to be sure .. how old is it / how long has it been in your garden? If you can see any shoots / leaves starting from lower down the stem / stems then you might be more confident to prune to just above those shoots as in my video .. does that make sense? I suppose I should say that the younger the plant the more risky a hard prune might be ...

[@haroldbetterson1877]

@@rogthegardener1 it’s a few weeks old 😬 thanks Roger 😊

[@rogthegardener1]

@@haroldbetterson1877 Ah - that's a bit more tricky then - it could well be a bit of 'planting shock', especially if you have had some of these frosts etc in your area, if the plant had enjoyed some winter protection on a nursery somewhere up until a few weeks ago, the contrast in temperature could cause the drooping you describe ... I would protect it tonight (supposed to the last really cold night - hopefully) and then see if it recovers over the next few weeks - keep me posted please!

[@haroldbetterson1877]

@@rogthegardener1 thank you 🙏

[@haroldbetterson1877]

@@rogthegardener1 it’s four months on and I ended up digging it up hard pruning and potting in greenhouse for a few weeks then planted out and now looks great. Those 5 months have gone quick!! Yours is looking great now 🥰

[@lqqkitslory]

Hi, how’s it looking now? 🙂

[@rogthegardener1]

funny enough I was looking at it yesterday and there is plenty of new growth, Ill put a picture on my community page and tag you when I do that ... thanks for the nudge!

[@lqqkitslory]

@@rogthegardener1 thanks 🙂

[@rogthegardener1]

@@lqqkitslory so I have just uploaded a pic of the new growth on my community page ... also tried tagging you without much success I think?

[@Tea_and_thyme_2012]

Not related to this video but I know you grow sweet peas successfully, can you just tell me what’s the best compost to grow them in and do they need any sand/grit adding for drainage. I’m growing mine (hopefully) in a trough. Thanks

[@rogthegardener1]

Hiya again - good question ... to be honest I have seen some 'fairly average' looking Sweet Peas in troughs ... they need a good depth / volume of soil ... so if it's a big deep trough and you don't crowd too many plants in there it could work ... but my basic advice is to give sweet peas as much soil volume as possible here's one of my earlier videos on this subject kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZ7NZIOddpJ-q7M - good luck and please keep us posted, thanks!

[@mursitowae4626]

Waaaow Amazing i.like.it

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks for your comment - enjoy your garden!

[@trevorbroad]

subbed to see the follow-up

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks Trevor - it is growing well, and will do an update on a video video soon, will try to remember to let you know when

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi Picture on my community section today