Tea Olive Leaves are turning yellow! (flowers, growing, fertilizer, Dogwood) - Garden -Trees, Grass, Lawn, Flowers, Irrigation, Landscaping... - City-Data Forum

North_Raleigh_Guy · 02-27-2009, 08:01 AM

I planted a few tea olive (Osmanthus fragrans) plants last fall. I am in Raleigh, NC and the plants get full sun. They have looked great up to this point but I noticed over the past two months of winter the leaves have slowly started turning yellow (see pic below). Does this just mean they need Nitrogen fertilizer? Should I give them some water with Miracle Grow to do the trick?

Thanks for the help!

My Yellowing Tea Olive

paperhouse · 02-27-2009, 09:35 AM

We had a rough winter for the tea olives. They're barely hardy in our zone. Mine have yellowed and even turned brown in some areas, but yours appears to be something else too. I would suggest some ironite. Your soil may need zinc or iron. Chlorosis

You may want to do a soil test before you start tossing out chemicals. It really could just be the cold we had. Or it could be a problem with the roots.

si33 · 02-27-2009, 10:59 AM

Id have to say that it appears as though your sweet olive(tea? olive),,is showing signs,albeit fairly minor, of iron deficiency..and perhaps a little cold stress..My grand parents have a 10x7' specimen in their front yard which had been showing similar symptoms before a fir bark mulch and a couple light applications of a fertilizer for acid-loving plants was applied..

If the present problem were just pronounced cold stress, or damage,..you would see more brown or wilted-looking foliage..especially the newest growth..which is the most tender..and the first part of any plant to burn and suffer damage..

yours just needs a lil iron..or something for plants which like their soil a bit on the acidic side...

Whats funny is m Grandparents also have a specific cultivar of Gardenia which has whitish of yellowish white new growth..which can make diagnosing possible nutrient deficiencies a bit of a challenge...

You should see greener looking..or even sometimes reddish green looking new growth..once the problem is remedied...

North_Raleigh_Guy · 04-12-2009, 08:43 AM

My tea olive plants are doing much better now that the weahter is warming up. I spoke to the nursery where I bought my plants last year and they said the yellowing was probably a result of the colder than usual winter we had. Sure enough it looks like they were right. I did go ahead and give my plants a treatment of Espoma Hollytone organic fertilizer for good measure. They are nice and green now and have lots of new growth!

southernnaturelover · 04-12-2009, 10:42 AM

It wouldn't hurt to mulch them with pine straw too.

paperhouse · 04-12-2009, 03:58 PM

Hollytone is good stuff for acid lovers like azaleas, dogwoods, and camellias too. Mine are about to bloom. I love that smell.

JQ Public · 04-20-2009, 11:49 PM

I'm surprised they didn't handle the winter so well. There are numerous huge specimens on NCSU's campus or on Hillsborough street that I have never seen yellow. They have the best smell in the fall as well!

garb116 · 03-12-2014, 01:08 PM

I planted a 3 foot Fortune's Osmanthus in the back yard this October. We had a very cold and hard winter, which is unusual in the northwestern part of PA. My questions: Are the leaves suppose to turn yellow being that it is an evergreen? It looks lifeless and withered. Does it sound like it did not make it through the season?

Gregory 07 · 12-12-2016, 08:03 AM

North Carolina, I have a potted olive tree, lemon tree, lime tree
that I keep indoor, olive leaves are falling off of one limb and it whitish and the other limb is green.

The lime tree was growing and had white flowers, then some leaves turn brown and flowers dried up.

The lemon tree has couple of leaves falling off.

All trees are sitting in front of a window in a room facing the back of the house.

PLEASE HELP