Bay Problem

[simhop]

Hope someone can help with a problem I am having with my Bay...

When living in England my favourite plant was a bay tree I had in the back garden. It was a nearly a couple of meters high and not only a good-looker it was very well used in the kitchen.

I was ever so disappointed to discover it wasnt so winter hardy and that I can't grow one of these in my garden here in Sweden due to the extreme winters. Even finding one for indoor growth was very difficult but luckily I work in a garden center and noticed Laurus Nobilis on our suppliers available list and managed to convince my boss that they would be a good seller. She ordered a couple of boxes for the shop and we soon discoverd I was wrong and they weren't a good seller. It now looks like I might end up with a few extra plants soon - and never get involved in ordering again!

Anyway as soon as they arrived I handed over my money (one of few plants that we sold) and purchased a 20cm high Bay. I placed it on the window-sill in a south facing window - it gets plenty of light and sun and I usually let it dry out (not for long) before watering again. I was under the iimpression that they are easily over watered. However the lower leafs started turning reddish brown and dropping off - now the tips of the top leafs are going the same colour and it isn't looking very healthy at all. I think I will repot it today so it has some fresh compost but am at a loss as to what else to do.

Hope someone can help - maybe I am being too careful with my watering and it needs more or maybe they are just not suited as an indoor plant. If it just hangs on for a couple more weeks I will be able to move it outside during the daytime so it will get some fresh air! But then maybe I will have the same problem when I move it in again next winter!

Anyway I seemed to have been waffling on about it for long enough so I will go and repot the d**n thing.

Simon

[simhop]

[Merry Tiller]

Can you give it a humid atmosphere?

[Niamh]

simhop,

I bought a few months a potted bay plant from a supermarket a few months back, and like you, have been careful not to overwater it. It has put on fresh green growth and I have repotted some of the stems into individual pots, these are also doing well. So it does seem to be suitable as an indoor plant. The dying off and loss of leaves does sound like a watering issue, so I would try keeping it a little damper before repotting, as any root disturbance at this stage might set it back more. Feed and water first might do the trick!

Niamh

[David R]

simhop,

are you sure these cant be kept outdoors in sweden? I know it gets cold in winter but it should be ok. It might lose its top growth each year but it should come back in the spring.

I would "borrow" another from your employer and stick it in the ground and see what happens.

[simhop]

Thanks for the replies:

Niamh - Maybe I have been a bit too careful - I will try and keep it a bit moister.
David - I suppose if I borrow one from work I have nothing to lose if I plant it out but we do go down to about -22 here in the winter and I am not sure a Bay would be particulary happy in those sort of temperatures.

[weedin project]

Simhop

we went down to -10 in the greenhouse this year, so I can only guess what it reached outdoors.  Our garden-planted bay suffered a bit in the frost - we lost a lot of top growth, but it is recovering well now and has flowered profusely. 

I would think any sustained temperatures around -22 would be pretty fatal to it, even if it had a deep root system.  Maybe if you gave it a fleece overcoat when the frosts arrive it would keep it alive?