Clematis 'The President & 'Niobe"

Hi everyone,

We bought two Clematis from crocus in 2 ltr pots.  They are both planted in terracota pots, we folowed the planting instructions and feed on clematis feed fortnigntly.

The president has developed discolouration on the lower leaves, whilst the leaves furthest away are healthy.  Niobe leaves are mostly healthy, just an odd dark discoloration.

Any suggestions?  Please help.  Pictures attached.

Thank you

Mr & Mrs Turfite 

What colour is the discolouration? Dark flowered plants can sometimes get the colour of the flower reflected in some leaves. Or are you talking brown or yellow?

Hi,

Thank you for replying.

Brown coloured, light brown then turning to dark brown.

I have been unable to upload the photos, it just does not work 

It's normal for plants to lose a few leaves at the bottom, especially if you've just bought them - they are likely to have come out of the sheltered environment of a greenhouse. If your plants are otherwise healthy and growing well, I wouldn't worry about it unless ypu get a significant percentage of leaves falling.

I bought in Spring a multiblue clematis at wilko in a small pot (

I would stop feeding them now.  They should have enough to produce flowers for the rest of the summer and you don't want them putting on soft, sappy growth that will get frozen to bits in winter.  If you remove the dead flower heads you should get another flush of flowers in late summer.

Both are Group 2 for pruning which means they will flower next May and June on growth from old stems.  You then prune them lightly to remove spent flowers and any dead growth and, if needed, to keep it within the bounds of its support.  Feed it in Feb/March depending on when new growth starts to show with a general fertiliser such as blood fish and bone or pelleted chicken manure as this will promote roots and foliage.  Then start again with the clematis feed for good flowers.

Thanks Alina W for your reply.

I forgot to mention the leaves turned white first before the onset of brown.

Turfite wrote (see)

I forgot to mention the leaves turned white first before the onset of brown.

The white was almost certainly powdery mildew, which often affects plants which are stressed.  If they are growing well now and no futher leaves are getting the white covering, they should be fine.  Otherwise here's a link to the RHS advice on treating powdery mildew:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=253

Thank you for your reply and the link.

Clematis "The President"    Discoloured leaves....got the photo's on at last!!!!

Apologies for the blank replies above...again photo problems