By Mrsbill
Devon,
United Kingdom 
Hello, I'm new, so I hope you will bear with me!
Firstly, all my plants are in containers, so if you could keep that in mind when you (hopefully!) answer, it would be much appreciated.
My fatsia japonica is not looking as good as she used to. Although there are a reasonable number of new leaves being produced, many of the other leaves either go yellow or brown and crinkly then drop off.
I think that yellow leaves can be a sign of either over or under watering, I don't think I'm guilty of either, but cant be sure!
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.
2 May, 2011
Answers
Thank you Inverglen.
To be honest, I think the pot she is in is pretty big, it's about 18" across. I now tend to only buy plastic pots (sorry if that seems wrong) because I realised the problems with getting plants out of terracotta pots to replant them often meant sacrifying the pot.
I have a bag of very well rotted horse manure, do you think that if I took out about 1" of the top layer of compost and put that on it might help? I also have some concentrated liquid feed.
2 May, 2011
No, don't add manure to pots. Its not the width of the pot that's as important as the depth - how deep is the pot and how long has the Fatsia been in the same pot?
2 May, 2011
Bamboo, the pot is 19" deep, the fatsia has been in that pot about 4 years?
If I wasn't such a techno numpty, I could put in a photo of the plant 2 years ago, and one as it is now! I may have to enlist the help of my husband for that.
2 May, 2011
I'd be inclined to check the rootball, or at least look under the pot to see if roots are extruding from the drainage holes. 4 years is a long time in the same pot.
2 May, 2011
Mrsbill - There was a similar question asked a couple years ago.. here is the link incase these answers will help.
http://www.growsonyou.com/question/show/1989-fatsia-japonica-dropping-leaves
Since you are new to the site, this following info will be a bit helpful, I think :)
At the bottom of the website is the A-Z (alphabet). If you are looking for information on a plant: click on the first letter of their Genus, then scroll down the page to view Plants by botanical name and click the plant you are searching for. (Sometimes the species is available, sometimes just the genus.)
Once you are on the plant's page, it will show you the information which is available. It includes Where to buy, Photos of the plant which other members have posted, and Questions, which shows previous questions that have been asked about that plant.
The A-Z can also be used to search pages in the GoYpedia.
'The GoYpedia is a collection of gardening topics you might expect to find in an encyclopedia, but everything comes from the real gardens and gardeners on this website.'
There is a very wide and creative (not to mention fun!) range of topics!
Good luck with your fatsia! And, welcome to GoY!! :)
3 May, 2011
Previous question
Not sure how big your fatsia is, but do you think it might benefit from repotting in a bigger pot with new compost and some Growmore or liquid feed.
If not , then just the feed.
2 May, 2011