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I bought a little sandalwood plant from a nursery. But, after 20-25 days, its leaves started growing yellow. While planting, I used red mud, cow-ding as manure, and neem oil for pest control.

What other steps should I take in order to nourish sandalwood plant, before it is too late?

Stephie
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Ubi.B
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    Did you plant directly into cow *dung*? And, can we get pictures, please? Is the plant indoors or outdoors? – Stephie Aug 09 '18 at 14:52
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    Without seeing the tree and knowing a bit more about its situation its hard to say what the problem might be. I know that sandalwood tree's have trouble on their own and often need a host tree in order to get nitrogen. – Rob Aug 09 '18 at 15:28
  • @Stephie no! planted it in red soil – Ubi.B Aug 09 '18 at 16:11
  • @Rob cow dung is good source of nitrogen – Ubi.B Aug 09 '18 at 16:12
  • @ubi hatt Just because nitrogen is present in the soil doesn't mean the plant is capable of absorbing it. I wasn't lying to you sandalwood tree's really do have problems absorbing nitrogen. – Rob Aug 09 '18 at 16:14
  • @Rob no no, you are correct. I know, it requires host plant. I don't have one. I guess, that's the reason. So, I thought to supplement it with cow dung. – Ubi.B Aug 09 '18 at 16:17
  • @ubi hatt Sure, its logical unfortunately the plant has trouble absorbing nitrogen so it could be sitting in a pot of pure nitrogen and still die from a lack of nitrogen. Find yourself a partner plant for it. Regardless, if a lack of nitrogen is the reason for the symptoms your seeing it will eventually be a good idea for your plant to grow properly. I think its cute lol that it needs a friend. – Rob Aug 09 '18 at 16:26
  • @Rob sure, I'll do that :) – Ubi.B Aug 09 '18 at 16:30
  • Please don’t change the question completely, you would be invalidating the original answers. We are building a knowledge base where each question ideally helps multiple (future) users, not just the asker. If you have new questions, please post them as such. You can always refer to this one for background information when you think it’s helpful. Your new question could for example start with “after two failed attempts (link to here), I have ordered a...” etc. – Stephie Jan 13 '20 at 05:54
  • @Stephie should I post new question? – Ubi.B Jan 13 '20 at 06:00
  • You wouldn’t be posting the same question - other plant age, slightly different setup. You can’t expect the original answerer to continue editing, and without that, their answer would possibly become a non-answer. Some mods would even consider an edit as heavy as yours vandalism of the original question (not implying anything just explaining SE policy). So yes, please post a new question. – Stephie Jan 13 '20 at 06:04

2 Answers2

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I have done some research but without seeing pictures and knowing some specifics about your climate and whatnot I can only get general, so.. in general:

Sandalwood likes lots of sun and temperate rainfall (900-1100 mm/year). They do well within a temperature range of 15-25°C. They prefer soil with a pH around 6. The soil can be somewhat sandy, or rocky.. so long as it has moderate drainage. They dislike waterlogged soil and they aren't meant to grow in a desert; so, somewhere in the middle.

As I stated in the comments they aren't going to thrive without a partner due to their inability to absorb adequate nitrogen from the soil; may I suggest a pigeon pea tree for a life partner?

Protect the little guy: all the herbivores love the sandalwood (for obvious reasons) so its going to behoove you to keep them away from it.

I suspect your problem is revolving around either over or under watering. Based on your description of the soil I am going with over watering. Feel free to add some agents to the plants soil which will help with drainage:

  • Sand <<<----- THIS ONE <<<---

  • Perlite

  • Compost

  • Mulch

  • Vermiculite

  • Small rocks (scant amount preferable volcanic and porous)

Rob
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Upon reading about sandalwood, I came across these facts:

1- it needs lots of sunlight

2- it is a hemi-parasite which means it can photosynthesize. However, it taps the roots of neighboring trees for added nutrients.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/santalum

The latter may be the culprit of your failure (disclaimer: i never grew that tree. Information is from other sources only). Try to plant it near a tree and watch how it develops.

Christmas Snow
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