Re: Sudden Plant Death (SPD)
- Subject: Re: Sudden Plant Death (SPD)
- From: J* S*
- Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 15:32:21 -0700
Hi Nan, and all:
Last spring one 5year old Arbutus unedo compacta, in a line of 10 or
11 used as a screen, just turned dull, then dead in a matter of 3 to 4
days. When I asked our new garden superintendant, Tim Phillips, what he
thought, he advised me to dig up the plant and look at the roots. He
said you can tell a great deal about what has happened, by looking at a
dead plant's roots.
When I dug the plant, millions of the small black Argentine ants
swarmed up out of the hole and the plant came out quite easily. I
immediately looked for evidence of root mealybugs ( or anything else I
could find) but there was nothing - just a large crevice leading under
the fence and under the adjoining sidewalk on the other side, with
zillions of ants storming out!
I can only believe the ants themselves led to the plant's demise, by
creating air pockets around the major portion of its roots. I can find
no other explanation. The other arbutus are doing well and have grown
all summer. Jan
Nan Sterman wrote:
> Good Summer to you all!
>
> I would like to explore a phenomenon that has hit my garden hard this
> late summer, that is Sudden Plant Death (SPD). By that, I mean the
> phenomenon where my garden is growing along just fine when suddenly,
> in late August or early September, individual plants wither and die,
> seemingly overnight. I am not talking plants that have just been
> installed -- these plants have been around for three months to
> several years and been rowing quite happily. I've seen this happen
> with salvias, lavendars, anisodontea, mimulus, and other medit-type
> plants. I've checked to see if the problem is gophers (it's not),
> overwater (it's not), underwater (it's not), just my garden (it's
> not, I see it in other nearby gardens and planted areas).
>
> To add to the confusion, SPD will strike a single plant in a drift of
> the same plants.
>
> Is this fungus? Something else?
>
> Nan
> --
> **********
> '''''''''''''''''''''''
> Nan Sterman
> San Diego County California
> Sunset zone 24, USDA hardiness zone 10b or 11
--
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Jan Smithen,
Upland, California
jansmithen@earthlink.net
Sunset zone : 19
USDA zone : 10
http://home.earthlink.net/~jansmithen/
Visit the Los Angeles County Arboretum
Victorian Rose Garden website at:
http://victorian-rose.org/
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