Re: Possible Die Back Disease - was: Planting Azaleas ???
- To:
- Subject: Re: Possible Die Back Disease - was: Planting Azaleas ???
- From: M* T*
- Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 03:03:14 -0400
In rhodies it is a sure sign of one of the fungal die back diseases...I
seldom get this in evergreen azaleas and never in deciduous ones.
If your plants are rhododendrons, IMMEDIATELY whip out your sharpest pair
of secateurs and a bleach-water mix and go out and remove those branches,
sterilizing your secateurs between cuts. Dispose of the branches in the
trash - not the compost and remove any dead leaves from beneath the plants.
These fungi spread by water splash from infected leaves/branches to healthy
ones. You can lose a plant if you simply leave the dead/dying branches and
leaves on it.
Normally, the leaves will wilt while green when infected and then curl and
turn brown - which means they are deader n' doornails. Prune the branch
back to healthy wood - if it exists (usually seems to start at the tip of a
branch) or to the main trunk, if necessary.
This horrifying news aside, I have had many rhodies survive these diseases
by keeping them cleaned up when the disease shows up...and I have lost a
few, too. Not something to ignore and hope it will go away.
Plants are more likely to get die back diseases if stressed in some other
way...drying out will stress them and then copious water from heaven or a
hose will provide a path for the fungi who are all around just waiting for
their main chance.
These same leaf symptoms occur in branches that have been split from the
main trunk but not so you can see it without investigation into the center
of the shrub....if you find that is the cause, you can breathe easily again
and simply prune away the dead branch.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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> From: Bob Wiltshire <bwiltshi@williamsfoods.com>
> Date: Tuesday, September 07, 1999 10:43 AM
>
> Marge,
>
> In addition to the water stress, I do have some leaves that have turned
> brown and curled like "cigars". Is this a big problem? Over Labor Day
> weekend, we got a lot of rain so otherwise, they look good.
>
> Bob
> NE Kansas
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