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Dried up, crispy leaves & white spots on leaves

16 years ago

Hello, I have the following two plants that don't look well:

a)I found this one in a clay pot with all its branches clipped and abandoned on the street. I took it home, watered it and it started up again nicely, many fresh shoots and leaves. Problem is, during the last week after I returned from vacations, it started dying, with its leaves drying up and becoming paper-like. No insects or marks of pests were observed.

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b) this one has stopped growing and its leaves are curling up slightly on the edges while there's white spots all over the leaves. New leaves are dried up and dying real fast too. I checked for any parasites/pests but couldn't find any over or under the leaves.

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Comments (5)

rivers1202
16 years ago
Kinda looks like powdery mildew. The foliage on my Crepe Myrtle gets infected with the stuff every year. The leaves get a white powdery substance on them, and they'll also get that crispy look around the edges, similar to the damage on the foliage of your plants.

Perhaps one of the experts here will chime in with more info. for you -- but that's my best guess from what I see in your photos.

Renee
malorn
16 years ago
I would agree some pics look like powdery mildew...
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~~~ Explain thermal protection? ~~~ A piece of rigid foam insulation might help if the gravel or concrete is getting too hot and cooking the roots. By watering the one pot twice daily you are cooling it much more than the others. The plants own respiration may be helping with that as well. You're stuck. Without the plant using the water, you're at high risk of over watering but without being able to water more frequently, you appear to be making tomato root stew. Not a happy situation to be in. The one with the tomato looks especially sorry and I'm wondering whats holding it erect. Except as an experimental to figure how to prevent this in the future, I'm doubtful of that plants value.
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I'm in SNJ and I've had horrible blossom drop due to the humid weather... I have fruit, and am harvesting cherries and grapes & currants, and hope to pick some early toms by monday.... but it is sparse due to all my lost blossoms. Maybe overwatering? I water only once a week, deeply w/ a soaker hose. Check your soil, it just might be too wet... from what I understand, if the soil is too wet for too long, the plants can get stunted, the roots rot, or at the very least become water logged and not be able to take up nutrition. I also am learning that i 'loved' my plants too hard last year and fertilized too much... I think that can cause some of the symptoms you're referring to as well. did you amend your soil w/ dried blood? I think thats pure N, and that would make for a bushy plant but little fruit. Pictures would help I'm sure. I'm not much help though, I'm only in my second year of growing and I'm having tons of problems myself. good luck.
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basscadet
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks for the replies, I checked around for powdery mildew and the symptoms + look & feel of the infection must be it. Sprayed the plant with a fungicide and I'm waiting for improvement. Any ideas on the second one?
botanybob
16 years ago
The first plant looks like it has a watering problem. Either it got too dry while you were gone and the edges of the leaves were damaged, or it is getting overwatered and the roots are rotting. I see you have it on an automatic system. Did you ever find it badly wilted? If so, this is when the damage occurred and new growth should be normal. If not, then try taking it out of the pot and look at the roots. Healthy roots should be white and firm (older roots can become woody and darker, but should still be firm). There should be some new growth. Rotting roots will be mushy and discolored with little new growth. If they are rotting, take it off of the automatic system and hand water only when the soil gets dry.
basscadet
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks for the reply, I'm only using the auto-watering system when I'm away in summer and I'm watering them according to each's needs. It seems that with those heat waves here I overwatered it for some time and it got to this state. I'll leave it dry out for some days and see what happens. thanks.

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