There is a viburnum leaf beetle in some areas of the country. Sounds like this may be that. If you research based on that data point, I believe treatment regimens will be listed, based on your area of the country.

+oM

thanks wisconsitom,
i did look that up, but i don't see any beetles or anything. the stems underneath the leaves are turning brown and then the leaves just crack. i have been pulling off the brown ones, but i don't think its going to help....
i guess i might have to pull out and replant with something else in the fall
trying to go native, but this one is not working.
i have a red dosier dogwood next to it and it doing great.....

Yeah, pretty hard to stop red-osier! Nice plant. There is also a borer that gets into the stems of cranberry viburnum, killing all tissue above bored-out area. Could this be a part of your issue? Seems there's a lot of folks with Viburnum issues this spring, all over the country. Wonder what's up with that. Viburnums have always been workhorse plants, and there are many, many types. My own personal faves are the arrowwood group, for their blue/purple fruits, their awesome fall color, etc.

+om

thanks Wtom,
i will be posting pics later on tonite when i get a minute, as suggested on another post!!

Slight look of aphids present. Not at all saying this is the problem, just that I see slight leaf cupping and puckering a la aphid infestation. Any soft-bodied, smallish insects on leaf undersides? I guess you would have said so if that was the case. Hmmm?

BTW, if one would wish to battle aphids, they are best controlled via relatively "soft" means, ie. oils/soaps/maybe some neem.

+oM

i was/am doing soap and water but i fear to no avail.....see how all the underneath stems are brown?? when i straighten a leaf it snaps. today i noticed a tiny hole in a leaf and slight brown dots... i fear i am losing it again. i did spray with soap/water this morning and i did spray with bug spray about 2 days ago...just getting worse....
do aphids make the stems go brown?? i don't see them on the branches, stems, underneath leaves or anywhere.... so confused, annoyed and frustrated.....
thanks +oM, you have really hung in with me!!

I concur with +om regarding aphid damage. Aphids can be very transitory little creatures, often focusing on the very succulent new growth as it emerges. They do their dirty work and then often move on. Or the soap spraying may have knocked them out. Regardless, the damage is done. The distorted leaves won't straighten out and if you try to straighten them, they will tear or snap.

Honestly, the problem does not look particularly serious to me. Overall, the plant looks pretty healthy aside from the leaf distortion. Most often, aphid damage is cosmetic only - it can affect the look of the plant to some degree but has no serious impact on the health of the plant. I would just keep monitoring it for problems but I really don't think you have any serious problem at this time.

should i just let the leaves skeltonize and wait for next year?? that 's what happened last year, i basically lost all the leaves and had minimal growth. or should i pull the leaves before the skeletonize?? or cut the plant back now and let it re-grow this year??
TIA

If it is aphid damage, the leaves will not skeletonize. That sort of damage results from other sorts of creatures like caterpillars or Viburnum beetles. If you are unable to detect any of these present (and they are pretty obvious when you look for them), then all is good for now. Just keep monitoring the plant.

Right, and even skeletonizing insects could have already come and gone. Key with any control regimen is observation and timing of control practice. This situation is not, IMO, worth heavy systemic insecticide use, even though that is one way to have the pesticide molecule present when the next batch of insects arrive. Like Gal, I don't think this warrants that approach, especially given the harm to pollinator insects, etc. that can come with such practices.

How's the growing weather where you are? If sufficiently warm and with reasonable moisture-not like where I am with this contemptible drought-such an otherwise vigorous plant should be able to outgrow this damage. And beneficial insects, like lady beetle larvae, should eventually catch up with the aphids, if they are present.

+oM

thanks so much!!
its warm, mid-80's for now, but i'm sure it will cool down a bit since this is a little high for right now.... not much rain but i did water about 2 days ago....
what's funny is the one in the back of the yard is doing ok for right now, only a few brown stems/curling... i lost all the leaves off that one last summer.
so hopefully if it is the aphids, the lady beetle larvae is already working back there....!!??

the leaves did skeletonize last year, all i had left was the veins. but i did not watch them as closely as i am now and i did not use soap & water either. by the time i realize it, it was pretty much over.

while i have your attention and i guess i should start a new thread, the same thing happened to my goldenrod. are aphids common on that too?? lost all the leaves in about 2 days (skeletonized). went away for the weekend, came back and POOF, all leaves were gone...i already sprayed with soap and water but they really don't pop until June, if i remember correctly, hardly had any flowers and the bees loved it when i first put it in in the fall of '12....
i'm trying to do everything native that i put in from now on but i really am not having great success.... although red osier dogwood and coral honeysuckle are doing great!!

i'll keep you updated with pics...hopefully this thread will help others as well
thanks again!!!

Just to be perfectly clear, aphids do not skeletonize foliage. They do not chew holes in plants or otherwise eat the foliage. They are sucking insects, feeding on the juice inside the leaves and other new growth. Typically, the ONLY sign of aphid problems will be the distortion of the emerging foliage. And possibly the development of sooty mold on the honeydew excretion.

The insects that skeletonize leaves - as mentioned previously - are cutworms, caterpillars or other flying insect larvae. Also various beetles or weevil-like creatures. Soapy water has no effect on them. And is only a contact insecticide anyway. Cannot be used as a preventative measure.

oh boy, than i guess its not aphids then....something is causing the leaves to curl and the stems to go brown, then loss of leaves...
could it be light, either too much/too little, soil issues, water issues, lack of fertilizer, other creatures, some sort of disease???... i'm at a loss

i do have a blackhaw viburnum behind the cranberry and its doing fine....(not the one in the pic, the one in the back of the yard that is doing ok right now-fingers crossed)

as the leaves get worse, which i think they will, i will send more pics....
thanks alot

i did email PSU agricultural extension and they asked me to bring a sample so they can diagnose it. hopefully i will do that next week..

Continue working with Extension. they will know better than I the specifics of that plant in your area. But no, soil issues, weather, nutrients, etc. will not cause leaf skeletonization. That's an insect.

+oM