Serviceberry trees - disease or soil deficiency?
aliciaandbilly
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Our Autumn Brilliance trees, planted about a year and a half ago are not looking very good this Spring. I'm thinking part of the problem may be rust, but maybe the discoloration of the leaf is something else?
Both trees are next to the street - we chose them due to their supposed salt tolerance. We're located just north of NYC and had a decent amount of snow this winter, so lots of plowing and salting of the roads.
Last Spring they had a good number of berries on them for their size/age. This year I could probably count the total number of berries on both hands. Our neighbor had two of the same tree planted this past Fall and her trees (also next to the street) are covered in berries.
We're trying to garden organically, so we didn't do any preventative/maintenance spraying treatments on the trees or the lawn.
Any help in identifying the issue would be greatly appreciated.
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Seeking Advice - Disease, Nutrient Deficiency, or Something Else?
Comments (5)These cuttings are growing next to a south-facing window at roughly room temperature. Early on, however -- maybe for the first week -- I did not place them in direct sunlight, since I did not want them to wilt for lack of roots. The soil is light with sufficient drainage. To note, the plants are now well rooted; I can see the roots through the sides of their transparent containers. At the same time, the yellowing seems to have ceased to spread for the most part, so perhaps this means it initially resulted from a nutrient deficiency. However, I still wonder whether the lack of nutrients directly caused chlorosis, or whether the deficiency made the plants more susceptible to a disease which in turn brought about the yellowing. Diane, thank you for enlightening me on the nomenclature....See Morewhite sapote: disease or deficiency?
Comments (3)White Sapote should have deep green leaves, and i think you've hit the problem on the head--nutrient. Now, without looking it up and trying to recall my word association to remember stuff, I believe yellowing on old leaves (interveins, etc) means either the iron or magnesium deficiency. Either way, use a citrus fertilizer as your main slow release to prevent the deficiencies on the fruit tree; a mild (diluted) water soluble may help diminish the yellowing, as a foliar application and in the soil. Dont overwater tho in the process, it's winter....See MoreServiceberry tree?
Comments (5)Hi jbid! We have a multi-trunk amelanchier 'Autumn Brilliance' for 6 years now. It was planted by the landscaper at the NE corner of the house (new construction). Like you, we wanted trees and shrubs to attract birds and to offer interest in at least 3 seasons. In theory, the serviceberry fits the bill. It blooms in April on bare branches; the fruit ripens in June and is tasty; it turns an apricot color in fall; it has a nice multitrunk winter silhouette with smooth gray-bark. However it has disappointed in several ways. 1 - it is an understory tree probably planted in too much sun. Also we have a lot of wind which may be too much stress for the tree. 2 - As a result of the above stresses, it has had scale and black spot every year. Japanese beetles seem to like it very much but a climbing hydrangea planted nearby acts as a "trap". Lacebugs and mites cause the leaves to look pretty ratty by summer's end. 3 - Because of the pests and diseases, it hasn't shown much fall color after it's first autumn in the ground. 4 - We have bluebirds who nest in the yard every year; we also have robins and mockingbirds. The birds have shown little interest in the berries except this year we had a bumper crop of berries but the mockingbird decided that this was his/her tree and chased off any trespasser who showed interest. 5 - It suckers a lot. This has been my experience so far in our Central PA yard. There is a more mature serviceberry about 2 blocks from our home that is really lovely during the growing season and it doesn't appear to have many, if any, suckers. I'm hoping that ours is just a "gangly teenager" and will out grow its annoyances. Most folks on this site and others have much better experience than I have had. It may very well be that it's a matter of careful siting to have success. Good luck with you project. Pat...See MoreHow to tell mineral/nutrient deficiency in plants and soil
Comments (157)Jue Shei: for the 1st picture, you are right that the whole plant is not pale, but only the upper leaves. I look at your 1st pic. three times, and it looks like iron deficiency (dark veins on pale leaves). See below excerpt: "Iron Deficiency: Caused by High soil pH and salinity. - High Phosphorus, Manganese, Calcium, Molybdenum or Zinc levels. - Soil low in organic matter & Insufficient drainage. Leaves become yellow or near white between their veins. Stunted growth." From Straw: For your 1st pic., it looks like high soil pH (wood ash has pH of 13), plus salinity or high salt (wood ash is very high salt). If you did NOT put wood ash in the pot, it can also be poor drainage. My rose in soaking wet clay has that problem during heavy rain. If water cannot drain fast from a pot, upper leaves can have iron deficiency (pale background with darker veins). If it's a high pH problem from topping with wood ash, then scrape off the topsoil When the soil inside the pot IS NOT changed every 2 years, then the soil becomes compact and water can't drain fast, roses will turn pale. My most dark-green roses are with NEW potting soii which is fluffy and has air for root growth. If your soil is more than 2-year-old in the pot, then change to NEW SOIL will help. Old soil in the pot for more than 2 years accumulate too much salt, then become compact so roots have zero air, so leaves turn pale. From the web: "An ideal soil contains 25 percent air, 25 percent water, 45 percent minerals and 5 percent organic matter."...See More
aliciaandbilly
7 years agoaliciaandbilly
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoHere are more pictures. The soil in our tree lawn is pretty crappy - compacted, rocky (from snow plowing) and weedy. The trees were professionally planted by our landscaper though who did plenty of prep, so I don't think that's the problem. And even though one tree gets more shade than the other, they both appear to be exhibiting about the same amount of damage.
I did see a couple of ants on the one tree yesterday, but didn't see any aphids or other significant pest presence that would clearly indicate an insect causing the damage.
RugbyHukr
7 years agoaliciaandbilly
7 years ago
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