Thank you meg. Preparing for a trip. Very busy. I'm not familiar with placing a picture in my message on this page, so thank you for giving the path via the Photo Gallery.I know it's time consuming for people to go back and forth tracing down a photo, therefore inserting it here would be the most convenient. Once upon a time... in the past.... I could retrieve a photo from my files on the Preview Message page. Now a Web'Host'is required and posting a photo has become complicated. Helga.

Reviving an old thread to see if any of the previous posters have won this battle against leaf spot. We live in South/Central Texas. Our backyard has a mix of red tips and pittosporum as privacy hedges that create a stunning 15' tall wall of hedges that provide wonderful privacy and visual appeal. Unfortunately, these hedges have started succumbing to various ailments. The red tips have this dreaded leaf spot. One side of the fence has red tips that were planted only 2 years ago. The rest of the plants have probably been planted 15+ years. I did some drastic pruning on the young ones and spent a weekend cutting every single spotted leaf off. They are only 6' talk and we're manageable. The older red tips are just too big to deal with in a similar fashion. I've been spraying Daconil every 7 days or so. Just Wondering if I'm fighting a losing battle? I don't plan on replacing these hedges with anymore red tips or pittosporum (they are having a different issue and I have lost two - not sure if it is root rot, some other fungus, or just their natural life cycle). The pittosporum can't be sprayed with Daconil, I use Agri-fos on them. Oh, and most of my neighbors have these red tips as well, and they all have the disease. We had a wet fall and winter and I suspect the fungus is loving south Texas now So any success stories? Lastly, if I have to replace these, what is a good alternative? We're zone 9. Backyard is a mix of shaded and part-sun, but is becoming mostly shaded as our live oaks grow more. I would like a drought tolerant (although I have drip irrigation and can water them well during the hot summers) replacement that is hardy and disease resistant. Native would be great. I just need them to be able to grow to and be maintained at about 15' tall and have the ability to be trimmed into hedges. Thanks in advance!

Environmental stress. It was hot.

I used standard potting mix that has a lot of coir in it. it also contains some slow releasing fertilizer. It can contain a lot of water and air and it is acidic. I'm from Jerusalem and as far as I know Chestnuts thrive at places with very similar climate like southern Europe and turkey. The reason why there are no Chestnuts here at all is the alkalinity of the soil and the tap water which is why I keep them in pots. I do not have any specific rules with irrigation, I water them well once in a few days when the top of the media becomes dry. other plants ans trees seem to have no problems with the same media. a friend of mine, has a 3 y.o chestnuts growing in containers and they are perfectly fine...