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Camellias garden

Need help identifying Camellia disease

6 years ago

Hello all.

Need help identifying what's wrong with my camellia japonica plants.

These are planted in containers. Location/zone: Northern California. Had problems with aphids last year, but a few months ago I started spraying neem oil (diluted per instructions) on leaves once a week. I also spray the same diluted solution on the soil, because I suspected a mold issue. (Had a problem with black sooty mold around the same time as aphids, but that seems to have gone away.)

Question: What is the layer of fiber-and-dirt growing on the surface of older leaves? It look like short fibers... Is it insect poop? Or is it a different variant of sooty mold?

I try to wipe it off the leaves using soap and water, but it always comes back. It seems to only affect older (dark green) leaves, not so much the newer leaves (lighter green), although that seems to be changing for the worse as well.

Help? What is wrong with my camellias? Any advice appreciated.

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Comments (3)

luis_pr
6 years ago
Spider mites perhaps? See pictures and information in this link:

https://www.americancamellias.com/care-culture-resources/insects-and-diseases
mwu04 thanked luis_pr
mwu04
Original Author
6 years ago
luis_pr, thank you so much.
I didn't think they were spider mites at first (because it didn't look like the pictures from that link), but now I think it's very possible, since there are tiny webbing (like dirtier spider webs) covering some of the leaves of my plant.
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when were they planted ... perhaps they are perennial for you.. but for me.. they are warm annuals .... if you just bought them .... did you harden them off to sun before slamming them into the sun??? often.. we dont know where the plants came from ... perhaps a greenhouse.. so when you get them home.. you need to harden them off to full sun.. just to be careful ... did you apply any water sol fert after planting.. that can also burn tender young foliage ... i would probably just watch them for a few weeks ... and then look close.. and see if new growth is unaffected .. and if so ... then the problem may have just been transplant stresses ... plus that above ... ken ps: i had trouble with black or dark mulch.. but that was more of a high heat of summer problem... when it accumulated and retained heat .. late into the night.. basically causing a watering problem during the day ... and the slow night time recovery period ... i wouldnt expect it to be a spring problem ...
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luis_pr
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Yes, I considered aphids and spider mites but since you saw webbing, I figured spider mites like you too.

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