more photos

where are you ....

could you favor us with a history of the plant ... was it recently planted??? ... what was the general weather since last winter ... e.g. severe winter.. wet spring... hail storms.. etc ...

the base problem as i see it.. is that it is hard to specify when the damage happened .... whether or not there is an ongoing process that need be fixed ...

it would not be uncommon as the sun goes into decline ... for prior damage to show in fall ...

and i dont see.. and you dont say .... that you found any current bugs .... and with what you are using.. i wouldnt expect any of the usual suspects ...

but the key ... is what if any damage is there.. on the new growth??? .. which also begs the question... why you have growth this time of year.. you might want to stop the fertilizing... unless you are in a very warm clime ...

most shrubs never need fert.. unless a soil test indicates something is lacking from the soil ...

more history plz...

ken

Hi. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions.

I planted them about a year ago. I live in Central Florida. Weather has been pretty normal since I planted it. No frost during the first winter, Hot and wet summer. They have had this problem from quite early on. I have 3 of them. I moved one of them from the south facing garden to the west facing side of the house to see if that would help - the one I moved is probably a little better, but still a similar issue.

I switched the irrigation from sprinkler to drip, but it's not changed anything. The leaves seem to dry out from the tip and then drop off.

It's not something that has just happened now though - this has been a problem through the spring, summer and fall. All different weather.

There is no damage on the new growth. When I prune it back the plant shoots out nicely. But then a month or two later, that new growth starts to suffer the same fate.

The soil in Florida, and especially on a new build like mine, is basically just builders sand. I added some tree/shrub mix when I put them in the ground, and a slow release fertizer in the spring.

Thanks for the help

That looks a whole lot more like a disease (probably fungal) issue than it does an insect problem.

Suggest you take samples into your local extension office for an accurate diagnosis and treatment recommendations.

You hit the nail on the head -- a new build. Builders use marl and fill dirt to build up lots, and only add about 6 inches or less of topsoil. Your soil is the problem.

This is what I would do, because you are going to have to do this for everything you plant until you get some organic matter into the soil. Adding organic matter will attract earthworms, and they'll eventually break up that bad soil.

• Get some good bagged topsoil and composted manure and mix them together well.
• Cut the plants back by 1/3 to account for them losing roots when you dig them up. No need to remove diseased leaves, because they will die and fall off on their own.
• Dig up the plants and wash the leaves and roots well in soapy water, rinse them well.
• Dig a hole 3x the diameter of the root ball & six inches deeper.
• Fill the hole with water. let it soak in, repeat.
• Put six inches of the good soil in the bottom of the hole and place the plant in the hole.
• Add soil slowly until the root ball is level with the top of the hole.
• Fill with water again, and as it soaks in, add soil to fill the hole to the top.
• Poke all around the hole with the handle of the shovel to fill in air pockets.
• Build a dam about 3 inches high around the plant out to the edge of the hole with the soil you dug out of the hole and fill it three times with water and let it soak in. (I realize this sounds like a lot of water, but most of it is going to soak into the marl or fill dirt around the plant)
• Water every other day for a week, every third day for two weeks, then once a week for two weeks unless you get an inch of rain, always filling the dam three times. You may have to keep rebuilding the dam.
• I wouldn't fertilize or put any more insecticide on them until you see new growth in the spring.

Good luck!