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Declining Limelight Hydrangea Help

last year

I have two Limelight Hydrangeas. One is doing fantastic, but the other one is getting brown curling leaves and this webbing on it. It is not tent caterpillars as there are no visible caterpillars and the webbing is very soft and fragile. Here are some photos of the problem. Can anyone tell me what this is? Thanks.

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Comments (5)

HU-807155438
Original Author
last year
I wondered if that is what it was. Thank you.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
spider mites can also be controlled with plain old water.. never jump straight to chems.. if alternatives are possible ... but if water fails.. then nuke those bat turds hard.. lol ...

how about a pic of the whole plant.. and some history ... when planted...

bugs have a way of finding stressed or sick plants.. if this is a recent transplant.. and not being properly watered .. perhaps from planting error.. then solving the bug issue.. isnt really going to save the plant..

its possible.. but perhaps not probable.. but we may as well rule it out now ..

ken
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Wow! Three times a day is excessive to the nth degree! I have to assume the person did not understand your question na dhe/she meant something else. In my similar weather, I do not water that often. To determine when to water, use the finger method daily in the morning, as follows: Insert a finger into the ground to a depth of 4" and give the plant 1 gallon of water when the soil feels dry or almost dry. Make a note on a wall calendar whenever you water. If the soil feels moist, skip watering. If the soil feels wet, determine why and take any appropriate course of action to correct the wet conditions. After 2-3 weeks, review the watering notes that you wrote on the calendar and determine, on average, how often you were watering (say, you watered every 2/3/4/5 days). Then set your sprinkler to water 1 gallon on that same day frequency (1.5 gallons if your soil is sandy). Water early in the mornings. Too much water for long periods of time can make the roots develop root rot: They will first be deprived of oxygen if clogged with water, Then after a while, the existing fungi in the soil will begin to rot the roots and the plant will wilt 24/7 no matter how much water you give it. To help alleviate the problem, temporarily remove any mulch that you have... say, for one or two days and put it back when the soil no longer feels muddy. After that, maintain 3-4" of mulch up to the drip line or several inches past the drip line. In most places, you can keep the mulch up to the drip line but, where temps frequently hit the 100s (for two months in a row here for example), even light breezes help the leaves loose moisture quite rapidly and slightly more mulch will help keep the soil cooler and moist longer. The yellowing of the leaves is being caused by the plants not being able to get enough oxygen. The roots are plain colgged with water and canot breathe well. So remove the mulch to make the soil dry out faster. Then return things back to normal in a day or two, when the soil feels moist, not muddy. Luis This post was edited by luis_pr on Wed, Jul 3, 13 at 23:35
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Too much sun will manifest as completely yellow leaves but only the ones in direct contact with sunlight. Leaves shielded by other leaves or blooms will remain dark green, giving the bloom a kaleidoscope look. It is always hard to guess how long but less than 2 weeks would be my guess. I had a hydrangea develop this issue days after the Crape Myrtle that provided shade lost some branches in a hailstorm. You could dig a hole in the Limelight's first spot, put them there pot and all and then move them in October to the other location. Or I would put them in a protected location after 2 weeks of sun the test location. They normally go dormant for me as early as mid-to-late November thru sometime in December. Oakleafs go dormant much later (I had one that never went to sleep last year). They should do well in the pot in which they came jut not safe to put the pot in the hot sun. While you can leave them in it, plastic pots and others get hot and can damage the roots so feel free to switch them to another type of container in shade. As a general rule, I never plant any shrubs starting in mid May because it gets too hot. I also try not to buy any plants but that does not work sometimes. Hee hee. You can put them in the test location (hopefully not) but, a location with bright shade and little wind would be easier on them now. Unfortunately, the bright shade location would not help you determine if the area is too sunny. Oh well. I have a LL in full shade but it is bright shade. Keep an eye on the shrub in case it needs water. I hand water every other Sunday whenever the weather is at or above 100. And I try to maintain 3-4" of mulch past the drip line.
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You should provide them with water if a finger inserted into the soil to a depth of 4" feels dry or almost dry. You may also consider putting something to block afternoon sun as now is a bad time to be planting hydrangeas. Eventually they may be ok but on year 1 they tend to pout.
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Are you getting the leaves wet? Overhead watering causes all kinds of fungal diseases so it is best to water the soil and never the leaves. Water using soaker hoses or drip irrigation. If you use a regular sprinkler, set the station that waters the hydrangea to activate around 6-8am so the leaves do not stay wet for long periods of time. Dispose of the affected leaves when they brown out or when they fall. Do the same with all plant debris (blooms, dead stems, etc.). Throw them in the trash since they will have fungal spores. Replace the old mulch with new mulch too. Since we are near the end of the growing season, I would not worry too much about the leaves since they will fall shortly. But take steps to minimize conditions that might help fungal spores thrive. You should get new foliage in Spring. Continue taking the steps mentioned every year and the leaves will improve with time.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
last modified: last year
IPM - Integrated Pest Management - is a practice all gardeners should follow. Its primary tenet is to control plant pests by the least ecologically disruptive method first, only resorting to stronger control methods like broad spectrum pesticides as a last resort.

Following the best cultural requirements for the plant in question is always the first step - like making sure plant has correct light exposure, decent soil conditions and adequate water during hot or dry periods. Next is picking off insects by hand or using water as a pest control method - much more effective than one would imagine for a number of issues, including controlling spider mites.

And it does not need to be high pressure water. Spider mites are highly adverse to damp conditions and high humidity and thrive when conditions are hot and dry. Just spritzing down the plants on a daily basis will make the environment inhospitable and the problem should disappear.

Resort to a manufactured pesticide only if nothing else works.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
The misconception is only with you, I'm afraid. Since it is the end of July, I should have thought it was fairly obvious to anyone that we are not talking about cool season spider mites here. So no need to obfuscate the issue by bringing in an only tangentially related topic!

Two spotted spider mites - by far the most populous species to affect landscape plants - are warm season mites and most likely the culprit infesting the hydrangea. As any source will confirm, these mites thrive under hot, dry conditions. And as also any source will confirm, the first step in controlling them is with water from your hose. Not only will the water dislodge them from the plant, it creates conditions the mites dislike and will avoid.

Very simple. And very easy to research on your own, @HU-807155438, if previous commenters have confused the issue. Which they are very fond of doing :-)
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Geesh!! Give it a rest!! The spider mites under discussion here are the ones that thrive in hot, dry conditions. There is no ambiguity involved at all....except in your narrow mind.

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