So this summer has been hot and dry. I have some 30 tress on my glassed in balcony and pretty much all of them got infected by spider mites when i was away for a few weeks (a friends helped my water the trees). I already lost a big azalea and some smaller trees. I have been spraying with pesticide once every 10 days for 40 days (as i was instructed in the store where i bought it). I have also tried to keep up the relative humidity by spraying all the trees several times a day, so the mites wouldnât like it anymore. However now It looks like i got some fungus problem instead or also.
What should i do, also start treating for fungus, or just stop spraying everything with water? How can I know its ok to stop treating for the spider mites? and last question what can I do in winter to prevent another infestation next year?
Iam very grateful for any help I can get.
ps I might be wrong with all of my diagnostics but i did see alot of spridermite netting and I did the wite paper-test-thing that Ryan does in the spider mites video.
Sorry to hear ab the loss of few trees looks like your trees went âfrom puddle to a muddy roadâ
I would however not panic just yet. Is this seen only on foliage? The hawthorn seems to have just scorched leaves and the white marks might be left from the pesticide you used.
I had aphids on my hawthorn this year and used an otganic pesticide which says that in spite of having no chemicals in it damage to foliage depends on type of tree. Most of mapples for instance are pretty sensitive and my hawthorn had leaves dried partly or some completely mainly due to exposure to the sun and heat that was extremely long this year and while also being away I didnât move trees that needed a bit more shade during such hot days.
I also see your balcony is kind of greenhouse. Can you open it completely so trees are exposed directly to sun?
Im not any expert but you have many kind of trees at same place with same conditions hence the pine looks more damaged than juniper for instance.
I would give them a break from any âactionâ perhaps trying to move them to closest conditions similar to their natural environment and regular/not to often watering. Just something I would try before giving them another shock.
Hard to judge, like I said - Im not an expert but I donât see any fungus from the pictures.
Good luck to you and your trees
Also, this might be very obvious but thought its worth mentioning:
Are you watering all trees on same regular basis? What Im trying to say is for example pines love extreme rather drier conditions in compare to mapple. Having both I always water pines 1/2 of what I give to mapples during hot summer.
This is hard to expect from someone who is just taking over your duties while away and my housemate did this for me and if there was any damage I knew it was cos watering wasnât âper specimenâ but when my housemate could do so which I was glad to anyway
Thank you for your thorough (is that how it is spelled?) answer! Its foliage and buds that are not looking good. Well the hawthorn looks like it has scorched leafs but the thing is it hasnt grown all season and when i look closely all the buds look brown and dead and i dont have any new growth after the first one in spring. I thought maybe the spider mites eat all the buds before they have time to develop. However i think i might stop the pesticide for now and keep keeping it airy. The balcony windows do open fully and i keep them open as much as i can but not when its to windy. It true i have many different species but i dont treat them all the same. But when i was away on vacation my friend who was watering just watered them all a lot so they wouldnât dry.
what i thought or think is fungus is only seen on the ume which has black spots and almost all of the leafs curl upwards. I thought this was a sign of fungi.
I too am sorry to hear you are having problems with your trees. Since you are having problems with many species, my opinion is that the problems are environment driven. The trees are getting older and their needs are changing. Many trees grow fine as undergrowth when they are small and as they get older, the need for more ventilation and sunlight changes.
The glassed in porch âcouldâ be much of the problem. (my opinion). A glassed in porch is not like a greenhouse in many ways. Namely circulation of air and how sunlight is delivered to your plants. Glass will intensify the sun through the greenhouse effect, in fact, it can intensify the sun 3 fold which can and will burn most plants. Greenhouses tend to use more filtered and refracted light.
The second is ventilation. Open windows will not be enough or most outdoor plants. The black spots are definitely a sign of fungus. Misting in an enclosed space is always iffy. Curling leaves are usually a sign that water uptake needs to be improved in some way.
Just my opinion, put the trees outside and see if there is a difference. East side with open space will probably do the trick. If possible, try not to put them against a wall or close to each other for full ventilation.
Unless you are afraid of trees falling during strong winds give them to experience this. True from @renaissance_man when it comes to ventilation and again - the more natural environment = the better results! There are trees outside and there is nowhere to hide for them in nature. Im not saying you shouldnât protect them from hurricane but some wind will not kill them esp if you have no option for relocation (I understand you are in a flat so options are limited?)
The hawthorn but also other trees might be just stressed too much after what you described happened in past months. I can tell my one had exactly the same issues and I think it was the heat along with spray to get rid of aphids (they were by the way mainly at the tips) that caused scorched leaves as well as blackened new shoots. Also new growth was less likely to happen during summer dormancy. I had to just cut of these black dead ends and believe me the tree is fine now.
Try to give them a break and avoid any further stress for now.
Perhaps google what type of fungus it could be on ume and what can you do the least stressful to the tree to help it.
Hope all will be in better shape next year! Give them perhaps repot before spring, focus on good watering with extra attention to individual tree type need and except fertilizing no much of work but let them grow only to gain strength and build up natural immunity. Summer across whole Europe has been just insane this year. Here in south of UK was just exceptionally hot for very long period and no rain for almost 3 months which is something I didnât experienced in at least 10 years. When I looked at the island from the plane at the end of July instead of usual green land there was burnt yellow-brownish grass and dry leafed trees instead - something Iâve never seen before. Even trees on streets and in parks are behaving weirdly I noticed.
Thank you for your sympathy You are probably right and I know my balcony isnt even close to optimal conditions but its alla I have. Hopefully I will have a garden in a few years then ill up my game.
The curling leafs can also be a sign of the fungus right? the roots are well watered and since iv also been spraying the foliage there should be enough water. But of course if the tree cant take up water it doesnât matter how much water i supply.
Thats exactly it iv had trees fall over in strong wind and thats when i close the windows until the worst winds have passed. Also I keep the japanese maples more protected from the wind due to leaf scorch. Ok good to hear that your hawthorn is better, im sure mine will regain strength too
I havent worked on the trees at all this summer because of their bad health and ill keep doing that until I see more vigour next season.
yeah its been a crazy summer. First a long and super cold winter and then a very short spring going traight to desert like conditions. This combined with me leaving the trees for my vacation made it worse. Well lesson learned never leave your trees for more than a few hours
True ab the weather - really crazy this year! I have to say tho that some trees might have loved it eg my pine seedlings. I did repot them to much larger pots giving them enough room to grow (thought I wonât have to do so next 2 seasons) and they seeem to be way to gigantic now and will have to do it again next year. They absolutely loved big freeze, being under the snow as well as the drought
Good luck to your trees @Ume
looks like your trees went âfrom puddle to a muddy roadâ
iv had trees fall over in strong wind and thats when i close the windows until the worst winds have passed. Also I keep the japanese maples more protected from the wind due to leaf scorch. Ok good to hear that your hawthorn is better, im sure mine will regain strength too 