snowball bush problem

14 years ago

I noticed that the leaves on my snowball bush were getting brown and dying.

When I checked, I noticed that a lot of the new leaves were curled up.

I opened one of the leaves and there were small white 'eggs' inside.

Some leaves had tiny white insects.

What is this? Do you think it is aphids?

Should I cut out all the diseased leaves? (there are a lot of them)

How can I prevent this from happening again?

Thank you.

~Geraldine

Featured Answer

Natalie Vac

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

I am having this same issue with our snowballs trees. They have always been so beautiful and we've never had a problem till this spring. White little mite looking bugs...they are actually turning the branches and leaves black and appear to be killing the trees.

Is it terminal? Is is contagious? How and what do we do to contain it?

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Comments (7)

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
14 years ago
Viburnum beetle would be the most likely candidate....your location and a photo would help confirm.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
14 years ago
White eggs and tiny white insects doesn't exactly sound like Viburnum leaf beetle, nor does the curling of foliage around the eggs/larvae. Not aphids either, as they don't curl leaves around themselves and you likely would never see the eggs unless you know what you were looking for. Can you post photos?

FWIW, with the exception of something like viburnum leaf beetle, most insects that feed on plants do only minimal damage. Far more of a cosmetic concern than anything else.

There is nothing you should do until the problem is properly identified. If it is an insect problem - as the eggs, little insects and curling leaves would suggest - then it can't be a disease problem. And if an insect problem, nothing really you can do to prevent it happening again. Bugs happen - it's a gardening fact of life and usually not (but not always) a big deal :-)
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day2day
Original Author
14 years ago
I am wondering if they are some kind of mite.
They seem to have that kind of body. They look something like those in this pic except they are white.
/What is this?>

I have included one pic that shows the white insects on the leaf. It's hard to see them but it's the best I could get without getting a fuzzy pic.
You can also see the way the leaves are damaged.

~Geraldine
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
Insect issues are seldom death sentences for the plants they infest but they can do a lot of damage. Can you post any pics of the bugs and affected plant parts? Good close ups?
Natalie Vac
11 years ago
I posted the pictures above the text. You can see they are very white mite looking type things. and the picture above that one shows how "dead" the bush is looking.
day2day
Original Author
11 years ago
I started this post back in 2012. I learned later that the problem was earwigs. That autumn, I found a lot of earwigs in the soil around the base of the tree. I cleared out the whole area and sprayed around the base but can't remember what type of spray I used. It was some type of natural product.(Bug-B-Gone?). I clipped and burned the leaves that showed curling....a long tedious job.

It has bloomed this past few years and is beautiful......the snowballs are bigger and healthier with no brown spots.