I had powdery mildew suddenly appear on my squash plant. I read that a combo of baking soda and water would help. I did that today, so don't know the results yet...but every suggestion helps & this one seemed very easy.

Hey Katie. I've got a Yoshino cherry that's now about eight years old. It struggles toward the end of summer, but not now. How did you plant? Are they planted high in amended soil so that they drain well? They don't like this clay we have in Memphis, so while young, need to be raised.
If you're concerned about a root fungus, you can drench with "Halt" three times at ten day intervals. I believe Dan West carries it. The one on Poplar is where I got it. It's a powder you mix with water; quite pricey, but it worked well on a root fungus I battled a couple years ago.
The trees and shrubs I have lost here were due, I believe, to root fungus. Just part of living with heavy clay unfortunatly.
Whatever is wrong, you can help it do battle by using root stimulator on it once a week for four weeks.

I've heard Rhodies need a cooler climate than we have here and are not easy to keep alive. Azaelas are a better choice for zone 7/8.
Bev

Katie, before you treat for fungus check for Ambrosia Beetle borers. Ambrosia beetle is Asian, having gotten to the SE US in 1999 (port of entry : Charleston, SC) and is spreading fast, mostly due to the transport of infected stock in the nursery trade. I've seen trees look great one day and be just about dead the next from the little suckers. They like trees with smooth bark.

Look closely and carefully all over the trunk of your trees for little (and I mean pretty small, about the size of the head of a pin) holes. These holes will often have a little sawdust sticking out of them or dribbling down the trunk below them. I've seen as few as two and as many as 15 holes on one tree, so be sure to look closely. They're easy to miss.

If you find such holes, there's no saving your trees. Do call your county extension agent ASAP to alert them to the presence of this new pest in the area. And ask them what to do about your infected trees and how to protect other trees nearby. Fortunately the insects aren't very mobile on their own, so they're not likely to spread all over your yard.

Having said all that, I hope you don't have Ambrosia Beetle. But the symptoms you describe -- catastrophic wilting of entire trees -- is symptomatic of a major system meltdown in the plant, and such problems are usually due to borers in the main circulation system of the tree or serious root damage of some sort, which can be caused by a fungus. Fungus usually takes longer and is slower, though.

Marty

Katie,
I had 2 of those, some double flowering types and they did the same thing. At first I didn't think anything about it, but they all declined to the point where I dug 'em up!
I thought it was me, just my luck, until I saw a little lane lined with these things. The Bartlett Library, the entrance behind City Hall, along the Japanese Garden, is lined with these and about every other one has this trouble. There are two outside of church, too. Some branches have no leaves on them, at all, and I watched them in the sprind and they had no flowers on those same branches.
I actually think it is some type of borer because of the way it happens from the tip of the branch, inward, but not every branch, the way it would with bad drainage.
The leaves are cruncy, right? Almost like in the fall.
I don't know what to do about borers, short of cut the whole branch off. I guess you could use the spray program like you would for fruit trees, let me know, I can send you a link to the recommend program for Shelby County.
I spent alot of money on those trees and really thought they would be beautiful, but I would have been better off with Crabapple, I think.
Good luck to you, my friend, I know you will have better luck than me! Sissy
ps-
(toms won't ripen in time!!)

Thanks for all of your input. I cut off a limb this morning and took it to a couple of places. Everyone here seems to think they have gotten too much water. The leaves on the ends of the branches are still green and the inside of the branches themselves are still green, so I'm going to spray them with some disease spray tonight, along with everything else in my yard. I couldn't find what was recommended above, but found something that should help with several different things.

Katie

I have the same problem with my fishing. It bloomed and bingo. It lost all of its leaves. Is my tree dead?

I typed yoshino not fishing.