how cold has it gotten this winter ... in MS??

is the ID proper??? .. i cant tell

is that a south facing wall ....

ken

Thanks Ken,

The wall faces North, it got 21 deg this winter ridiculous huh? I was told it is a Chinese Privet by a friend who should know...here is a pic of the flower.

Looks like Ligustrum japonicum (Japanese Ligustrum)very commonly pruned to a multi-trunked tree form. I'd like to see images of the stems. This plant is attractive to cottony cushion and other scale pests.

I seem to see signs of black sooty mold, which is why I'm wondering about the scale.

What is the soil these are growing in like?

When was the last soil test done and what were the results?

Might be a pest or disease problem or it might be a nutrient deficiency.

kimmq is kimmsr

With the browning on the leaf tips, perhaps a bit of drought-stress?

thanks! ill try to post stem pics, Soil hasnt been tested, we have had plenty of rain and the one just oposite this one is doing much better but also showing some sign of the black under the leaves.

what would yall suggest for a treatment?

Estesdv, we haven't come up with a concrete idea of what the problem might be.....so there's no way to suggest a treatment.

I would suggest you go to your local Agricultural center. Take a picture with you. You can get a soil sample from them. It costs $7 here. They should have a horticulturist on staff there. He/she can give you advice on how to deal with this problem.

I have come to associate Ligistrum with Cercospora leaf spot. Tree forms of the species come down with a root fungus which works its way up individual stalks - resulting in the death of sections of the canopy. Hopefully the image above shows that.

Link

Hi there, I know it's a year later, but I was wondering how your ligustrum are doing. (They look like japonicum to me too.) My first thought is winterburn, because 1) the time of year, 2) the damage appears to start at the tips, which is typical of winter damage, and 3) the north facing wall which gets cold, dry wind. So let us know if they recovered.

I'm in zone 7a (Washington, DC area), 2 zones warmer than you, and I get winter damage on my ligustrum japonicum. They're tough trees though so hopefully yours made it. That winter was a really cold one and particularly had a lot of wind - at least in my area.

Cercospora leaf spot hits later in the year, in the heat of the summer; and I think it starts with the older, lower leaves, rather than all over. I could be wrong about that though. But I'm pretty sure that February 21st was too early for it to hit.

I see the sooty mold too, although there is not that much there, so you might have some scale too. But I don't know, that doesn't look like scale damage to me. What do you others think?