What's wrong with my red chokeberries?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi everyone. I have three red chokeberries "Brilliantisima." All three are having problems with yellow and brown leaves. There are brown or black spots on the undersides of some leaves.

There is one place where I saw webbing, suggesting spider mites--but I'm not seeing that on the other plants.

Any thoughts on what this is, and how to address it?

See photos. I'm in DC zone 7a.

Thanks!

Featured Answer

sam_md

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Here's lace bug on cotoneaster

Here's lace bug on serviceberry

These are not my plants. To control lace bug I use Scalecide dormant oil but one of the soap treatments may work also. The problem with the other insecticides is that they kill off predators. The number of species of lace bugs in N. America is too numerous to count. They weaken the host plant and make them defoliate early. I've seen infestations so bad on Pieris, M's Day Azalea AWA Delaware Valley White Azaleas that the plants were removed.

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Comments (6)

Embothrium
8 years ago
Does look like effects of mites or other small sucking bugs. Get a magnifier and check for them with that.

If it were to turn out to be something else like maybe a rust fungus looking with a magnifier would still be a way to determine that.
1818 Federal (7bEC)
8 years ago
mine (black chokebeeries) look aimilar, with fewer leaves. they were planted 2017, so ive surmised theyre not established. i just read keeping site clean and watering from below.

this site may help. http://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/redchokeberry.html
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Embothrium
8 years ago
By the way if these bushes don't go red in fall they don't fit 'Brilliant'.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
its september ... the sun is in decline.. things are starting to shut down ... by this time of year ... im not really concerned about such ...

things go down early for a multitude of reasons related to weather .. anything that may have stressed it ... to much rail.. too little rain... hail stroms ... ridiculous humidity ... etc.. etc.. etc ...

when the leaves all fall off.. blown them out of the bed ... and clean them up.. and send them away ... rather than composting ... its not much of an effort.. but its something ....

what would be the point of spraying it with anything ... the leaves are going to fall off anyway ... unless its NOT deciduous .. and then i will stand corrected ....

ken
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Most non-irrigated landscape plantings of chokeberries where I am in Indiana frequently look like this by early fall - if not worse. Significant defoliation is not uncommon, and I have watched quite a few established plants die out completely. I would suspect that in warmer parts of its range this plant is less able to tolerate dry soils, but who knows.

Have you been watering it at all? Or is it planted in a "boggy" area that tends to stay fairly wet?