My 6 year old wisteria flowered beautifully this year, though the leaves didn't seem to develop fully and it has now, quite suddenly, withered and appears to be dying. No new shoots at all. We have had an incredibly dry Spring and Summer. Our soil is clay. I'm so very sad. It hurts. It does help to know that other gardeners are experiencing similar problems. Early signs of climate change?
Think I have found the culprit. Severley pruned back the wisteria today. (Husband holding the ladder) Found something that looks a wee bit like a woodlouse, only much smaller. Rather the size of a slightly squashed' in shape, ladybird and a brownish red in colour.Easily dislodged with finger,then explodes with hundreds of white egg looking things. The host appears to be an empty shell. We have burned all cuttings. These 'parasites'? appear to be more on the tips of the plant. Not as numerous as I would have expected to devastate my wisteria so easily and quickley. What is the prognosis please? Will the plant renew itself?
My wisteria has been in for about 4 years and has always had really healthy leaves. It flowered for the first time this year followed by lots of heathly looking leaves. Over the last few days the leaves have fone really limp as is underwatered. I have had a look but cannot find any bugs on it. I have sprayed it anyway with an insecticide and will let you know what happens over the next week.
Penny: In their defence the RHS does not know everything. They are generally very diligent in hunting down the causes of things like this. They are just a bit stumped at the moment.
Beryl: I honestly don't know if your plant will revive. It seems unlikely that these bugs have caused the demise of your plant: especially as there is no other record of other wisteria wilt sufferers reporting bug infestation. If you have any bugs left then the RHS will definitely be able to identify the pest.
two years ago my wisteria decided not to flower, last year it again decided it wasn't going to flower and in summer the leaves turned a pale yellow and went crinkly and generally just wilted - I blamed the weather! This year no flowers but the leaves were a really good colour and looked really healthy then....late june the leaves went all yellow and crinkly again and the new shoots just died back. I had a look at the stems and although I didn't notice them at first I found some scale insects at the end of last years growth. I had a look on the internet and found pictures of the dreaded wisteria scale.....Yup looks familiar!!!!! Armed with systemic insecticide its had two thorough coatings and so far so good, its lost the crinkly look and the new leaves and shoots are looking really healthy. A bit worrying if the RHS think its confined to London area because I'm pretty sure thats what was going on with mine and Im in Hampshire
Thank you for your messages.The Telegraph report says it all. My once beautiful wisteria appears to be completely wiped out.Almost certainly wisteria scale. No sign of life whatsover. Last year the foliage was so dense we had blackbirds and pigeons happily nesting there. I too cannot believe that something so small could have done so much damage. Many thanks... BerylM
My wisteria has the same problems as the recent comments, one day ok the next crispy, crinckly and very sad looking. However, where the wisteria is planted its bottom 2 feet are covered by my lavender bush and the few stems from this area growing through are not affected. Can you comment on this, my other wisteria at the front of the house is not affected, as yet!
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We have had an incredibly dry Spring and Summer. Our soil is clay. I'm so very sad. It hurts. It does help to know that other gardeners are experiencing similar problems. Early signs of climate change?
Beryl: I honestly don't know if your plant will revive. It seems unlikely that these bugs have caused the demise of your plant: especially as there is no other record of other wisteria wilt sufferers reporting bug infestation. If you have any bugs left then the RHS will definitely be able to identify the pest.
Val: Keep us informed.
I had a look at the stems and although I didn't notice them at first I found some scale insects at the end of last years growth. I had a look on the internet and found pictures of the dreaded wisteria scale.....Yup looks familiar!!!!!
Armed with systemic insecticide its had two thorough coatings and so far so good, its lost the crinkly look and the new leaves and shoots are looking really healthy.
A bit worrying if the RHS think its confined to London area because I'm pretty sure thats what was going on with mine and Im in Hampshire
http://bit.ly/biI4Cf
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/7676728/Wisteria-in-danger-from-invasive-bug.html
BerylM