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Help what is this?

k.bethellk.bethell Posts: 4
in Problem solving
Hiya..I have a well established japonica in my garden and this year it's got brown powder like substance over the stems and killing new growth.  Not sure how to treat. Cant see any bugs so I assumed it was fungal?? Any ideas please!  

Posts

  • k.bethellk.bethell Posts: 4

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    un upside down fatsia leaf?

    Devon.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Think you may have scale insects - I had some on a Schefflera that looked very similar.
    Try dipping a bit of cotton wool or kitchen paper in Methylated spirit and gently wiping the stems. If it comes away brown then wipe front and back of all leaves and the stems too. That should remove or kill the vast majority of them. Give the Fatsia a good drink and keep an eye out. If you see a resurgence then repeat the operation, but if you are thorough it should work first time :)
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    I was a bit confused by the description of 'a japonica', then I saw the fatsia leaf.

    They do lose some of the lower leaves as they get bigger and tend to look leggy. But you said it was the new growth. It might be fungal but I think Buttercup has the best response. 


  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Not a plant I've grown so I have no experience of them, but to me it looks like rust, but I don't know if Fatsia are prone to rust

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    I'd say it was a rust, too.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • k.bethellk.bethell Posts: 4
    No.. Not rust....it's powder.. Not pustules and it covers the whole stems and is just killing new growth by covering in brown powder. It easily wipes off and blows away.  I cannot see any insect activity whatsoever so I'm assuming fungus? When wiped off its back next day??   I shall try the methylated spirt cloggie 👍
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    edited May 2020
    Thanks @k.bethell , your description confirms a fungal rust to me.  Many rusts appear powdery.  Most are fungi . The spores are produced on the surface of infected plants and blow away like dust which is how they infect other plants:
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • k.bethellk.bethell Posts: 4
    Thanks Bob 👍.. I will try a fungus spray then.  Ive had this plant over 17 years so wouldn't like to see it die.  
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