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Hydrangea spots
curlyknots
Posts: 4
Hi - I'm wondering if anyone can identify this spotting which has just appeared on my hydrangea. It's well established, about 15 years old - 3ft x 3ft - and hasn't always been a healthy flowering plant. The spotting has appeared on most of the leaves of the bush, but I can't see signs of any pests, just the discolouration.
I'm shortly going to have to relocate the bush due to building works, so a diagnosis of the disease would be helpful prior to doing this - if I have to heavily prune back I'd rather do it before attempting the move if it's necessary.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
0
Posts
HAS always been healthy flowering, not hasn't...sorry (autocorrect must have kicked in)
Have you had a look under the leaves for any bugs?
Hi Dave - There's no visible pests on the underside of the leaves or on the stalks or woody branches. I wondered if this was the start of black spot or rust, but I couldn't find any answers online.
It's difficult to tell exactly what it is, it could be capsid bugs, but it's not classic symptoms. Try a spray with the Bayer insecticide after that it may be something you just have to live with. Pick off the affected foliage as well.
Nasty little beasties aren't they! Just googled and I can't say (thankfully) I've ever seen them, and the damage they do doesn't look to be similar to anything on this plant. Unfortunately, the majority of the leaves seem to have exactly the same problem, which made me think it might be something in the rootball/soil that's caused the change to be so evenly distributed. If I take off the affected leaves, it will be pretty much bare branches.
If it starts to look worse and I do have to hard prune it right back to the root, how much length should I leave on the stems and should I ensure I have some new growth left intact?