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Honey Suckle Mould / Blight
Tabbyfa
Posts: 35
Hello eveyrone. I'm a new gardner and thought that investing in a few climbers this summer would be a good idea. Off I went to Homebase and purchased a honeysuckle. We potted it in a reasonable size pot (as we don't have any grass/soil/ground - rather a patio space.) It did start growing and spreading up the wall but I noticed that from the very bottom of the plant it has started to go a bit mouldy. The leaves have turned yellow and some of the green leaves have what looks like a white mould on them in little spots. The leaves with the mould seem to just fall off at the slightest touch. Is there anything I can do or is this plant destined to die?
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Hi Tabbyfa and welcome - I'm afraid that your honeysuckle has got Powdery Mildew - very common and need not be terminal
The problem is that honeysuckle, being woodland plants, like to have their roots in cool damp soil and their heads in the sunshine. In Homebase (and in many garden centres) the honeysuckles are in fairly small pots in the sunshine and their roots dry out - we buy them and bring them home, and it's only then that the ill effects of the time spent in Homebase etc begin to show themselves
... possibly it may have dried out a bit at your place too ... it happens so easily ... my new one succumbed last year and looked very sad for a while. The drought weakens the plant and it is then attacked by the fungus that causes the mildew.
Just make sure it's in a large deep pot out of the sun (I find that a mixture of John Innes loam-based compost with some ordinary multi-purpose compost added at a ratio of 2:1 suits a container grown honeysuckle quite well. Pick up the fallen leaves and put them in the bin and as long as the roots are kept moist (not sopping wet) it should make a full recovery. If you think it looks really ugly at the moment you could cut the plant back to about 12" above the ground - it'll soon throw out some new shoots and cover that wall for you
If you don't mind using chemicals you could also use a fungicide - details here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=253 but don't use one containing an insecticide as it can harm bees and other pollinating insects that will visit your honeysuckle when it flowers.
Good luck
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you so much! Awww this makes sense. I'm happy to hear that it can be saved. It seems to still be shooting out new leaves so it's not totally hopeless and i have been cutting off the dead leaves and putting them in a bin then disinfecting my sectors. Should I "shade" the roots just like the clematis likes its roots shaded? Perhaps this will help retain some moisture too! Thanks for the advice!
You've got it - clematis and honeysuckle - both originally woodland-type plants so they like similar conditions
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Just an update - in the end the mould took over too much so we had to get rid of the honey suckle. I will think twice before purchasing a honeysuckle from Homebase! The clematis however is doing splendidly! We have now put morning glories in the corner where the honeysuckle was!