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Cornus stem "nibbled". Pest or disease?

My cornus alba aurea, lovely looking thing in large pot, has been attacked by something that is severing the growing tips and causing the leaves to fall. I can't see anything on the leaves that is causing this which is very frustrating, and I can't find anything in my books or online that can explain it. Some of the leaf stems have had their veins cut through too. This is the second year this has happened. Any ideas what could be causing this?

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Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698

    No-one? No other dogwoods being nibbled in the whole of the UK? I did find one other on Google but he hadn't received any answers to the puzzle either.

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505

    "These fierce-looking insects, with their rear-end “pincers,” feast on dead and living organisms, including insect eggs and adult aphids. But they also like to eat soft fruits (peaches, apricots, berries) and new growth on plants. Typically, they chew irregular holes along leaf edges or inside the leaf blade. On seedlings, they’ll eat all tender growth – leaves and stems. You’ll usually spot them hiding inside blossoms or growing shoots of plant"

    I googled jagged nibbles and this came up about earwigs.

    Last edited: 09 August 2016 15:18:05

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698

    Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for them. However the main problem is something eating through the veins in the leaves and through the stem just under the topmost leaf. It doesn't cause musch damage to the actual leaf but causes them to drop off the plant.

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