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Halls Prolific
Nanny Beach
Posts: 8,719
Planted this Honeysuckle last year, up a fence, grew amazingly well. This year it has shot up past the top of the fence, lots of new growth. Suddenly, very quickly a lot of the leaves are covered in black marks, some the whole leaf, some dead stems and curled up leaves, any ideas? Dont know how to put picture on here, dont "do" smart phones, my daughter used to have one that she could "plug" into our PC but has now changed phones and not got that facility on here new one.
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Probably been dry at the base. They need a lot of water to support the top growth, especially when there's been a lot produced already in those warmer spells, and it's been generally very dry in most places. Even up here, I've had to water plants this spring - unheard of - although it's making up for it now.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hello Fairy, no, its in what I call my "woodlandy" bit, I made sure it was very well watered last year, after planting, its the shadiest dampest bit of my garden. Its in the shade now, planted up with lilly-of-the-valley,bluebells,anemonies,ferns,foxgloves,arum lillies, covered with dark woodchips large sort.Gets a bit of sun on the ground mid day, then in the shade of fence and mine and next doors bungalow.
Sounds like your honeysuckle is growing in quite damp and cold conditions. It also sounds like you might have blackspot which can be brought on by dense planting and very high humidity. Last year when it was thriving was it growing in exact conditions? Most Honeysuckles prefer more sun at the top and damp coolness at the base. Maybe it's too tangled up the fence and has little area to breath.
The roots are cool, my garden is very sheltered (only 10 minutes from the sea) not cold at all, Its not terribly damp just the "dampest coolest bit of garden I have", I have scented pelargoniums in a pot in my front garden just a few feet away which have been there the last 2 winters. Its head is in the sun. Its trained on wires along the fence, which is topped with trellis, so not tangled at all, plenty of room. its not densly underplanted I only started this border last year, yes, the honeysuckle has only been planted there. Two other honeysuckle I have, are planted in those plastic window boxes, and I know someone put on here they wont grow in small pots, these are tiny, the plants themselves are at the top of an arch over 2 metres tall, and doing fine.
Is the plant otherwise healthy? It's normal for shrubs and climbers to just shed some foliage, especially when producing new stuff. When you say the dampest place though - that still might not be enough. The most common issue with honeysuckles is being too dry.
As Borderline says, the area around the plant is key - air flow is as important as food and water. What's the bark like too? They could be 'holding' dampness in the wrong place. I'd remove any dead foliage at the base, and check how damp the soil is too. If the mulch has been put down when the soil's dry, there may not be enough moisture getting to the roots. They're might simply be a broken stem, causing those leaves to die off.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The weather might play a part too. I notice a few others mentioning elsewhere last year, things were romping away and this year it's completely different. It's been pretty dry this spring from where I see it, but not sure what others think, so it can sometimes store up issues later, especially shrubs and trees. I do wonder what the black leaves are. Is it spots or blackend and curled up. The leaves may have had damage, which in time has weakened its growth beyond that point, and on the stems, there may be a breakage as Fairygirl says. Could be a number of reasons.
I'd agree Borderline - when an issue appears, it hasn't necessarily been caused something that's happened recently. It can often be caused several months beforehand. In the same way that buds dropping on rhodies/camellias etc in spring are often caused by lack of moisture in the previous summer.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
no damaged stuff at the base fairy, its a long way along the tendrills, not definite black spots as such, some of the leaves are completely black, not curled over at all. A few leaves are brown crispy dry. Oh well Hubby has removed black leaves I have given it a good soaking. But as I said the other 2 round the arch seem to thrive on neglect! Yes, a lot of the plant does look OK, but this black literally appeared overnight. weird!
It's difficult without photos
Removing the damaged leaves is probably the best idea. They're more inclined to suffer from dry conditions than anything, but someone else may know of any pests or diseases which would cause the blackening.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
When my daughter comes up I will see if she can help with photos, Hubby puts them on here from the camera, but neither of us are computer savvie, (our generation grew up without cars, phones, and TVs for goodness sake) Yet he s a highly qualified vehicle tech, and I was working on a hyper acute stroke unit till I retired.Never found out how to "add" photos to e-mails either, the kids just lean over do these things, huff and puff at us! Oddly we planted a clematis at the same time which we thought had died, it withered up,brown and crispy last year, was going to dig up, shown it to a couple of "guys" I met (physically) on this site, who looked at it,they said give it the benefit, nothing to loose, we cut it to the ground and it is fine! Now I have retired no excuse to forget watering stuff, eh!