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Southern Gardening

Brown Spots on Japanese Magnolia

9 years ago

I'm cross posting this to see if I get any better response here. I tried on the pest board, but got nothing.

I planted this Japanese Magnolia back in April. It seemed to be thriving until just recently.
It has been pretty wet and rainy the past few weeks, and the other day, I noticed the leaves were looking a little yellower than normal. I looked at them closer, and noticed they were covered in these tiny brown spots that don't rub off of the leaves.

The tree isn't losing leaves, in fact they hold pretty strong when you tug on them. Any ideas on what this is? Is it just cosmetic or is it a more serious disease? Thanks!

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Comment (1)

dottie_in_charlotte
9 years ago
Any spraying going on nearby? It's odd that the leaf has a section (near your ring in the photo) which seems unaffected by the scorch or aerosol as though shielded by a leaf above.
Still, the leaf looks a sickly yellowed green and brown dessicated areas seem to be heavily nearest the veins.

Where you planted this Japanese magnolia, any chance there is or was a black walnut tree within 25' or so?
If its not something aerosol, not something you can detect that is insect caused or insect spread like fungus or blight
then the only thing I can think of is systemic toxins in the soil (juglone).

How big is this shrub? Can you lift it and pot it up while you give it some TLC before re-planting in mid-late fall?
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