Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mrc758

blueberry help

mrc758
12 years ago

I live in the knoxville are in the woods. Planted some bushes a few months ago but the ones that get the most sun have developed red spots on the leaves and have yellowed. Any help? I tried to post a picture but can't figure out how to do it.

Maurice

Comments (4)

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    12 years ago

    Hey Maurice, I'll be happy to take a look and see if I can give you some possibilities if you can post some really good quality pics. Take a look around for symptoms on stems as well as on the leaves and post as many pics as you feel necessary. It might also help if you can tell me a little about how you planted your blueberries and how the problem has progressed.

    There are many diseases that could be causing somewhat similar symptoms to what you describe, so the diagnosis may or may not be easy. Just about any of the possibilities (especially the fungal diseases) have a few things in common that could help the situation. When it gets a little cooler and the leaves fall off, be sure the area around your plants is free from leaf debris. Good sanitation can prevent or lessen the disease pressure by reducing fungal spores that can overwinter in the litter. Another thing you want to do is keep your plants as healthy as possible. A weak plant is a magnet for disease. Be sure to provide proper irrigation during drier times. Don't apply fertilizer until you ID the problem. Fertilization could make the problem worse.

    One of the easiest ways to provide your photo to be embedded into a post is to upload it onto an image hosting site such as Photobucket, Flickr, etc. That should be pretty straight forward, and the individual sites will give instructions on how to get your photos uploaded to their site when you sign up.

    Once your picture has been uploaded, find its image location address (URL) by right clicking on the image and copying the image location. The URL will look something like:

    http://somepicturesite.com/yourpicture.jpg.

    Some sites may even provide the appropriate HTML code in a text box below the photo for your convenience. It will be the one that begins with a href=... (This code looks different than the code below, because it will actually produce a picture link instead of just a picture.)

    Let's say, as an example, that the address of the picture you want to post is http://somepicturesite.com/yourpicture.jpg

    To embed the picture into a post, use the command:
    img src="http://somepicturesite.com/yourpicture.jpg">;
    _____________________________________

    If your picture is too large to fit nicely into the text page, you can add a width attribute.

    The command with the width attribute would look something like:
    img src="http://somepicturesite.com/yourpicture.jpg"; width=600>
    _____________________________________

    Note that I had to use special characters to get the commands above to show up here without turning into pictures, but you can use them as shown (but with the correct image web address).

  • mrc758
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Ok. Signed up for photobucket. See if this link does it.
    http://s1132.photobucket.com/albums/m568/mrc758/

    Here is a link that might be useful: pics

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    12 years ago

    Those are decent pictures, but not really like seeing things up close and personal. The plants do appear to have some type of fungal disease, but I'm undecided on what I think the most likely candidate is, especially with what I can see in the pictures. The plants that are in full sun may be more stressed, and that could explain why they are showing more symptoms.

    If it were my plants (and especially since it's this late in the season), I'd probably just take a wait-and-see approach until next year. Better established plants may be less stressed and be able to avoid further problems. I would practice really good sanitation this winter (remove and dispose of all fallen leaves and debris around that area - don't compost it). If problems persisted next year, then I'd start being more concerned.

    One options (either for now or next year), which might actually be your best bet on getting an exact diagnosis, is to contact Dr. Dave Lockwood over at the UT extension office. You could email him with a link to your pictures, and, if he didn't feel confident with a diagnosis with just the pictures, he could probably work out a time for you to bring a sample by for up-close analysis. Here's his contact info:

    Dr. Dave Lockwood
    Univ of Tennessee
    2431 Joe Johnson Dr.
    Knoxville, TN 37996-4561

    865-974-7324

    lockwood@utk.edu

    Another whole set of issues that may be playing a part in this problem is how you planted your plants and their environment. Things like whether you used amendment when backfilling around your plants (and what type of backfill you used), whether you planted at the correct depth, how you have irrigated your plants, and all kinds of other similar issues could be playing an important role.

  • mrc758
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the help. I tried spraying with antifungals 6 weeks ago but I may just let it rest and wait.
    Maurice

Sponsored
Ed Ball Landscape Architecture
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars30 Reviews
Exquisite Landscape Architecture & Design - “Best of Houzz" Winner