azalea with leaf disease

JayC

Hi everyone!

I recently dug this young azalea from beneath its parent shrub (about 3 months ago). I'm assuming it was a natural layering that occured. Both this shrub and the parent have a milky white haze on the leaves, and have had this for as long as i know. It wasnt until i photographed the leaves today that i noticed the leaves had dark spots underneath aswell (i have attached a photo of the underneath and the top of the leaf). The azalea does flower each year and is doing so at the moment but the flowers only ever cover around 50% of the tree. The young azalea i potted up was coverd in buds but i removed them in a hope to give some vigour to the tree. It is a dwarf cultivar of some sort but unknown to me.

Also, once this problem is identified (and hopefully removed) how do i thicken up the trunk? At the moment it has 5 trunks extending from the base (thickest is a less than a centimetre) and i am constantly rubbing off leaf buds from them. I know that azalea's, unlike most other plants, grow strongly from the base. Does this mean i have to remove all the trunks at the bottom except for the one with the best movement?

Thanks in advance for any advice recieved.

JayC

Attached Images

	azalea.jpg (68.7 KB, 23 views)
	azalea 2.jpg (70.4 KB, 20 views)
	azalea 3.jpg (55.2 KB, 19 views)

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KenDuncan

Hi JayC,
Looks like lace bug to me, you can use any good insecticide that can be used on azaleas to get rid of the problem, but it will only help the future leaves not the old ones.
To thicken the trunk it takes many years of growing in the ground in good garden soil.

I like some azaleas with multi trunks, this can work it does not have to be only a single trunk. Post some pics of the plant from all sides to get some design ideas.
Ken

kcpoole

Hi Jay and concur about lace bug

I spray mine with "Confidor" about once a month to keep it in check, and should dissapear with the new growth
I spray both above and below the foliage with a Premix spray bottle from Bunnings, and they all seem to be fine now

Yes please post some photos of the rest of the trees, as I will do soon with the 3 I collected a month ago.

Ken

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stephenr

I also concur about lace bug. Spray as kcpoole has indicated with 'Confidor'. It is wise to spray again after about 10 days to kill any emerging insects(eggs). The little brown spots under the leaves are the bugs left-overs (poo) after it has had a feast on the leaves. The affected leaves will not recover so remove them after new growth as commenced...

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JayC

Hi everyone!

Thank you for your advice! I thought it looked like lace bug fron somewhere else on the internet but i knew people here would be able to tell. I have confidor in my cupboard somewhere and it will get sprayed on the weekend.

I'll post images of the stock sometime later, (after it is over the infestation)

Thanks again

JayC