black olive dropping leaves

scootertrash

I recently purchased a fairly large black olive tree...(Bucida spinosa). I didnt touch it for approx. one week to allow it to recover from its 2 day journey in a dark box. It seemed to be in very good health although lost a few leaves which I thought was probably from the stress of being shipped from Florida in that box. About 3 days ago I did some light pinching back of the leaves in the crouches of the branches. I didnt cut or remove any hard wood at all.....just pinched back leaves It was at this time I noticed the white powdery substance on some of the leaves. I purchased an insecticidal soap which seems to be having no affect at all on the powdery substance and more and more leaves are dropping at a faster rate and amount daily. Then I read on the soap very thouroughly and no where did it mention white powder mold or mildew...only insects. Up to this point the damge as far as appearance hasnt been to harmful as it needed pruning anyway...but at its present rate I'm afraid it wont be long before the tree cant be saved from this blight. So I desperately need some advise on how to handle and eradicate this white powder from this tree. It is about 27 inches tall and 36 inches white with a trunck of 1.5 inches and it has great potential if I can save it. I live in southest Tn....zone 7. It also had black soot mold on the trunk which I washed off with a mild solution of dish soap and insecticidal soap and that seems to be ok now.

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scootertrash

I made a mistake in the treatment of the powdery substance....for treatment I used "Ortho Garden disease Control". This tree is losing leaves fast.....can it be saved..?

clrosner

The following was copied many years ago and was in my files for pests and diseases. Unfortunately, I canot find the author so this is posted as an un- tried method. Down near the bottom of the article it mentions powdery mildew. If you do try this method, just use it on a part of the tree you would consider pruning.... (not in your future design) Good luck!!!

FUNGICIDE:

Those of you who frequent the rec.gardens.orchids newsgroup know of my "crusade" for the use of cinnamon as a fungicide. I've done a lot of digging, and it turns out that the chemicals in the bark have all sorts of medicinal applications (I've even cured athlete's foot with my alcohol extract!) Choose the consistency that is best for your situation:
Powder: Apply normal, household cinnamon powder directly to the affected part of the plant by dusting heavily.
Poultice: Mix cinnamon powder with sufficient casein-based glue (Elmer's) to make a thick, brown paste. Apply to the wound and let dry. The Elmer's Glue is water soluble, but resists washing-off quite well. This is the preference for mounted plants that get watered or misted frequently.
Spray: You can prepare a cinnamon spray using either alcohol or water as your solvent. The alcohol infusion is faster to prepare, and offers some insecticidal properties as well. This is my preferred method, and has been effective at eliminating all sorts of fungus problems, including damping-off of deflasked seedlings.
Put 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of cinnamon powder in a pint (500 ml) of isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Shake well and let stand overnight. Filter the solution to remove the sediment (coffee filters work well), and use the brown liquid as a spray. (While it's not a big problem for most orchid growers, I've heard that this is good for powdery mildew, as well.) or Put the cinnamon powder in hot water. Shake well and let stand for several days. Filter and use as above. (Some feel that the alcohol can be too desiccating when used on seedlings.)

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Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
arteacher3725@yahoo.com

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Mcspeed

Interesting Carl, be interested to know if it works. I would suggest tyr thevendor of the tree and see what they say. It sounds like they have had to find a cure, .

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